Isaac Asimov

Stewie builds a robot for a friend after he and Brian get into a fight. Meanwhile, Lois forces Peter to buy a new mattress

In a crossover with Futurama, the Simpsons meet the Planet Express crew when Bender comes back through time to kill Bart in order to prevent the future from looking bad. Guest stars: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Phil LaMarr, Maurice LaMarche and Lauren Tom

Mr. Burns replaces all of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's employees (except Homer) with robots, but the robots soon turn on the people of Springfield. Guest star: Brent Spiner

The Planet Express crew ask three more questions for the What-If Machine: Bender asks what if he were human; Fry asks what if life were more like a video game; and Leela asks what if she found her true home. I, Meatbag – Farnsworth uses his latest invention to turn Bender into a human for the Nobel Committee. Bender goes on a week-long eating binge that turns him into a thousand-pound, morbidly obese blob and dies shortly after inspiring the committee to become party animals like he had. Raiders of the Lost Arcade – Earth is invaded by a race of aliens from Nintendu 64 in a manner similar to Space Invaders. Fry fails to stop the Nintendian invasion, but when their demands are revealed to be quarters for laundry, a compromise is reached allowing the Nintendians to mix their laundry with the Earthlings' in exchange for the Earth's safety. Wizzin' – Instead of seeing what would happen if she found her true home, Leela is knocked unconscious by the What-If Machine's lever and dreams herself in a parody of The Wizard of Oz with herself as Dorothy, Fry as the Scarecrow, Bender as the Tin Man, Zoidberg as the Cowardly Lion, Farnsworth as the Wizard, and Mom as the Wicked Witch. Leela decides she wants to become the new Wicked Witch instead of going home, but her reign of terror and her dream are cut short when Zoidberg splashes and melts her with water.

When Fry eats an egg-salad sandwich from a vending machine at a gas station, he begins to have strange side-effects -- he becomes stronger and smarter. Professor Farnsworth makes a diagnosis and concludes that Fry had ingested "intelligent worms" that have set up shop in his body. Because these worms are so smart, the regular means of flushing them out will not work. The Planet Express crew makes miniature robotic versions of themselves and enter Fry's body to fight off the intruders. Meanwhile Leela is left to divert Fry's attention, but finds herself more and more attracted to the new man Fry has become. Leela ends up loving Fry, or at least what he has become. In the end Fry makes the worms leave, and Leela leaves him, because he turns back into the old Fry.

Fry lives in the Planet Express building until he is kicked out for his messiness. He initially moves in with Bender, but his new apartment is little more than a cramped closet, so they both move into a more spacious and furnished apartment. During the housewarming party, it is discovered that Bender's antenna interferes with the entire building's satellite TV reception, and Bender is evicted while Fry stays with little regard for his friend's troubles. Depressed, Bender goes on a self-destructive sobriety binge until he cuts off his antenna in the hopes of moving back with Fry. Realizing that Bender's antenna is vital to his self-esteem, Fry helps Bender reattach it and moves back into Bender's old apartment. It is then revealed that Bender's apartment has a "closet" that is the size of a complete living suite with more than enough room for Fry, so Fry decides to move there instead.

In the year 2035 a techno-phobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.

Bicentennial Man is a 1999 American science fiction comedy/drama family film, starring Robin Williams. Based on the novel The Positronic Man, co-written by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, which is itself based on Asimov's original novella titled The Bicentennial Man, the plot explores issues of humanity, slavery, prejudice, maturity, intellectual freedom, conformity, sex, love, and mortality. It was directed by Chris Columbus and a co-production between Touchstone Pictures and Columbia Pictures. The title comes from the main character existing to the age of two hundred years, and Asimov's novella was published in the year that the U.S. had its bicentennial.

