Foundation

isaac asimov foundation with his fourth novel, isaac asimov launched one of the defining series in the science fiction canon.

the foundation series would extend to include seven books altogether, but the universe he built also became home to his robot series and his galactic empire series.

the first entry in the foundation series spans over 150 years.

it explains how the foundation ended up on the far-flung planet of terminus and how it became one of the most influential forces in the galaxy.

influence is perhaps the key word.

as much as foundation is a sci-fi opus, it's also about politics and different ways in which governments can wield their power without resorting to violence.

foundation is divided into five parts – the psychohistorians, the encyclopedists, the mayors, the traders, and the merchant princes.

in this chapter we'll cover each of these sections in turn and look at how the events in the plot mirror certain events in our own real-world history.

if you would like to read a quick summary of the plot to foundation, you can skip to the final summary.

otherwise, let's begin.

the psychohistorians gal dornick is a young scholar from the distant world of synax who arrives on the sprawling, awe-inspiring planet of trantor, the heart of the galactic empire, where he's been invited by the renowned mathematician harry seldon to join the mysterious seldon project.

trantor, a city planet, boasts a population of over 40 billion, dedicated primarily to the empire's administration.

as gal finds his way around the mind-boggling city, he eventually encounters the enigmatic harry seldon, a psychohistorian who has made startling predictions about the impending fall of the galactic empire.

essentially, seldon has found a way to combine history, sociology, psychology and statistics to peer into the future.

most alarming is that seldon's data is pointing, with a 92.5% certainty, to the total destruction of the empire within five centuries.

at this point, the empire has been thriving for over 12,000 years.

news of seldon's prediction has leaked to the emperor and, naturally, he's unhappy.

given that the seldon project has grown to include the families of 20,000 followers, seldon is seen as a considerable threat and charged with treason.

so, immediately after meeting professor seldon, gal becomes embroiled in a contentious legal trial.

during the trial, seldon admits that there's nothing anyone can do to stop the fall of trantor.

he explains that steps could be taken to mitigate the long-term damage caused by the collapse.

normally, after such a collapse, much of society's knowledge is lost and a dark age follows.

but if a galactic encyclopedia is created and preserved, the length of that dark age could be greatly reduced.

despite his scepticism, the emperor agrees to let him create the encyclopedia.

but he banishes seldon and the families of those who work for him to the distant planet of terminus.

what gal soon learns is that seldon had, of course, predicted his own exile and even surmised that terminus would be their destination.

to further his cause, he also explains that a second scientific refuge will be established on the opposite edge of the galaxy on a planet known as star's end.

indeed, preparations have already been underway for the start of new colonies on these planets.

but gal also learns that seldon has a fatal illness and won't live long enough to see his plans to fruition.

if there's one character whose presence is felt throughout the entire story, it's harry seldon.

he's the founder of the scientific refuge that will become known as the foundation, and the full extent of his work with psychohistory will only become known gradually with each new conflict that arises.

this section is primarily about setting up the concept of psychohistory and getting the reader to wonder about its possibilities.

if you had enough data about past human events and enough data about current psychological and sociological conditions, could you predict future events?

certainly there's some truth to the idea that history repeats itself, and asimov is basically taking that idea to its logical extreme.

it should also be noted that he's using the fall of the roman empire as the primary inspiration for the galactic empire.

in this way, he's showing us how the potential and limitations of human nature will forever be the same, no matter if it's one planet or a galaxy full of planets.

the encyclopedists it's been 50 years since the first encyclopedists arrived on terminus.

it hasn't been easy.

the conditions are harsh and there are limited resources, including a distinct lack of iron or metals, to build with.

but after 50 years, the encyclopedia foundation is finally ready to publish its first edition.

these days, the foundation is led by louis pirenne.

he was instrumental in gathering the raw material for this monumental endeavour.

he envisioned ten-year intervals for subsequent volumes.

but a recent development has thrown a shadow over their efforts.

the royal governor of the neighbouring prefect of anacreon has declared himself a king, and in doing so has cut off the much-needed trade route that supplies terminus with metals.

this turns out to be terminus city's first major dilemma, and it creates a divide among the city's leadership.

the mayor of terminus city is salvor hardin.

he represents a growing contingent of those born and raised on the planet.

while louis pirenne and the encyclopedists believe that the empire can safeguard its interests, hardin argues that trantor is too far away to be of any help.

plus, anacreon isn't the only nearby planet that's seeking independence from the empire.

this conflict is brought into stark relief when a sub-prefect from anacreon arrives in terminus city, ansel haute-rodrigue.

he hints that the king of anacreon wants terminus to become a protectorate and pay tribute.

