Name: Foundation and Empire
ISBN: 9780007270446

Foundation and Empire

Led by its founding father, the great psychohistorian Hari Seldon, and taking advantage of its superior science and technology, the Foundation has survived the greed and barbarism of its neighboring warrior-planets. Yet now it must face the Empire still the mightiest force in the Galaxy even in its death throes. When an ambitious general determined to restore the Empire's glory turns the vast Imperial fleet toward the Foundation, the only hope for the small planet of scholars and scientists lies in the prophecies of Hari Seldon.

What Hacker News says

austin-cheneyFeb 2025

* A Thousand Splendid Suns

* Foundation and Empire

* On Liberty

* Good to Great

Those books shaped how I interact with other people, which is:

* I will move forward. I am not waiting for you to make a decision. If you need time then it’s on your own time and can catch up at your liability, otherwise it’s absolute empathy and self-sacrifice in all things.

* As for other people I want to avoid people that state firm conclusions lacking evidence or measures. I consider that stupidity but it could just be bias or autism. Either way it’s a problem. If people do that and can’t help but talk about themselves then they are definitely either autistic or a sociopath. If those people are charming then they are definitely sociopaths.

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austin-cheneyOct 2023

Foundation and Empire

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austin-cheneyJul 2023

* A Deepness in the Sky - Vernor Vinge

* Foundation - Isaac Asimov (But, the sequel Foundation and Empire is more interesting as it presents ideas that continue to challenge current assumptions of software)

* Meditations on First Philosophy - Rene Descartes

* Road - Cormac McCarthy

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throwaway0asdOct 2022

Foundation and Empire

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scottLobsterMar 2021

Yeah, and there's a bit of a bucket crab effect where trying to be a definite optimist in a world of indefinite optimists is much harder.

Reminds of me of "The General" from Asimov's Foundation and Empire (spoiler alert for an amazing book from 1952). In a time where the galactic empire is collapsing/shrinking, General Bel Riose makes it his mission to restore the empire militarily and re-conquer the lost territory. He's actually a good commander, has overwhelming force, and looks to be in the process of achieving complete victory in the style of historical military commanders that made the empire great. In light of his achievements, the Emperor sees him as a potential rival, despite the fact that he never appears to have any ambitions to the throne (he's presented as an Imperial True Believer), recalls him right on the cusp of complete victory over the Foundation, and the Foundation survives being snuffed out in its infancy.

Even trying to emulate the old greats with the best of intentions will fail if you don't account for your environment. If everyone else is more concerned about their portfolio, to some degree you have to be as well, even if it distracts from the greater goals.

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idDrivenFeb 2019

I would start with the Foundation trilogy first (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation). Foundation for me was a perfect book. I don't remember if I finished the robot series though, and the books looking at Wiki, have a ton of content continuing on the original universe. I mean if I started at episode I of Star Wars I never would have made it to episode IV. One of my favorite things about Asimov in general is that he is overall optimistic about the future, some of his short stories are really good too, a time-traveling Shakespeare one stuck out for me.

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