''Opus 100'' is a collection by American writer and scientist
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
. It was published by
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
on 16 October 1969. Asimov chose to celebrate the publication of his hundredth book by writing about his previous 99 books, including excerpts from short stories and novels, as well as nonfiction articles and books. ''Opus 100'' also includes five complete science fiction stories and one complete science essay.
Contents
Introduction
Part 1. Astronomy
*Excerpt from "
The Callistan Menace
"The Callistan Menace" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the April 1940 issue of ''Astonishing Stories'' and was reprinted in the 1972 collection ''The Early Asimov''. It was the second scie ...
"
*Excerpt from ''
Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter
''Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter'' is the fifth novel in the ''Lucky Starr'' series, six juvenile science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov that originally appeared under the pseudonym Paul French. The novel was first published by Doubleday ...
''
*Excerpt from "View from Amalthea" from ''The Solar System and Back''
*Excerpt from ''
Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus
''Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus'' is the third novel in the ''Lucky Starr'' series, six juvenile science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov that originally appeared under the pseudonym Paul French. The novel was first published by Doubleday & ...
''
*Excerpt from "
The Martian Way
''The Martian Way'' is a science fiction novella by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1952 issue of ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' and reprinted in the collections ''The Martian Way and Other Stories'' (1955), ''The ...
"
*Excerpt from ''The Universe''
*Excerpt from ''Galaxies''
Part 2. Robots
*Excerpt from "The Perfect Machine" from ''Today and Tomorrow and ...''
*Excerpt from "
Strange Playfellow" (usually titled "Robbie")
*Excerpt from "
Liar!"
*Excerpt from "
Runaround"
*Excerpt from "
I, Robot
''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines ''Super Science Stories'' and ''Astounding Science Fiction'' betw ...
"
*Excerpt from ''
The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science''
*"
The Last Question
"The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and was anthologized in the collections Nine Tomorrows (1959), The Best of Isaac Asi ...
"
Part 3. Mathematics
*Excerpt from ''Realm of Numbers''
*Excerpt from ''Quick and Easy Math''
*"
The Feeling of Power
"The Feeling of Power" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the February 1958 issue of '' If: Worlds of Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the 1959 collection ''Nine Tomorrows'', the ...
"
Part 4. Physics
*Excerpt from ''Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology''
*Excerpt from the introduction to ''Only a Trillion''
*Excerpt from ''The
Neutrino
A neutrino ( ; denoted by the Greek letter ) is a fermion (an elementary particle with spin of ) that interacts only via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass ...
''
*Excerpt from "
Superneutron"
Part 5. Chemistry
*Excerpt from "The Sound of Panting" from ''Only a Trillion''
*Excerpt from ''Biochemistry and Human Metabolism''
*Excerpt from ''The Chemicals of Life''
*Excerpt from ''The Noble Gases''
*"
Thiotimoline and the Space Age"
*Excerpt from ''The Kinetics of the Reaction Inactivation of
Tyrosinase
Tyrosinase is an oxidase that is the rate-limiting enzyme for controlling the production of melanin. The enzyme is mainly involved in two distinct reactions of melanin synthesis otherwise known as the Raper Mason pathway. Firstly, the hydroxylat ...
during its Catalysis of the Aerobic Oxidation of
Catechol
Catechol ( or ), also known as pyrocatechol or 1,2-dihydroxybenzene, is a toxic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is the ''ortho'' isomer of the three isomeric benzenediols. This colorless compound occurs naturally in trace amoun ...
'' (his PhD thesis)
Part 6. Biology
*Excerpt from ''The Wellsprings of Life''
*Excerpt from ''Photosynthesis''
Part 7. Words
*Excerpts from ''Words of Science''
**"Helium"
**"Idiot"
**"RH Negative"
*Excerpts from ''Words on the Map''
**"New Jersey"
**"Philadelphia"
**"Virgin Islands"
*Excerpts from ''Words from History''
**"Bloody Shirt"
**"Mob"
**"Potemkin Village"
Part 8. History
*Excerpt from ''The Greeks''
**"The Spartan Way of Life"
*Excerpt from ''The Roman Republic''
*Excerpt from ''The Egyptians''
*Excerpt from ''The Near East''
*Excerpt from "There's Nothing Like a Good Foundation" from ''Asimov on Science Fiction''
*Excerpt from "
The Dead Hand
''The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy'' is a 2009 book written by David E. Hoffman, a ''Washington Post'' contributing editor. It was the winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.
...
"
Part 9. The Bible
*Excerpt from ''Asimov's Guide to the Bible''
*"Twelve Point Three Six Nine" from ''Science, Numbers, and I''
Part 10. Short Shorts
*Excerpt from ''Please Explain''
*"On Prediction", an introduction to ''Future Tense'' edited by Richard Curtis
*"An Uncompromising View", a review of ''Mechanical Men'' by
Dean E. Wooldridge
*"
Dreamworld"
Part 11. Humor
*"
The Holmes-Ginsbook Device
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
"
Appendix: My Hundred Books
Reception
Algis Budrys
Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...
gave ''Opus 100'' a mixed review, saying "the book as a whole demands so many shifts of personality and attitude in the reader that no one, not even Asimov, could keep up with them comfortably."
["Galaxy Bookshelf", ]Galaxy Science Fiction
''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...
, December 1969, pp. 121, 158
See also
*''
Opus 200
''Opus 200'' is Isaac Asimov's joint two-hundredth book, along with his autobiography ''In Memory Yet Green'' (both books were published on the same day, following his 199th book). It was published by Houghton Mifflin in March 1979. Asimov chose to ...
''
*''
Opus 300
''Opus 300'' is a collection by American writer and scientist Isaac Asimov. It was published by Houghton Mifflin in the United States in 1984, and by Robert Hale Ltd in the United Kingdom in 1985. Asimov chose to celebrate the publication of his ...
''
References
External links
*{{isfdb title, id=38033, title=Opus 100
Books by Isaac Asimov
1969 books
Houghton Mifflin books