Opus 300


Opus 300 is a collection by American writer and scientist Isaac Asimov. It was published by Houghton Mifflin in the United States in 1984, and by Robert Hale Ltd in the United Kingdom in 1985. Asimov chose to celebrate the publication of his three hundredth book by writing about his previous 99 books, including excerpts from short stories and novels, as well as nonfiction articles and books. Opus 300 also includes nine complete stories, several complete science essays, and one complete essay never before published, "The Forever Generation," which is not available anywhere else.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Part 1. Astronomy
  • * "The Moon"
  • * Excerpts from Visions of the Universe
  • ** Mercury
  • ** Volcanoes on Venus
  • * "Icarus"
  • * Excerpt from The Science Fictional Solar System
  • * Excerpt from Foundation's Edge
  • Part 2. Earth Sciences
  • * "Below Earth's Atmosphere"
  • * "Explosion at Thera"
  • * "The Floating Crystal Palace"
  • Part 3. Mathematics
  • * "To Ungild Refined Gold"
  • * Excerpt from The Measure of the Universe
  • * "1 to 999"
  • Part 4. Physics
  • * "Let Einstein Be!"
  • * "Converting It All"
  • Part 5. Chemistry
  • * "Big Brother"
  • * "Bread and Stone"
  • Part 6. Biology
  • * Excerpt from How Did We Find Out About Genes?
  • * Excerpt from How Did We Find Out About the Beginning of Life?
  • * Excerpt from How Did We Find Out About Our Human Roots?
  • * Excerpt from Caught in the Organ Draft
  • * "Clone, Clone of My Own"
  • Part 7. Robots and Computers]
  • * Excerpt from The Robots of Dawn
  • * Excerpt from Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot
  • * "A Perfect Fit"
  • * "The Word Processor and I"
  • Part 8. History
  • * Excerpt from A Choice of Catastrophes
  • Part 9. The Bible
  • * Excerpt from In the Beginning
  • Part 10. Short-Shorts
  • * "About Nothing"
  • * "Sure Thing"
  • * "Death of a Foy"
  • * "How It Happened"
  • Part 11. Humor
  • * Five limericks from A Grossery of Limericks
  • * "A Fuller Explanation of Original Sin"
  • * "The Smile That Loses"
  • Part 12. Social Sciences
  • * "Alas, All Human"
  • * "The Blind Who Would Lead"
  • * "That Old-Time Violence"
  • Part 13. Literature
  • * Excerpt from The Annotated Gulliver's Travels
  • * "On Style"
  • * "First Person"
  • Part 14. Mysteries
  • * "What Time Is It?"
  • * "Library Book"
  • Part 15. Autobiography
  • * "My Father"
  • Part 16. Science Fiction
  • * "The Boom in Science Fiction"
  • * "The Ring of Evil"
  • Part 17. Miscellaneous
  • * Excerpt from Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts
  • * "The Delight of Uncertainty"
  • Part 18. Bonus
  • * "The Forever Generation"
  • Appendix: My Third Hundred Books