Isaac Asimov's Biography

Isaac Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia, on January 2, 1920 and died on April 6, 1992.

Asimov, who came to the USA when he was just three, was a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Boston since 1979, but it is for his science fiction writing that he is best known.

Isaac Asimov's first professional sale of a short story was in 1938. His first book was published in 1950 - his 400th book was published in 1988. One of Asimov's earliest works was I, Robot (1950), which was adapted into a highly successful film starring Will Smith.

In Asimov's 'Who's Who' entry under recreation he stated: "a man's work is his play: my recreation is writing."

Isaac Asimov called his "three fundamental rules of robotics", his most important contribution to science fiction, and claimed that the following quotation from 'Runaround' was the first recorded use of the term 'Robotics':

"Let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics ... We have: one, a robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two, a robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law. And three, a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws."