TimeLine for the Robots & Foundations Universe

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TIMELINE FOR THE ROBOTS AND FOUNDATION UNIVERSE

Isaac Asimov

The Foundation and Robot series of books, written by Isaac Asimov are one of my favorite

science-fiction series. Others favorites include The Rama Series [Clarke], Ender Series [Card],Homecoming Series [Card], and the best of the best, The Gap Series [Donaldson]. However,

Asimov has a special knack for gripping your attention and holding it for a long period of time. I

think this is because all his novels are simple and straight forward; they tell a story instead of

explaining the theories behind the technologies and/or ideas in the story. That, in my opinion, is

where most writers falter. Asimov just tells a great, exciting, and interesting story.

The Second Foundation Trilogy, written by Bear, Brin, and Benford is a very good read too since

it explains a lot left to the imagination in the original Foundation books. However, they fail to

capture the essence of Asimov's Foundation books. I remember reading the first three Foundation

books and then discovering that Asimov has passed away and so the story will not continue. I

was sad.

Perhaps one of the reasons I really liked this series was R. Daneel Olivaw [R. = Robot]. He/It was

first introduced in The Naked Sun and he played a role in almost every Foundation novel. How can

one not help but love this eternal human servant who worked for humanity's sake from 3200 C.E

to 25251 C.E and onwards.

The Robot novels before The Naked Sun dealt with issues related to the Three Laws Of Robotics :

(1) A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to

harm, (2) a robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would

conflict with the First Law, and (3) a robot must protect its own existence as long as such

protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. These three laws are deeply ingrained

and embedded into the positronic brains of each robot. They cannot be disobeyed. Daneel andGiskard, another robot, introduced the Zeroth Law around 3700 C.E that states, 'A robot may not

injure humanity, or through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.' This, naturally, led to amodification of the First law as follows, 'A robot may not injure a human being, or through

inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, except where that would conflict with the Zeroth

Law.' These modifications, thought of as blasphemous by some, led to the Robotic Civil Warsbetween the Calvinians, strictly adhering to the original three laws, and the Giskardians, robots

who had adopted the Zeroth Law.

I hope you can see how vast this Robots and Foundation universe is. I highly recommendedreading the entire series although I wonder which book would be the best to start off with =)

Date Events Related Books

1982 C.EBirth Of Susan Calvin. Incorporation of U.S. Robots and Mechanical

Men.I, Robot

2007 C.ESusan Calvin begins to work for U.S. Robots. Later becomes chief

robopsychologist.I, Robot

Early 21st

C

A social and technical renaissance flourishes on Earth. Development

of positronic robots, controlled by the Three Laws of Robotics.Hyperatomic Drive allows first successful interstellar journey.

Through an acc ident, Joseph Schwartz is sent on a time journey

10,000 years into the future.

The Complete

RobotI, Robot

Pebble In The

Sky

2064 C.E

Death of Susan Calvin. Humanity begins colonizing several planets

including Aurora. The first chaos outbreaks affect civilization,

breaking down confidence. On Earth, citizens cluster underground,

ban robots from cities. Spacers lose empathy. Relations between

Earth and Spacer Worlds deteriorate.

I, Robots

Foundation's

Triumph

The planet Solaria [the last Space world] settled from the planet

04-12-2010 TimeLine for the Robots & Foundatio…

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3200 C.E Nexon. Decline of the robot-dependent Spacer culture. Later, Han

Fastolfe of Aurora creates the humaniform robot,R. Daneel Olivaw.

The Naked Sun

3500 C.ESpaceTown is established near New York City. R. Daneel Olivaw is

assigned to work with Earthman detective Elijah Bailey.

The Caves Of

Steel

3501 C.E

Elijah Bailey and Daneel Olivaw pursue an investigation on Solaria.

Fastolfe becomes influential in Auroran government and supports

new Earth emigration. Opponents led by Keldon Amadiro wantSpacers to terraform and populate new planets.

The Naked Sun

The Robots of

Dawn

3503 C.EBaley carries out investigation on Aurora accompanied by DaneelOlivaw and Giskard Relentlov - a telepathic robot. Aurora lets

Earth colonize new planets. Giskard suggests Earth folk must build

their new worlds completely without robots.

