Foundation (Minor Spoilers Ahead!)

If you think that Frank Herbert's Dune is one of the greatest and most epic science fiction novels ever written, like I do, chances are you're also familiar with Isaac Asimov's epic novels called the "Foundation" trilogy.

It's looking like we, science fiction aficionados currently alive, will be having a good time once the COVID-19 pandemic has blown over; not only will we be able to watch the much anticipated new film adaptation of Dune (hopefully in December), but Apple TV has announced that they will be broadcasting a new original series based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation science fiction book series. Asimov's novels were the first attempt at creating a fictional world of galactic proportions, and a story that spans many centuries, even if Dune dwarfs this first attempt in both spatial and temporal scope; Foundation was originally written between 1942 and 1950:

The original trilogy of novels collected a series of eight short stories published in Astounding Magazine between May 1942 and January 1950. According to Asimov, the premise was based on ideas in Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and was invented spontaneously on his way to meet with editor John W. Campbell, with whom he developed the concepts of the collapse of the Galactic Empire, the civilization-preserving Foundations, and psychohistory.
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It's clear that Frank Herbert found much of his inspiration for his Dune novels in Asimov's trilogy. Like Paul Atreides, the protagonist in the first Dune novels, we also find in Foundation a figure, Hari Sheldon, who's able to foresee the future for many centuries to come; the difference is that Sheldon's method of prediction is based on science, a mathematical principle he developed himself called psychohistory. The Foundation trilogy, which has been expanded with two additional follow-ups and two prequels in later years, starts with Hari Sheldon being prosecuted for treason against the Galactic Empire which has existed for 12,000 years; in the Foundation universe, like in the Dune universe, precious little knowledge about Earth has been preserved, and what is known about humanity's birth-planet is nothing but vague myths. Sheldon's prosecution is based on his prediction that the Galactic Empire will fall in 500 years time, and that this demise is unstoppable. He also predicts that humanity will devolve into barbarism, and that these "dark ages" will last for no less than 30,000 years before a Second Galactic Empire will emerge.

There is however one alternative disclosed in Sheldon's predictions; if he is allowed to collect the Empire's greatest minds to create a depository of all of the knowledge gathered by humanity, the Encyclopedia Galactica, the duration of these dark ages could be shortened to "only" 1,000 years. Eventually the court agrees under the condition that Sheldon, his crew of scientists and the Encyclopedia Galactica are banished to a planet near the edge of the galaxy, Terminus, where they will work and live in total isolation. Sheldon agrees and spends the last two years of his life on Terminus; he had long ago made peace with the fact that he would never see his life's work completed. From there on, the story jumps ahead in the future, sometimes decades, sometimes centuries, and tells the story of Sheldon's predicted road towards the future, engaging with deep philosophical questions like determinism versus nondeterminism, randomness and free will; this of course is also one of the many philosophical themes found in Frank Herbert's Dune.

Now I could go on a tirade about how capitalism ruins our immediate future by having the Foundation TV series only exclusively available on Apple's streaming service; thank you, mr. Invisible Hand, for condemning us to have a gazillion subscriptions to equally greedy service providers if we want to watch all of our favorite movies, series and sports, well done..! But I won't, no rant today ;-) If you already want to enjoy Asimov's original trilogy, open up the below linked video which is the first installment of an 8 part BBC radio dramatization of Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952) and Second Foundation (1953). Linked above you'll find the trailer for the Apple TV series to come out in 2021, as well as a short video by another Dune aficionado who discusses the upcoming series as well as its similarities to Dune. Enjoy!

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