Foundation (1942 short story)

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"Foundation" is a 1942 science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that introduced the Foundation universe and the concept of a vast galactic empire in decline.

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Label Occurrences
Foundation (1942 short story) canonical 1

Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf science fiction short story
short story
author Isaac Asimov
basedOn Asimov's interest in the fall of the Roman Empire
centralCharacter Hari Seldon
centralConcept mathematical sociology
prediction of the future using statistics
chronologyWithinSeries first story in Foundation sequence
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
depicts Galactic Empire
firstPublishedIn Astounding Science Fiction
surface form: Astounding Science-Fiction
genre science fiction
hasFictionalEmpire Galactic Empire series
surface form: Galactic Empire (Asimov)
hasFictionalOrganization Foundation
hasFictionalPlanet Trantor
hasFictionalScience psychohistory
hasMainLocation Trantor
surface form: Trantor, capital of the Galactic Empire
hasProtagonistRole Hari Seldon as psychohistorian
inCollection various Foundation story collections
influenced later Foundation stories
influencedBy The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
surface form: Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
introducedConcept Foundation
Galactic Empire in decline
psychohistory
language English
laterIncludedIn Foundation (1951 novel)
surface form: Foundation (1951 fix-up novel)
medium magazine
narrativeFunction sets up the Seldon Plan
narrativeRole origin story of the Foundation
originalTitle Foundation
partOf original Foundation trilogy
partOfCycle future history of the Foundation universe
periodicalEditor John W. Campbell Jr.
publicationYear 1942
publisher Street & Smith
surface form: Street & Smith (magazine publisher of Astounding)
series Foundation series (early stories)
surface form: Foundation series
setting Milky Way
surface form: Milky Way Galaxy

far future
theme decline and fall of empires
determinism vs. free will
use of science to manage history
timePeriodOfStory Fall of the Galactic Empire
surface form: last days of the Galactic Empire
universe Foundation universe

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

psychohistory firstAppearanceInStory Foundation (1942 short story)