The Robots Of

Dawn

3505 C.E

The second wave of emigration from Earth begins, led by Ben Baley.

First Settler planet is named BaleyWorld. Number of Settler planets

grows fast. Relations between Settler and Spacer worlds grow tense.

Robots And

Empire

3537 C.E Death of Elijah Bailey on BaleyWorld.Robots And

Empire

3697 C.EKeldon Amadiro and Levular Manamus begin planting nuclear

amplifiers throughout Earth to take revenge for their earlier defeat.

Robots And

Empire

3700 C.E

Death of Han Fastolfe. Population of Solaria vanishes. DaneelOlivaw and Giskard Relentlov formulate the Zeroth Law of

Robotics, to override original Three Laws. Giskard provides Daneel

with telepathic abilities. Amadiro and allies turn on amplifiers to

make the Earth radioactive and inhabitable. Giskard permits this for

Zeroth Law reasons, in order to encourage human dispersal, then

dies because of First Law conflicts. The Great Diaspora (final

emigration) begins. A majority of robots split into two camps.

Giskardians led by Daneel follow the new Zeroth Law religion.

Calvinians think this an outrage. Robotic civil war ensues, mostly

unseen by humans fleeing poisoned Earth. Meanwhile robot ships

operating under Auroran programming cruise the galaxy ahead of the

spreading Settlers, terraforming and preparing planets forcolonization. Meme entities will later claim that this devastated

existing races. Memes escape to the Galactic Core.

Robots And

Empire

Foundation's

Fear

Foundations And

Chaos

3801 C.E

Spacer-colonized planet Inferno is doomed by ecological and cultural

catastrophe. Robots are built to operate under New Laws, giving

them greater flexibility and freedom. Settler specialists help terraform

the planet. Hostility toward New Law robots grows evident. Comet

crashes into the planet. Merging of Spacer and Settler culture

prevents social collapse. The interstellar robot civil war eventually

reaches Inferno. New Law robots are destroyed or go into hiding.

Caliban

Inferno

Utopia

Foundation's

Triumph

11300 C.E

Planet Rhodia and the Nebular Kingdoms led by the noble Hinriad

family shake off rule by planet Tyrann and rediscover democracy.Decadent Spacer worlds slowly die out. Colonization of Galaxycompleted. R. Daneel Olivaw formulates the Encoding Laws, setting

limits to artificial intelligence. Damping effects such as historical

amnesia, brain fever, and Giskardian mentalic persuasion devices areintroduced to fight chaos, Human mind, society and technology

stagnate. Some human and robot groups fight the amnesia.

The Stars Like

DustFoundation AndEarth

Foundation's

FearFoundation's

Triumph

12000 C.E

Trantorian Republic of five worlds becomes Trantorian Confederation,

then later the Trantorian Empire. R. Daneel Olivaw uses early "laws

of humanics" to guide it. Human origins forgotten.

The Currents Of Space

12300 C.E

Half of the inhabited worlds of the Galaxy are part of Trantorian

Empire. Trantor supports rebellion of planet Florina againstoppression by planet Sark.

The Currents Of

Space

12500 C.E

1 G.E

Trantorian Empire becomes the Galactic Empire. Start of Galactic

Calendar.

Arrival of Joseph Schwartz (thrown forward in time during the early





827 G.E

21st Century). A radioactive sparsely populated Earth tries to revolt

against the Empire by using a bio-weapon. Rebellion fails, thanks

partly to Schwartz and a mentalic amplifier. Empire initially helps

Earth recover, then effort is mysteriously abandoned.

Sky

Foundation'sTriumph

900 G.EForced evacuation of inhospitable Earth. Establishment of colony on

planet Alpha.

Foundation And

Earth

975 G.EAn alien race is discovered on a desert world and moved to Cepheus18. Later they mysteriously escape beyond the Galaxy.

Blind Alley

2000 G.EDaneel Olivaw and R. Yan Kansarv establish a robot productionand repair facility on distant Eos. The great Emperor Ruellis helps

establish principles of good paternalistic government, augmenting the

stability of an unchanging society against chaos.

