Roving (Again)

One of the books I’ve recently completed is:  “The Roving Mind“, by Isaac Asimov (New Edition 1997©) originally copyrighted 1983©.   The book is a collection of articles published over a 15 year span and covering a wide range of topics including Religion, Science, Population, the Future and some personal stories.  The book is sort of mini-tribute to the author as it has brief tributes / forwards by some of the greatest science and science fiction writers of all time as an addition to the “new edition”.
Whenever you think of Science Fiction, you should think of the BIG three:  Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein.  But of these, Clarke and Asimov wrote about both fiction and science fact.  I personally feel the comparison ends there.  Asimov wrote over 500 books in his lifetime!!  Many were fiction (science fiction), but he also wrote about history, philosophy, and basic sciences (math, chemistry and physics).  But, stop for a minute and think about that – 500 books!  That’s more than most people read in their lifetime, let alone write.
Anyway, I digress – as usual.  If anyone could convince me to become either an agnostic or an atheist (they can’t, but if they could), it would be Asimov.  For me, his writing is so clean and his reasoning and explanations so clear, it is hard for me to imagine there being anything in science or philosophy which Asimov could not turn into a popularized title for the general public.
This book has 62 articles and the first section (of six articles) is titled:  “The Religious Radicals“.  If you want to see where the country is headed and how the current path was predictable as early as 1983, this section is worth the price of the book itself.  It is a bone-chilling, frightening indictment of anti-science / fundamental Christian faith in America which, if anything, is more true today than it was in 1983.
I grew up reading Asimov.  When I was a teen I read his hundredth book:  “Opus 100“, which was a book similar to this in that it was a collection of works.  I was amazed back then that anyone could write 100 books.  Forty odd years later, Asimov continues to amaze me and make me think.  Asimov passed away in 1992 and we may never see his like again…
Highly recommended!!
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On This Day In:
2022	We Are Seeing The Future
2021	The Correct Answer Will Be In The Form Of A Question
	Listen Up
2020	Testing To Open The Economy Safely
2019	Or Thought I’d Thought
2018	Go And Dare
2017	And Wealth A Poor Substitute For Ability
2016	Neither Darkness Nor Shadows
2015	It Took Roots
2014	Hard Evidence
2013	Full Participation
2012	Roving (Again)
	Ooops, Again
2011	Why Not?

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Ooops, Again

To err is human;  to forgive, divine.
—    Alexander Pope
[Just human, I guess.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	We Are Seeing The Future
2021	The Correct Answer Will Be In The Form Of A Question
	Listen Up
2020	Testing To Open The Economy Safely
2019	Or Thought I’d Thought
2018	Go And Dare
2017	And Wealth A Poor Substitute For Ability
2016	Neither Darkness Nor Shadows
2015	It Took Roots
2014	Hard Evidence
2013	Full Participation
2012	Roving (Again)
	Ooops, Again
2011	Why Not?

Read Full Post »