Isaac Asimov was born in Russia near Smolensk in 1920. He was brought to the United States by his parents three years later and grew up in Brooklyn. He graduated from Columbia University in chemistry and after a short spell in the Army, gained his doctorate in 1949 and qualified as an instructor in biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine, where he became Associate Professor in 1955. He retired to full-time authorship in 1958 while retaining his connection with the University. His first story 'Marooned Off Vesta' appeared in 1939 in Amazing Stories. Asimov became a regular contributor to the leading SF magazines of the day including Astounding, Astonishing Stories, Super Science Storiesand Galaxy. He won the Hugo Award four times and the Nebula Award once. With nearly five hundred books to his credit and several hundred articles, Asimov's output was prolific by any standards.
Isaac Asimov died in 1992 at the age of 72.
