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Psychohistory: “The possibility of organizing the natural laws of society in such a way as to make it possible to anticipate the future with a substantial degree of probability.” Hummin shuttles them off to another of Trantor's sectors known as Dahl. Not only is their purpose for going here unexplained, their stay in Dahl is one of the weaker sections of the book. Were it not for introducing important characters who play a larger role in the sequel, there would be little to recommend its place in the story. Seldon meets a precocious factory worker named Yugo Amaryl whom he promises a job after seeing some scribbled equations Amaryl had been working on in his spare time. Amaryl also mentions a wise woman known as Mother Rittah who holds ancient knowledge about Earth—the original home of humanity and, Seldon hopes, an ideal case study for psychohistory.
Oh well, I enjoyed myself and I loved that the story filled in gaps in both the Foundation series and the Robot novels. Worth a read, it will make you smile.Before Hari Seldon became the fearsome apostle of doom, and the legendary founder of psychohistory, he was an idealistic 30-year-old with an interesting scientific theory. He only meant to start a hypothetical discussion among fellow mathematicians, but ended up seriously pondering its practical applicability. I think it would be a bit harsh to say that this book was written to cash in on the phenomenon that was Foundation, though I suspect that is part of it. What probably happened is that Asimov realised that he could link up all the books he'd previously written (for the Foundation series and for his robot stuff) into one big series, spanning thousands of years and the entire galaxy, but still essentially linked. Which means he had to write a few books to go in between the early robot stories and the later Foundation series. Prequals to the latter or sequels to the former? It doesn't really matter, because all this book is (and I expect the other prequal/sequel too) is a gap-filler. For the first half of the book Prelude to Foundation moves at a leisurely pace and, like Asimov’s other 80s novels features lengthy stretches of dialogue. The substance of the conversations is generally interesting enough not to grind the narrative to a halt, but the original trilogy is much more tightly written. On the other hand, in the 80s Asimov was more interested in developing characters. These characters are not particularly deep or subtly nuanced but they are quite likable and accomplish more than just driving the plot forward. Asimov was not great prose stylist but there is plenty of charm in his narrative, he seems to be having fun writing the book, gleefully including terrible puns, mischievous bits of dialogue and pulling the rug from under the reader’s feet. Seldon wants no part in this scheme, and for good reason: he now knows how to make psychohistory practical. Through his diverse cultural experiences in each of the sectors spread across Trantor, he realizes Trantor itself will serve as the perfect model for developing his inchoate science, which can then be generalized to the rest of the twenty-five million worlds populating the Galaxy. At least, that's the idea. But if Rashelle's coup comes to fruition, the Galaxy would be plunged into anarchy, menaced by a neverending series of territorial disputes and sanguinary transfers of power. If Seldon is to mature his science and stave off the destruction to come, the Empire must remain at peace.
The more valued and the more carefully preserved particular information is, the more long-lasting and accurate it may be.” “The key word is ‘particular.’ What the Book may care to preserve may not be what you wish to have preserved and what a robot may remember best may be what you wish him to remember least.” Unless you're just a die-hard Foundation fan and have to read them all, "Prelude to Foundation" can safely be skipped. In particular, I'm not sure that I would recommend reading it prior to the other Foundation novels despite the fact that it's a prequel.Asimov was a master at the big idea. He was an artist who painted stories on a ginormous canvas, depicting mega events and larger than life characters. The mind-bogglingly large, galaxy spanning empire he created for the Foundation series was the prototype for all of the vast galactic civilizations that came after. Hari Seldon is the genius mathematicians who developed psychohistory which he uses to guide the destiny of the entire human race scattered across the galaxy. In the original trilogy Seldon is a very wise old man, here for the first time we meet the legendary man in his thirties. He has just conceived of psychohistory as a mathematical concept but has no idea how to make it practical. At the beginning of Prelude to Foundation he is presenting his paper on psychohistory at a convention of mathematicians held in Trantor, the capital of the Galactic Empire. The sensational idea of - theoretically - being able to predict history using mathematics brings him to the attention of Cleon I, the Galactic Emperor and his formidable henchman Eto Demerzel. After summoning Seldon to quiz him about the practicality of psychohistory the Emperor lets him go but keeps him under surveillance in case he manages to make something useful out of his theory. Soon after his interview with Cleon, he meets a reporter called Chetter Hummin who convinces him to go on the run as the Emperor are about to pursue him and use him for political gains once he has time to consider the potential of Seldon’s theory. Seldon goes to Streeling University for sanctuary where he meets Dors Venabili who understand the importance of Seldon’s work and decide to protect him from his pursuers. When they do come calling Seldon and Dors go on the run, with the advice of Hummin they seek sanctuary in various administrative sectors* of Trantor. Each sector they stay in has very distinctive, peculiar culture and social mores. The authorities eventually catches up with him with surprising result.
Hari is still young, here, and only just came up with the possibility of there being a way to kinda predict the future. Still, his presentation gets the emperor's interest so they meet. Afterwards, Hari meets a reporter who informs him that the powers that be plan his kidnapping and helps him escape to Streeling University (where Hari is introduced to Dors Venabili , his later wife who happens to also be a robot). Además, el personaje de Hari Seldon me ha parecido insoportable. Ya no tenemos aquí al Seldon casi mítico que predice el futuro de Fundación; lo que tenemos aquí es un egocéntrico y pedante matemático que no hace caso de lo que le dice nadie. Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: On Trantor during the reign of Cleon I, Hari Seldon is at a mathematical convention, presenting Psychohistory as a purely hypothetical yet interesting possibility. Cleon's First Minister, Eto Demerzel, sees the potential importance of Psychohistory and convinces Cleon to meet with the young Hari Seldon. Cleon hopes to use Psychohistory for political gain. After an interview with Hari, however, Cleon concludes that Hari is of no use to the Empire. Mycelium Seventy-Two is a Mycogenian scholar whom Hari and Dors meet on the gravibus to the Sacratorium.Il nostro portagonista Hari Seldon (l'ideatore della psicostoria) da semplice matematico senza nessun valore diventa ricercatissimo: lui potrebbe predire il futuro, per cui lo vogliono tutti dall'Imperatore al sindaco di Wye che vuole spodestare l'imperatore. Così, grazie all'aiuto di Hummin e di Dors, inizia a nascondersi, girando per il pianeta Trantor. Meraviglioso, e pieno di colpi di scena: tu ormai pensi che...e invece! I knew Daneel still had to "be alive" and the name of the first minister along with the character of Demoiselle from the AppleTV+ show kinda gave it away, but theorizing and then actually getting the payoff are two very different things. As the name suggest it is the prequel to the Foundation series which is considered one of the best SF series ever. What is unique about Prelude, however slight a difference it makes in the end, is that Hari Seldon is widely thought to be modeled after Asimov himself. Ruthlessly logical, chronically inquisitive and never satisfied he has the final answer in hand, Seldon is the hardened intellectual Asimov embodied throughout his illustrious career. The recurring problem, however—and Prelude once again fails to break the mold—is the supporting cast, who is every bit as effortlessly logical and thorough as Seldon. Each of the characters he interacts with, even the oppressed women on Mycogen, go toe to toe with Seldon's brilliance. They speak the same way, they reason the same way. The criticisms of previous entries thus still stand: the dialogue reads largely as an exchange between scholars than as variegated, down-to-earth human beings with diverse flaws and personalities and cognitive talents to boot. It's all the more ironic given that social complexity is presented as the critical plot device underwriting psychohistory's evolution from concept to reality.
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