Marooned off Vesta Debut
Asimov's story Marooned off Vesta appeared in Amazing Stories, marking his first professional fiction publication.
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Isaac Asimov Biography and Timeline
Follow Isaac Asimov through 40 dated historical records for United States of America.
Isaac Asimov, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
40Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1939–1993Years on this page
1939
1940
Robbie Robot Story
Asimov published Robbie, an early robot story exploring human prejudice toward artificial beings.
1941
Liar Robot Story
Asimov published Liar, exploring the consequences of a robot's attempts to avoid hurting human beings.
Nightfall Short Story
Asimov published Nightfall, a famous story about a civilization confronting an unfamiliar darkness.
Reason Robot Story
Asimov published Reason, a story investigating logic and belief through a robot's conduct.
1942
Black Friar of the Flame
Asimov published Black Friar of the Flame, an early space adventure demonstrating his developing narrative style.
Foundation Serial Begins
Asimov began publishing Foundation stories in Astounding Science Fiction, establishing a future history of galactic decline.
1944
Catch That Rabbit
Asimov published Catch That Rabbit, a robot mystery involving malfunctioning mining machines.
The Big and the Little
Asimov published The Big and the Little, a Foundation story later incorporated into Foundation and Empire.
1945
The Mule Serialized
Asimov serialized The Mule, introducing a disruptive figure into his Foundation future history.
1946
Evidence Robot Story
Asimov published Evidence, a robot story examining the problem of identifying a humanlike robot.
1947
Little Lost Robot
Asimov published Little Lost Robot, investigating modified robotic safeguards and their unforeseen risks.
1948
Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline
Asimov published a mock scientific paper about thiotimoline, satirizing the language of academic research.
1949
Mother Earth Novella
Asimov published Mother Earth, a story about tensions between Earth and the Spacer worlds.
1950
I Robot Collection
Asimov published I Robot, collecting interrelated stories about robots and the Three Laws of Robotics.
1951
Foundation Book Edition
Asimov's Foundation appeared as a book, gathering stories about Hari Seldon's plan to shorten a galactic dark age.
1952
David Starr Space Ranger
Asimov published David Starr Space Ranger under the pen name Paul French, beginning a juvenile adventure series.
The Currents of Space
Asimov published The Currents of Space, a science-fiction novel about exploitation and interstellar politics.
1953
Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids
Asimov continued the Lucky Starr series with an adventure involving asteroid-belt pirates.
The Martian Way
Asimov published The Martian Way, a novella about the resourcefulness of human settlers beyond Earth.
1954
Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus
Asimov's Venus adventure expanded the Lucky Starr series into a new planetary setting.
1955
The Martian Way Collection
Asimov published The Martian Way and Other Stories, bringing several science-fiction narratives together.
1956
Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury
Asimov published another Lucky Starr novel, placing its mystery on Mercury.
The Last Question
Asimov published The Last Question, a story about entropy and the ultimate future of intelligence.
1957
Earth Is Room Enough
Asimov published Earth Is Room Enough, a collection of science-fiction stories exploring varied social ideas.
Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter
Asimov continued his juvenile space-adventure sequence with a plot involving Jupiter's moons.
1958
Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn
Asimov concluded the original Lucky Starr series with a novel set around Saturn.
1959
Nine Tomorrows Collection
Asimov published Nine Tomorrows, a collection featuring several major science-fiction stories.
1964
The Rest of the Robots
Asimov published The Rest of the Robots, collecting additional fiction about robots and their human creators.
1967
Through a Glass Clearly
Asimov published Through a Glass Clearly, a collection of five science-fiction stories.
1969
Nightfall and Other Stories
Asimov released Nightfall and Other Stories, making important earlier short fiction available in one volume.
1974
Tales of the Black Widowers
Asimov published Tales of the Black Widowers, a collection of mystery stories featuring a dining club.
1975
Buy Jupiter and Other Stories
Asimov collected varied speculative stories in Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.
1976
The Bicentennial Man Collection
Asimov published The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories, bringing his titular novella together with shorter fiction.
The Bicentennial Man
Asimov published The Bicentennial Man, a novella about a robot's long pursuit of human identity.
1983
The Robots of Dawn
Asimov published The Robots of Dawn, extending his Elijah Baley detective series to the planet Aurora.
1985
Robots and Empire
Asimov published Robots and Empire, connecting themes and chronology from his Robot and Foundation universes.
1986
Robot Dreams Collection
Asimov published Robot Dreams, a collection illustrated by Ralph McQuarrie.
1990
Robot Visions Collection
Asimov published Robot Visions, revisiting the ethical and imaginative possibilities of robotics.
1993
Forward the Foundation Published
Forward the Foundation appeared posthumously, extending the fictional biography of mathematician Hari Seldon.
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.