Opus 100


Opus 100 is a collection by American writer and scientist Isaac Asimov. It was published by Houghton Mifflin 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
Part 2. Robots
Part 3. Mathematics
Part 4. Physics
Part 5. Chemistry
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
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"
Appendix: My Hundred Books

Reception

Algis Budrys 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."