Thank you to the millions of passionate teachers who inspire curiosity in their classrooms...lesson after lesson, unit after unit, year after year. We're fortunate to have had many of you in our lives, and we can't wait to see what the future will bring because of the work you're doing today. "To The Moon" When I was a little girl all I wanted to do was go to the moon. I had the perfect outfit. The star chart on my ceiling. I've read all the books and seen all the movies. There's so much to know about space, and the stars, and the planets. Like... Nebulae are the nurseries of the universe. The computer that put us on the moon was less powerful than a cell phone. When you look at the stars you're looking into the past. I like knowing what's out there... The ISS is over my house. The Lyrid meteor shower. Where to find Orion. But tonight... I'm thinking about tomorrow's lesson plan. (It's space week!) I can't wait for the kids to see our first steps. The moons of Jupiter. The rings of Saturn. What happens when you cry in space. Maybe we'll even meet some astronauts. Tomorrow, we're all going to the moon! And that's so much better than going alone. To every teacher on Earth Thank you Google

The Encyclopedia Galactica is a fictional or hypothetical encyclopedia of a galaxy-spanning civilization, containing all the knowledge accumulated by a society with quadrillions of people and thousands of years of history. The name evokes the exhaustive aspects of the real-life Encyclopædia Britannica. The version mentioned in Second Foundation is listed as the 116th Edition published in 1020 F.E. by the Encyclopedia Publishing Co., Terminus.

This fictitious book is referenced in Foundation and Empire as a piece of "old-time literature". Ducem Barr comes across a film (i.e., microfilm) of this book on his ship. The author may be listed as "Devers".

This is a fictitious song referenced in Foundation and Empire which is played by Magnifico on his Visi-Sonor.

Forward the Foundation is a novel written by Isaac Asimov, published by the author in 1993. It is the second of two prequels to the Foundation Series. It is written in much the same style as the original novel Foundation, a novel composed of chapters with long intervals in between. Both books were first published as independent short stories in science fiction magazines. Eight years after the events of Prelude, Seldon has worked out the science of psychohistory and has applied it on a galactic scale. His notability and fame increase and he is eventually promoted to First Minister to the Emperor. As the book progresses, Seldon loses those closest to him, including his wife, Dors Venabili, as his own health deteriorates into old age. Having worked his entire adult life to understand psychohistory, Seldon instructs his granddaughter, Wanda, to set up the Second Foundation.

Foundation and Earth is a Locus Award-nominated science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, the fifth novel of the Foundation series and chronologically the last in the series. It was published in 1986, four years after the first sequel to the Foundation trilogy, which is titled Foundation's Edge. Still uncertain about his decision, Trevize continues on with the search for Earth along with Pelorat and a local of Gaia, advanced in Mentalics, known as Blissenobiarella (usually referred to simply as Bliss). Eventually, Trevize finds three sets of co-ordinates which are very old. Adjusting them for time, he realises that his ship's computer does not list any planet in the vicinity of the co-ordinates. When he physically visits each location, he discovers an uncharted planet: Aurora, Solaria, and finally Melpomenia. After searching and facing different dilemmas on each planet, none has given him the answers he seeks. Aurora and Melpomenia are long deserted, but Solaria contains a small population which is extremely advanced in the field of Mentalics. When their lives are threatened, Bliss uses her abilities (and the shared intellect of Gaia) to destroy the Solarian who is about to kill them. This leaves behind a small child, who will be put to death if left alone, so Bliss makes the decision to keep the child as they quickly escape the planet. Eventually, Trevize discovers Earth, but it, again, contains no satisfactory answers for him (it is also long-since deserted). However, it dawns on Trevize that the answer may not be on Earth, but on Earth's satellite-the Moon. Upon approaching the planet, they are drawn closer and then to inside the Moon's core, where they meet a robot named R. Daneel Olivaw. Olivaw explains that he has been guiding human history for thousands of years, and this is the reason the Seldon plan had remained on course, despite the interventions by the Mule. Olivaw also states he is at the end of his run-time and, despite replacement parts and more advanced brains (which contain 20,000 years of memories), he is going to die shortly. He explains that no robotic brain can be developed to replace his current one, and to continue assisting with the benefit of humanity-which may come under attack by beings from beyond our Galaxy-he must meld his mind with an organic intellect. Once again, Trevize is put in the position of deciding if having Olivaw meld with the child's superior intellect would be in the best interests of the galaxy. The decision is left ambiguous (though likely a 'yes') as it is also implied that the melding of the minds may be to the child's benefit and that she may have sinister intentions about it.

