Isaac Asimov

Hello! My name is Isaac Asimov. I was born in a country called Russia a long, long time ago, around the year 1920. When I was just three years old, in 1923, my family and I moved all the way across the ocean to America. We lived in a part of New York City called Brooklyn, where my parents owned a candy store. The best part of the store for me wasn't the candy—it was the magazines! I would read all the science fiction magazines on the racks, and my imagination would blast off to other planets and into the future. I dreamed of spaceships, strange new worlds, and amazing robots.

I loved reading those stories so much that I decided to write my own. I started writing when I was just a boy. I also loved science and learning how the world works. I went to college at Columbia University and became a scientist, a biochemist to be exact. But I never stopped writing. I realized I could do both! I could use my love of science to create amazing stories. In 1939, when I was 19 years old, a magazine published one of my very first stories. I was so proud to see my own words in a magazine, just like the ones I used to read in my family's store.

I had so many ideas I wanted to share. I thought a lot about robots and what it would be like if they lived with us. To make sure my pretend robots were always helpful and never hurtful, I made up three special rules for them called the Three Laws of Robotics. I also wrote a famous series of books called the Foundation series, which I started in the 1940s. It was a giant story about people living on planets all across the galaxy. I didn't just write science fiction, though. I wrote books about real science, history, and almost everything you can think of. In my life, I wrote or edited more than 500 books!

I had a wonderful and busy life filled with learning and writing. I lived to be 72 years old and passed away in 1992. Even though I am no longer here, my stories are. People still read my books to dream about the future, to think about science, and to imagine what might be possible among the stars. I hope my stories inspire you to be curious and to always keep asking questions.