Skip to main content
Isaac Asimov Collection
  • Home
  • Further Reading

Further Reading

  • Guest Editorial: “A Semester with Isaac Asimov,” by Dr. Jay Cole. Asimov’s Science Fiction. May/June 2018, pp 4-6.
    • Jay Cole, the senior advisor to the president and adjunct faculty member at West Virginia University, channeled his life-long love of science fiction, and Isaac Asimov in particular, into creating and teaching an honors course on Asimov. Jay’s guest editorial describes his experience and makes a case for teaching about Asimov’s work as an antidote to a “post-truth’ era of “alternative facts.”
  • “The Novel I Wish Isaac Asimov Had Written,” by Dr. Jay Cole. From Earth to the Stars. The Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine Author & Editor Blog, April 25, 2018.
    • As I wrote my article about my experience teaching a course about Isaac Asimov, I found myself thinking about what he did not write. From robotics to mathematical sociology, Asimov’s science fiction has had a significant impact on public opinion and the popular imagination. Recognizing that he could not write about everything (although, thankfully, he gave it his best effort), what scientific topic or issue do I wish he had addressed in a novel or story? My answer: radio astronomy.
  • James Gunn’s Asimov talk at WVU published in Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine “Thought Experiments: Celebrating Isaac” by James Gunn, Asimov’s Science Fiction, April/May 2011, Vol. 35, Nos. 4&5, pp. 10-16. Also available in pdf: Thought Experiments – Celebrating Asimov
    • James Gunn’s talk at West Virginia University on Asimov and the WVU Asimov Special Collection, considered the largest collection of Asimov materials after Boston University, where Asimov donated his personal papers.
  • West Virginia University Libraries blog:
    • Out of this World! Isaac Asimov in the West Virginia University Rare Book Room , Stewart Plein, August 6, 2018. Although Isaac Asimov, one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time, passed away in 1992, his work lives on in the West Virginia University Rare Book Room. One of the most prolific science fiction authors of the twentieth century, Asimov made a huge impact on how we view the future.
    • An Afternoon with Isaac Asimov: Talk and Exhibit , Stewart Plein, November 7. 2018. Wednesday, October 31, the Rare Book Room, part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center at the WVU Libraries, hosted an event to highlight one of our extraordinary collections: the works of Isaac Asimov. This event was designed to recognize our extensive Asimov collection and to celebrate our donors.
  • WVU Alumni Magazine article:
    • WVU Magazine “The King of Science Fiction,” Photographed by Raymond Thompson, Jr. He coined the term “robotics” and his writings laid the groundwork for modern science fiction, bleeding into video games, television and blockbuster films starring the likes of Robin Williams and Will Smith. Jay Cole and Stewart Plein share their favorite picks from WVU’s Asimov collection.
  • West Virginia University Asimov Event Publicity:
    • Award-Winning Science Fiction Author James Gunn to Speak at WVU Monte Maxwell, October 20th, 2010. Whether writing about immortality, space, dreams, death, demons, magic or the end of the world, award-winning science fiction author James Gunn has covered it all. On Oct. 26, Gunn visited West Virginia University to present his talk, “Isaac Asimov: Science Fiction to Science Fact.” The talk was part of the 2010 David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas.
    • WVU celebrates science and fiction with Isaac Asimov Day Diana Mazzella, October 29th, 2010. Read the article and listen to James Gunn and Jay Cole as they talk about Isaac Asimov, an immigrant from Russia who went on to become one of the foremost writers in the golden age of science fiction. His life was most of all an “American success story,” says fellow writer James Gunn, who knew Asimov personally.
    • Downtown Campus Library to host Asimov exhibit and lecture on October 31 https://enews.wvu.edu/articles/2018/10/26/downtown-campus-library-to-host-asimov-exhibit-and-lecture-on-october-31 Friday, October 26, 2018. “An Afternoon with Asimov” will provide a glimpse into the Libraries’ extensive Isaac Asimov Collection and insight into the prolific science fiction author’s work. Andy Duncan, a Frostburg State University English professor and Nebula award winner, will open the event with a talk titled “The New Futurians.”
    • WVU Libraries commemorate Asimov collection with digital display University Relations, January 15th, 2004. Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov used his books to explain the complicated world of science to readers around the globe. The West Virginia University Libraries are now using the Internet to share his works with the masses. WVU Libraries recently launched an online exhibit celebrating their Isaac Asimov Collection.
    • Sci Fi magazine notes WVU's Isaac Asimov collection WVU Today. University Relations, March 24th, 2011. According to Jay Cole, “It is a great distinction for WVU and our library’s Asimov collection to be profiled in a leading science fiction magazine – and one named in Asimov’s honor. Thanks to this article, science fiction fans from all over the world will now know about WVU and our special trove of Asimoviana.”
  • Researching Isaac Asimov by Ashley Reynolds, Dominion Post, March 21, 2004. Librarian Beth Toren thought the Asimov collection was a great subject for a digital exhibit. “The site was a good way to feature our unique collection on the Web,” Toren said. “It is exciting to see something really different: a late 20th century science fiction collection and the complete works of one author. The sci-fi art lends itself to a great graphic display, as do the hardcover editions with their book jackets intact.”
  • Runes Sanguinis / Celebrando a Isaac Asimov – Por James Gunn. Escrito por Zothique.
    • El 16 de octubre impartí una conferencia sobre Isaac Asimov en la West Virginia University en Morgantown. La ocasión formaba parte de una serie de conferencias llamada «Una Celebración de las Ideas», y la librería de WVU y el jefe de personal de la universidad, Jay Cole, y su maravillosa estudiante asistente, Molly Smith, se les ocurrió la feliz idea de presentar un conversatorio sobre Isaac, en gran parte porque las colecciones especiales de la biblioteca posee la que es probablemente la más grande colección del material de Asimov detrás de la que atesora la Boston University.
  • “Asimov’s Empire, Asimov’s Wall.” Alec Nevala-Lee. January 7, 2020. Public Books. 
    • This article takes a new and revealing look into Asimov as an author and as a person from a numbers perspective. As a highly productive author, Asimov has 500 books to his credit, but in his personal life, untold numbers account for the women forced to endure his unwanted attentions at conventions, in society, and in the workplace.
  • William Shatner reads Foundation by Isaac Asimov