Isaac Asimov Interviewed by Bill Moyers

In 1988, Bill Moyers interviewed Isaac Asimov, when Asimov's Prelude to Foundation was released. The three-part interview is fascinating, partly because of when it was recorded; Asimov's insights are partly timeless (for example, his thoughts about death) and partly extremely timely (his predictions about the near future, like global networks). Discussed: education, the future, science, astronomy, chemistry, technology, religion, population growth, employment, curiosity, and more.

Sample quote: "Human history is a chaotic thing. Small changes have big results, unpredictable in direction. But if we're looking at something that is essentially simple, such as stars and galaxies and things like that -- then, it is possible to look far, far ahead. We may be wrong, but it is possible to make a case for something that might happened 10¹⁰⁰ years in the future -- [that's] one with a hundred zeroes after it."

The remainder of the interview is after the jump.

My favorite quote, on the topic of Asimov's having written down "every idea [he's] ever had" and the notion that others might be depressed not to have his gift for writing: "Well, I wouldn't want people to do that. A little is better than nothing. In fact, you might say that I overdo it -- lately I've been thinking that people must look upon me as some kind of a freak. There was a certain pleasure in writing 100 books, you know, I felt, 'I've accomplished something.' And then 200. But now it stands at 391, it's liable to be 400 by the end of the year, and I have every intention of continuing because I enjoy the process. In the end it seems to me that nobody'll care what I write, just the number, and maybe I will have defeated myself in that way." If you want to know that number, read up on Asimov at Wikipedia.

(Via Brain Pickings; the source article is very much worth reading! Go read it!)