Isaac Asimov has distinguished himself as one of the most intellectual figure of science fiction for over five decades. Asimov was capable of stimulating generations of people to criticize and question science mysteries. He is also one of the most prolific writers of science fiction or any other genre. Young writers today still immolate his writing style and ideas. Isaac Asimov was born Isaak Ozimov in Petrovichi, Russia in 1920. In 1923, when he was three years old, he immigrated to the USA and settled in Brooklyn, New York with his parents, Anna and Judah and siblings, Veronica and Stanley. None of the resources shows why the family immigrated, but they were Orthodox Jews and there was great prejudice against Orthodox Jews in Russia, which led me to believe that this is the reason for their immigration. While Isaac’s parents continued to grow in their own faith, they didn’t force their beliefs upon their children, and in later years Asimov would claim he was an Atheist. Upon arriving, his parents opened a candy shop in Brooklyn, New York where young Asimov worked and where he became interested in the science fiction magazines that were sold in his parents store. Isaac was taught to speak English and only knew a few words in Russian. While Asimov was born on January 2, 1920 he started school when he was only five years old because his parents lied and said he was born in 1919, so he could start school a year early. The reason why his parents wanted him to start school early was because Asimov had already taught himself how to read, and was already teaching his younger sister also. Young Isaac was exceptionally smart, but rarely acted like a kid, he never learned how to ride a bike. During his childhood years, Asimov continued to work at his father’s store, reading the magazines on sale when his father was not around because his father thought the science fiction magazines were “mind-rotting.” (Holmes; Asimov 1) Asimov graduated from high school at the age of 15. He then went to Columbia University earning a bachelor degree in chemistry. Before graduating from Columbia, Asimov wrote his first science fiction story, titling it Cosmic Corkscrew. Asimov wanted to submit this first story to Astounding Science Fiction, and his father told him to take the subway and summit his story in person because it would be two cents cheaper as opposed to mailing it. While at the office, he met the magazine’s editor, John Campbell who sat and talked with Asimov for over an hour and encouraged him to keep writing. (Holmes) ; Encyclopedia of World Biography
After college, Asimov served during World War II as a Navy chemist and after the war went on to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate. During the 1940’s and 1950’s Asimov wrote many novels and short stories, one of his popular themes was space travel, even though he was afraid to travel by airplane, and did only twice. He received many honors and was recognized as one of the best science fiction writers of his time. (Bhattacharya) ; Encyclopedia of World Biography
Asimov met his future wife, Gertrude Blougherahn on a blind date on Valentine’s Day in 1942 and they married six months later in July 1942. The couple had two children, son David and daughter, Robyn. In 1959 Asimov began writing to Janet Jeppson and by 1970 he left his wife and moved in with Janet Jeppson. During this period he continued to write many science fiction books and is credited with writing 500 books. “IMDB”
In 1983 Asimov had a triple bi-pass heart surgery and contracted an HIV infection from a tainted blood transfusion. He eventually developed full blown AIDS, Asimov wanted to write about it, but the doctor’s asked him to keep silent. He died on April 6, 1992, the listed reason for his death was heart failure, but in 2002 his second wife Janet revealed his death was due to AIDS. (Holmes) Isaac Asimov was a very intelligent man, some say genius, who pioneered the science fiction field. When he first began writing science fiction, it was not a very popular writing field, but his stories of robots and space travel helped to gain science fiction acceptance. Asimov’s talent for writing makes his stories come to life, and are enjoyable to this day. Even though science has progressed since he initially wrote these stories, his legend as one of the father’s of science fiction will never die.

Work Cited

* Holmes, Matthew, and Lindley Homol. The Pennsylvania State University, Fall 2007. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. * Asimov, Isaac. I, Asimov: A Memoir. New York: Doubleday, 1994. * "Encyclopedia of World Biography." Isaac Asimov Biography. N.p., 2013. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. * Bhattacharya, Sandip. "20 Facts about Isaac Asimov." Sandipbnet. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. * "Isaac Asimov." IMDb. IMDb.com, 2013. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.