Foundation and Empire is a novel written by Isaac Asimov that was published by Gnome Press in 1952. It is the second book published in the Foundation Series, and the fourth in the in-universe chronology. It takes place in two halves, originally published as separate novellas. The second part, "The Mule," won a Hugo Award. The current Emperor of the Galaxy perceives the Foundation as a growing threat and orders an attack on it, using the Empire's still-mighty fleet of war vessels. However, eventually convinced, as foretold by psychohistory, that his power would be most vulnerable to that of his own successful general (a possible analogy with that of the Roman empire at various times), the Emperor finally orders withdrawal of his fleet. In spite of its undoubted inferiority in purely military terms, the Foundation emerges as the victor and the Empire itself is defeated. Meanwhile, an unknown outsider known as the Mule has begun taking over planets belonging to the Foundation at a rapid pace. When the Foundation comes to realize the Mule was not foreseen in Seldon's plan, and there is no predicted way of defeating him, Toran and Bayta Darell, accompanied by Ebling Mis-the galaxy's current greatest psychologist-and a court jester named Magnifico (whom they agree to protect, as his life is under threat from the Mule himself), set out to find the Second Foundation, hoping they bring an end to the Mule's reign. Eventually, working in the still-functional Great Library of Trantor, Mis comes to learn of the Second Foundation's whereabouts. Mis also deduces that the Mule's success stems from his mutation; he is able to change the emotions of others, a power he used to first instill fear in the inhabitants of his conquered planets, then to make his enemies devoutly loyal to him. Having worked out that the Mule is also attempting to find the location of the Second Foundation, Bayta Darell kills Mis before he can reveal where the Second Foundation is. Bayta explains that she regrets her actions, but that the secret had to be kept from the Mule at all costs. Magnifico reveals that Bayta's suspicions about him are correct and that he is the Mule and has been laboring to find the Second Foundation in order to start his own Second Empire, hundreds of years before the Seldon Plan is to be complete. Dismayed at having made a mistake which allowed Bayta to see through his disguise, he leaves Trantor to rule over his conquered planets while continuing his own search.

Foundation is the first novel in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy (later expanded into The Foundation Series). Foundation is a cycle of five interrelated short stories, first published as a single book by Gnome Press in 1951. Collectively they tell the story of the Foundation, an institute to preserve the best of galactic civilization after the collapse of the Galactic Empire. Four of the five stories had been earlier published in Astounding Magazine (with different titles) between 1942 and 1944, and a fifth story (positioned first in the book) was added when they first appeared in book form. The original four stories also appeared in 1955 as part of Ace Double's novel series as D-110 under the title The 1,000-Year Plan. Called forth to stand trial on Trantor for allegations of treason (for foreshadowing the decline of the Galactic Empire), Seldon explains that his science of psychohistory foresees many alternatives, all of which result in the Galactic Empire eventually falling. If humanity follows its current path, the Empire will fall and 30,000 years of turmoil will overcome humanity before a second Empire arises. However, an alternative path allows for the intervening years to be only one thousand, if Seldon is allowed to collect the most intelligent minds and create a compendium of all human knowledge, entitled Encyclopedia Galactica. The board is still wary but allows Seldon to assemble whomever he needs, provided he and the "Encyclopedists" be exiled to a remote planet, Terminus. Seldon agrees to set up his own collection of Encyclopedists, and also secretly implements a contingency plan-a second Foundation-at the "opposite end" of the galaxy. Once on Terminus, the inhabitants find themselves at a loss. With four powerful planets surrounding their own, the Encyclopedists have no defenses but their own intelligence. The Mayor of Terminus City, Salvor Hardin, proposes to play the planets against each other. His plan is a success; the Foundation remains untouched, and he is promoted to Mayor of Terminus (the planet). Meanwhile, the minds of the Foundation continue to develop newer and greater technologies which are smaller and more powerful than the Empire's equivalents. Using its scientific advantage, Terminus develops trade routes with nearby planets, eventually taking them over when its technology becomes a much-needed commodity. The interplanetary traders effectively become the new diplomats to other planets. One such trader, Hober Mallow, becomes powerful enough to challenge and win the seat of Mayor and, by cutting off supplies to a nearby region, also succeeds in adding more planets to the Foundation's reach.