hardin objects to the idea, emphasising their lack of metals and resources to make such payments.

haute-rodrigue suggests that terminus could pay tribute with land, thereby allowing anacreon to set up military bases on their planet.

it's clear that anacreon wants a more strategic position in relation to two other rival planets.

that's when hardin strategically tips his hand and tells the sub-prefect that the foundation, in fact, has atomic power.

upon hearing this news, haute-rodrigue suddenly goes silent.

the two factions within the foundation continue to disagree.

hardin feels that they need to take action and find a way to defend themselves.

but pirenne and the board of the encyclopedia foundation see themselves above politics.

they're strictly a scientific community, and their only concern is creating the encyclopedia.

this should be left for the empire to sort out.

then there's the matter of the vault.

the vault had been on terminus even before the first settlers.

it was widely believed that whatever was inside the vault would be revealed soon, on the foundation's 50th anniversary.

maybe the solution would be revealed once the vault opened.

this is what the board hoped.

but for hardin, it was a ridiculous idea to put all your faith in such an unknown entity, so with little alternative and the future of terminus city at stake, hardin and a few supporters overthrew the board in a coup d'état.

the vault does open on schedule, and harry seldon, the founder of the encyclopedia foundation, appears as a recording.

he addresses the new board, now being led by hardin.

as seldon explains, the foundation had in fact always been a front, a tool to secure imperial charter and attract people to their real plan.

seldon declares that the encyclopedia was a ruse, nothing more than a means to an end.

their real project was to ensure the survival of the foundation in the face of encroaching barbarism and the action required is obvious.

self-defence let's pause the story here and take a closer look at what's happened.

this news from the deceased harry seldon is a pretty good twist.

it turns out that the very idea of making the encyclopedia was a ruse from the start.

it was a way to get people on terminus so that they could establish an influential base of power out on the edge of the galaxy.

seldon knew that these so-called barbarous planets on the outskirts would need some tending to.

now, it would seem that the aim of the foundation is still true, to shorten the dark ages period that will occur in the years following the empire's collapse.

but the means are now different.

an encyclopedia won't be enough.

the foundation will have to get directly involved in the politics of the region.

as we can see, with planets on the edge of the galaxy declaring their independence, the empire is already starting to splinter.

this section also establishes the ongoing theme of duelling factions within the foundation.

interestingly enough, though, the correct approach of action or inaction will vary depending on the circumstances.

one thing that remains steadfast is the motto from harry seldon, violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

the mayors in this section, thirty years have passed since salvor hardin, the mayor of terminus city, took control over the board of the foundation.

but we once again find the foundation faced with the challenge of making a monumental decision.

we find salvor hardin reflecting on the changing landscape of the galaxy.

the once mighty galactic empire has continued to fragment into smaller kingdoms like anacreon, but the foundation continues to stand as a beacon of hope in these troubled times.

hardin's diplomatic skills have continued to grow.

his chief tool is atomic power.

we learn that the foundation has equipped neighbouring planets with atomic power as a means of establishing peace treaties and trade agreements.

not only that, the foundation has also helped build clinics, research facilities and factories on these planets.

but not everyone is pleased with hardin's approach.

the opposition is led by seth cermak, a young and promising city council member.

cermak reveals the formation of a new political party – the action party.

he openly challenges hardin's foreign policy.

while it has avoided conflict, it has also greatly increased the power and the potential threat of these kingdoms.

the only solution is to strike first and remove these threats.

the stage is set for a political showdown in the upcoming elections.

hardin reminds cermak of one of the foundation's guiding principles – violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

hardin explains that his approach isn't only about appeasement.

he has in fact been playing the neighbouring kingdoms against each other, preventing wars and maintaining a balance of power for thirty years.

one of the keys to hardin's plan has been that while the foundation has been bringing atomic power to these kingdoms, those who are operating the atomic machinery are members of the foundation.

not only that, the foundation has been nurturing a religion of science based around atomic power.

the chief operators are known as high priests and sacred rituals have been established in maintaining the flow of atomic energy.

the priests then teach the ways of this religion to the workers at the power plants.

all of this comes into play when the planet anakrion undergoes a transition of power.

the new leader is young king lepold, who is under the sway of his uncle's influence.

his uncle wants lepold to strike terminus and take control over the powerful foundation.

hardin visits anakrion for king lepold's coronation and is told that a battle cruiser is already on its way to terminus ready to strike.

strangely, hardin appears nonplussed.

he tells king lepold that weeks ago he told all the high priests across anakrion that every power plant should shut down at midnight unless he told them otherwise.

at that moment, midnight struck and the power worldwide shut down.

just then a call comes through from the battle cruiser.

