Isaac Asimov

The Foundation series follows the mathematician Hari Seldon, who develops "psychohistory," a science capable of predicting the collapse of a galactic empire and the dark age that will follow. The series spans hundreds of years as Seldon's followers work to shorten the coming dark age from millennia to centuries.

The Three Laws of Robotics, formulated by Asimov, state that a robot may not harm a human or allow a human to come to harm through inaction, must obey human orders unless they conflict with the first law, and must protect itself unless doing so conflicts with the first two laws. They first appeared in his 1942 short story "Runaround."

Yes, Asimov held a PhD in biochemistry from Columbia University and taught at Boston University. His scientific training informed the logical, systems-driven approach that characterizes much of his science fiction and his numerous popular science books.

Asimov was one of the most prolific authors of the 20th century, having written or edited over 500 books spanning science fiction, popular science, history, and literary criticism. His major works include the Robot series, the Foundation series, and the Galactic Empire novels.