In "Past, Present, and Future", Asimov has culled the best of his essays (some of which appear here for the first time) to form a fascinating journey through the world of astronomy, nuclear power, medicine, physics, history, music, film, politics, and other popular subjects. Our pre-eminent populariser of science, Asimov takes on many of today's most discussed issues here - Star Wars, the Chernobyl disaster, genetic engineering, the creationsim/evolution debate - with a flair, verve, and mastery that have won him innumerable readers. But he also includes many essays written in a personal vein, giving us disarmingly humorous accounts of his triple-bypass surgery and his "Hollywood Non-Career."An entertaining look at Asimov's commitment to living in New York City (which he calls "Paradise") is afforded in "I Love New York." On a grand tour of the years ahead, in chapters like "Living on the Moon," "2084," "Should We Fear the Computer?" and "The New Learning," we are shown a future that is thrilling, fearsome, and, as the author insists, our present responsibility.