it too has been disabled by the members of the crew faithful to the foundation.

king lepold is so utterly at hardin's mercy that he at first tries to shoot hardin.

but when that fails, he kills himself.

salvo hardin's skilful diplomacy and strategic thinking have secured the foundation's position in the galaxy.

back home, he's celebrated as a hero and a symbol of the foundation's strength.

once again, the vault opens and selden addresses the foundation.

he discusses the progress made in overcoming the second crisis.

he alludes to the foundation's growing influence in the galaxy and the ongoing implementation of selden's psychohistorical plan.

he reiterates an important point.

he can't give anyone foreknowledge of the kind of crises that await, but if all goes to plan, the vault will continue to open at these crucial stages.

in this section, we can better see some of the real-world parallels that are going on in the story.

the foundation is exerting its influence in a very strategic fashion.

it's dealt with the three barbarous nearby planets by investing them with atomic power and other signifiers of civilisation such as clinics, laboratories and factories.

while these investments have increased the power of the neighbouring kingdoms, they've come with a hidden cost of cultural influence.

the religion of the foundation has taken root, and proven insurmountable even for the nation's king.

this shows the different ways in which world powers have exerted empire-building influence over the years.

the king of anakrion was adhering to the old galactic empire method of deploying a battlecruiser and using violence.

but the foundation's use of cultural influence proves stronger.

in this section, we're going to look at the last two parts of foundation as they really go hand in hand with one another.

the first part jumps ahead 55 years and shifts its focus to the traders, a group that plays a significant role in the foundation's expansion.

these traders, operating in the periphery, are a daring and resourceful bunch.

they've helped the foundation endure by venturing to distant planets and supplying them with atomic-powered goods.

the story revolves around master trader limar ponyets, who accepts a mission on behalf of the foundation to go to ascon, where a fellow trader, eskel gorov, is imprisoned.

when he arrives, he meets counsellor ferl, an ambitious protégé to the planet's grand master.

it turns out that on ascon, atomic power is essentially banned.

they know all about the pseudo-religious despotism that comes with using this energy and want nothing to do with it.

but ponyets learns what ferl really wants.

gold.

so he strikes a bargain that allows him to trade for gorov's freedom.

ponyets demonstrates a gadget that appears to have the ability to turn iron into gold.

this magic trick draws ferl in, and ultimately he not only releases gorov, but he also accepts an array of atomic gadgets while giving the foundation a huge shipment of iron.

ponyets later explains that the device doesn't actually have the ability to transmute iron into gold.

in time the fake gold will be revealed.

but before that happens, ferl will be able to use the gadgets to secure his position as the next grand master, and the foundation will have established another important ally in the galaxy.

now in the final section, we jump another twenty years into the future, where we meet hoba mallow, a former trader who's become so wealthy he's risen to the title of merchant prince.

mallow is seen as a threat to the current leadership of the foundation.

he's incredibly wealthy, and he wasn't born on terminus.

but mallow still accepts a mission to travel to the planet corel to find out how this planet attained its atomic weapons, and to determine whether or not it's an external enemy.

but the mission turns out to be a set-up, meant to allow the leadership of the foundation a way of getting rid of mallow.

fortunately, mallow catches on early and is able to come out of the ordeal unscathed.

when he returns home and is put on trial, he reveals to everyone the duplicitous nature of the foundation's current leadership.

the problem is, the leadership continues to rely on the old methods of wrapping atomic power in a pseudo-religion.

as mallow points out, it was clear twenty years ago during the events on ascon that the foundation's religion of science was more of a hindrance than a benefit.

now, through tactful negotiations, trade can be seen as being a mutually beneficial philosophy all on its own.

economic power can replace religious power.

the story ends with mallow expressing his understanding of the selden crises, the periodic conflicts that have caused the vault to open every thirty years or so.

mallow understands that the foundation must learn how to adapt and not cling on to old ideas.

he explains that right now the conditions might be right for a plutocracy, but in the future, money might be as ineffective as religion is now.

at that time the foundation must be ready and willing to pivot once again, or else it'll meet the same fate as the old galactic empire.

here's a quick summary of foundation.

harry selden uses the mathematical discipline of psychohistory to predict the future.

selden foresees the fall of the galactic empire and the ensuing dark age.

to minimise the period of chaos, he establishes the foundation on the remote planet of terminus.

over the next 155 years, the foundation encounters various challenges, including political strife, external threats, and inner rivalries.

while the galactic empire splinters and new kingdoms emerge, the foundation increases its influence over the galaxy through the spread of atomic power.

at first, this power is spread along with religious control over the kingdoms, but eventually the foundation learns that economic power and mutually beneficial trade can be even more effective.