Foundation's Edge (1982) is a science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov, the fourth book in the Foundation Series. It was written more than thirty years after the stories of the original Foundation trilogy, due to years of pressure by fans and editors on Asimov to write another, and, according to Asimov himself, the amount of the payment offered by the publisher. It was his first novel to ever land on The New York Times best-seller list, after 262 books and 44 years of writing. Foundation's Edge won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1983, and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1982. Believing the Second Foundation still exists (despite the common belief that it has been extinguished), Golan Trevize is sent by the current Mayor of the Foundation, Harla Branno, to uncover the group while accompanied by a scholar named Janov Pelorat. The reason for their belief is the Seldon Plan appears to be proceeding fully on course, despite all the disruptions caused by the Mule. They attribute this fact to unknown interventions by the Second Foundation. After sharing a few conversations with each other, Trevize comes to believe the Second Foundation lies on a planet in which Pelorat is an expert-the mythical planet of Earth. No such planet exists in any database, yet several myths and legends all refer to it, and it is Trevize's idea that the planet is deliberately being kept hidden. Meanwhile, Stor Gendibal, a prominent member of the Second Foundation, discovers a simple local-who lives on the same planet as the Second Foundation-has had a minor alteration made to her mind. This alteration is far more delicate than anything the Second Foundation can do and, as a result, he determines a greater force of Mentalics is operating in the Galaxy-a force as powerful as the Mule himself. Having shown interest in Trevize earlier (as he is an individual who has spoken out against the Second Foundation frequently), Gendibal endeavors to follow Trevize, reasoning that he should be able to find out who has altered the mind of the native. Using the few scraps of reliable information within the various myths, Trevize and Pelorat discover a planet called Gaia, which is inhabited solely by Mentalics, to such an extent that every organism and inanimate object on the planet shares a common mind. Having followed Trevize by their own means, Branno and Gendibal reach Gaia at the same time. Meanwhile, Trevize is made to decide between three alternatives for the future of the human race: the First Foundation's mastery of the physical world and its traditional political organization (i.e., empire), the Second Foundation's mentalics (and probable rule by mind control), or Gaia's absorption of the entire Galaxy into one shared, harmonious intellect. After Trevize makes his decision, the intellect of Gaia adjusts Branno's mind so that she believes she has successfully negotiated a treaty tying Sayshell to the Foundation (and that Gaia is just a Sayshellian myth); Gendibal is sent back to the Second Foundation under the impression that the Second Foundation is victorious and should continue as normal. Trevize remains uncertain as to why he has chosen Gaia as the correct outcome for the future.

I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are woven together as Dr. Susan Calvin tells them to a reporter (the narrator) in the 21st century. Though the stories can be read separately, they share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots and morality, and when combined they tell a larger story of Asimov's fictional history of robotics.

Here is the story of the paradoxical genius who wrote of travel to the stars yet refused to fly in airplanes; who imagined alien universes and vast galactic civilizations while staying home to write; who compulsively authored more than 470 books yet still found the time to share his ideas with some of the great minds of our century. Here are his wide-ranging thoughts and sharp-eyed observations on everything from religion to politics, love and divorce, friendship and Hollywood, fame and mortality. Here, too, is a riveting behind-the-scenes look at the varied personalities--Campbell, Ellison, Heinlein, Clarke, del Rey, Silverberg, and others--who along with Asimov helped shape science fiction.

Prelude to Foundation is a Locus Award nominated 1988 novel written by Isaac Asimov. It is one of two prequels to the Foundation series. For the first time, Asimov chronicles the fictional life of Hari Seldon, the man who invented psychohistory and the intellectual hero of the series. Prelude to Foundation opens on the planet Trantor, the empire's capital planet, the day after Hari Seldon has given a speech at a conference. Several parties become aware of the content of his speech (that using mathematical formulas, it may be possible to predict the future course of human history). Seldon is hounded by the Emperor and various employed thugs who are working surreptitiously, which forces him into exile. Over the course of the book, Seldon and Dors Venabili, a female companion, are taken from location to location by an aide, Chetter Hummin, who introduces them to various walks of life in his attempts to keep Seldon hidden from the Emperor. Throughout their adventures all over Trantor, Seldon continuously denies that psychohistory is a realistic science. Even if feasible, it may take several decades to develop. Hummin, however, is convinced that Seldon knows something, so he continuously presses him to work out a starting point to develop psychohistory. Eventually, after much traveling and introductions to various, diverse cultures on Trantor, Seldon realizes that using the entire known galaxy as a starting point is too overwhelming, then decides to use Trantor as a model to work out the science, with a goal of using the applied knowledge on the rest of the galaxy.

Second Foundation is the third novel published of the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov, and the fifth in the in-universe chronology. It was first published in 1953 by Gnome Press. Second Foundation consists of two previously published novellas originally published in appearing in Astounding Magazine (with different titles) between 1948 and 1950, making this the third volume in Asimov's Foundation series. Decades later, Asimov wrote two further sequel novels and two prequels. Later writers have added authorized tales to the series. As the Mule comes closer to finding it, the mysterious Second Foundation comes briefly out of hiding to face the threat directly. It is revealed to be a collection of the most intelligent humans in the galaxy, the descendants of Seldon's psychohistorians. While the first Foundation has developed the physical sciences, the Second Foundation has been developing the mental sciences. Using the might of its strongest minds, the Second Foundation ultimately wears down the Mule. His destructive attitude is adjusted to a benevolent one. He returns to rule over his kingdom peacefully for the rest of his life, without any further thought of conquering the Second Foundation. The first Foundation, learning of the implications of the Second, who will be the true inheritor of Seldon's promised future Empire, greatly resents it-and seeks to find and destroy it, believing it can manage without it. After many attempts to unravel the only clue Seldon had given as to the Second Foundation's whereabouts ("at Star's End"), the Foundation is led to believe the Second Foundation is located on Terminus. By developing a technology which causes great pain to telepaths, the Foundation uncover a group of 50 of them, and destroys them, believing it has thereby won. However, the Second Foundation has planned for this eventuality, and has sent 50 of its members to their deaths as martyrs to preserve its anonymity. At the very end, the Second Foundation is revealed to be located on the former Imperial Homeworld of Trantor itself. The clue "at Star's End" was not a physical clue, but instead based on an old saying, "All roads lead to Trantor, and that is where all stars end". Seldon, being a social scientist and not a physical one, placed the two Foundations at "opposite ends" of the galaxy, but not in a physical sense. Foundation was located on Terminus, out in the Periphery of the galaxy, where the Empire's influence was minimal. Second Foundation was hidden on Trantor, where, even in its dying days, the Empire's power and culture was strongest.

"The Bicentennial Man" is a novelette in the Robot series by Isaac Asimov. It was awarded the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for best science fiction novelette of 1976.