Research Catalog

Title

The roving mind / Isaac Asimov ; preface by Paul Kurtz ; with tributes by Carl Sagan [and others].

Author

Asimov, Isaac, 1920-1992.

Publication

Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxix, 350 pages; 23 cm

Summary

• Isaac Asimov's death on April 6, 1992, was a great loss to literature, science, and freethought. The vision of one of America's most prolific authors is unmatched today, and his pointed honesty shines through in this fascinating collection of essays, now reissued in this special tribute edition.
• Asimov demonstrates his extraordinary skill at disseminating knowledge from across the spectrum of scientific disciplines as his "roving mind" ranges from the polemical to the persuasive, from the speculative to the realistic.
• The sixty-two essays in this volume include such subjects as creationism, the distinction between real science and pseudoscience, censorship, the population explosion, technophobia, the social consequences of technological progress, cloning, the possibility of contacting extraterrestrial life, and the wonders of the cosmos.
• There are also thoughts on his style of writing, stories about his personal life, and recollections of family history - all written in the clear and elegant prose for which Asimov was noted.

Subject

• Science > Miscellanea

Contents

• Foreword: Isaac Asimov: Science Popularizer, Skeptic, and Rationalist / Paul Kurtz -- A Celebration of Isaac Asimov: A Man for the Universe -- Pt. I. The Religious Radicals. 1. The Army of the Night. 2. Creationism and the Schools. 3. The Reagan Doctrine. 4. The Blind Who Would Lead. 5. Creeping Censorship. 6. Losing the Debate -- Pt. II. Other Aberrations. 7. The Harvest of Intelligence. 8. That Old-Time Violence. 9. Little Green Men or Not? 10. Don't You Believe? 11. Open Mind? 12. The Role of the Heretic -- Pt. III. Population. 13. The Good Earth Is Dying. 14. The Price of Survival. 15. Letter to a Newborn Child -- Pt. IV. Science: Opinion. 16. Technophobia. 17. What Have You Done for Us Lately? 18. Speculation. 19. Is It Wise for Us to Contact Advanced Civilizations? 20. Pure and Impure. 21. Do We Regulate Science? 22. For Public Understanding of Science. 23. Science Corps. 24. Science and Beauty. 25. Art and Science.
• 26. The Fascination of Science. 27. Sherlock Holmes as Chemist -- Pt. V. Science: Explanation. 28. The Global Jigsaw. 29. The Inconstant Sun. 30. The Sky of the Satellites. 31. The Surprises of Pluto. 32. Neutron Stars. 33. Black Holes. 34. Faster than Light. 35. Hyperspace. 36. Beyond the Universe. 37. Life on Earth -- Pt. VI. The Future. 38. The Transportation and the Future. 39. The Corporation of the Future. 40. The Future of Collecting. 41. The Computerized World. 42. The Individualism to Come. 43. The Coming Age of Age. 44. The Decade of Decision. 45. Do You Want to Be Cloned? 46. The Hotel of the Future. 47. The Future of Plants. 48. Bacterial Engineering. 49. Flying in Time to Come. 50. The Ultimate in Communication. 51. His Own Particular Drummer. 52. The Future of Exploration. 53. Homo Obsoletus? 54. Volatiles for the Life of Luna. 55. Touring the Moon. 56. Life on a Space Settlement. 57. Payoff in Space -- Pt. VII. Personal.
• 58. I Am a Signpost. 59. The Word-Processor and I. 60. A Question of Speed. 61. A Question of Spelling. 62. My Father.

ISBN

1573921815 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

97041506

OCLC

• 37695729
• ocm37695729

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries