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Work #824 · Mid

Foundation

Isaac Asimov
1942-50 (stories); 1951 (collected as Foundation) · English
Science-fiction novel-cycle · Mid-twentieth-century American science fiction

Asimov's 1951 founding science-fiction novel — psychohistory and the collapse of galactic empire

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Foundation (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Foundation

The thousand-year time of the Seldon Plan.

Space

Foundation

The galaxy of the falling Empire.

Matter

Foundation

Civilizations as material aggregates of behavior.

Observer

Foundation

Hari Seldon the psychohistorian; the Foundation crisis-navigators.

Energy

Foundation

Energies of statistical-historical force.

Information

Foundation

Psychohistorical prediction as statistical information.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Foundation

Asimov's Foundation: foundational for modern science fiction; central reference for the imaginative engagement with statistical-historical determinism.