Foundation AndChaos

Foundation's

Triumph

3000 G.E

During a chaos outbreak, ancient personality simulations Voltaire

and Joan of Arc debate about machine intelligence. With support of

Calvinian robots, the Empress Shoree-Harn tries to introduce a new

calendar and shake up social rigidity without success.

Foundation's

Fear

Foundation And

Chaos

8789 G.EA new "renaissance" begins on planet Lingane. Falls into chaos eight

years later.

Foundation's

Triumph

11865 G.E Humanoid robot Dors Venabili is constructed on EosFoundation's

Fear

11867 G.EThe only extragalactic human colony is abandoned in the Greater

Magellanic Cloud. All data is suppressed.

Foundation And

Chaos

11988 G.E

Birth of Hari Seldon and Cleon I. Daneel Olivaw knows the Empire

is destabilizing, partly due to frequent chaos outbreaks. He is forced

by the Zeroth Law to actively interfere, first as Chief of Staff, then

as First Minister. His secret genetic experiments lead both to Hari's

mathematical genius and the appearance of human mentalics.

Prelude ToFoundation

Foundation's

Triumph

12010 G.E Cleon I becomes Emperor.Prelude To

Foundation

12020 G.E

Hari Seldon lectures on possibility of psychohistory. Daneel

persuades him to develop a practical science to help save theEmpire. Dors Venabili becomes Seldon's wife. They adopt a boy,

Raych. Seldon and Yugo Amaryl begin to flesh out psychohistory.

Prelude ToFoundation

12028 G.E

Calvinian robots, led by R. Plussix, move to Trantor and find

historical documents dating from era of Shoree-Harn, as well as the

sims Voltaire and Joan of Arc. They help seed a new "renaissance"

on planet Sark. Seldon helps remove Laskin Joranum from politics.

Daneel resigns his post. Cleon I makes Seldon First Minister.

Voltaire and Joan get into the Trantorian Mesh where they meet

the ancient memes, triggering a rebellion among "tiktok" robots who

kill many of Daneel's positronic companions. Seldon strikes a deal to

get the memes off Trantor. Sark renaissance falls into chaos.

Foundation's

Fear

Eto Demerzel

Foundation's

Fear

12038 G.EDeath of Cleon I. A military junta seizes power. Seldon resigns as

First Minister.

Cleon I

Dors Venabili

12040 G.EBirth of Wanda Seldon, daughter of Raych. A new "renaissance"

begins on planet Madder Loss. Its collapse rocks galactic society.

Dors Venabili

Foundation And

Chaos

12048 G.E

"Death" of Dors Venabili and Fall of the junta. Puppet Emperor Agis

XIV ascends the throne. Real power is in the hands of the

Commission for Public Safety. Daneel brings Dors to the Eos basefor repair.

Dors Venabili

Wanda Seldon

Foundation AndChaos

12052 G.E

Birth of Bellis Seldon. Hari Seldon discovers Wanda's metal

abilities. He tries to find others, without success. Psychohistorical

equations predict the unavoidable collapse of the Empire. Seldon

team works out plan to save human knowledge and create a Second

Empire via the Foundation. Death of Yugo Amaryl.

Wanda Seldon

Raych, Manella, and Bellis move to Santanni where a New

Renaissance has begun. Anacreon Province seeks independence.





.Chaos breaks out on Santanni, Raych dies, and his family is lost in

space. Stettin Palver, another mentalic joins the Seldon Project.

12067 G.E

1 F.E

Puppet Emperor Klayus I sits on the throne. Hari Seldon is put on

trail and Commission for Public Safety exiles the Encyclopedia

Foundation to Terminus. Beginning of the Foundation Calendar. Vara

Liso, a strong mentalic, gets entangled in Farad Sinter's hunt for

robot "eternals." Calvinian robots foiled in a plot to ruin Seldon

Project and stymie Daneel's control over human history.

Foundation

Foundation And

Chaos

2 F.E

Reign of puppet Emperor Semrin. Members of the Encyclopedia

Foundation exiled to Terminus. Daneel plans using human mentalicsto design an overmind Gaia. Millions of ancient archives destroyed. A

New Renaissance on planet Ktlina is devoured by chaos. A heretic

robot tries to send Seldon into the future but is foiled by Daneel.

Mors Planch dives into the future.

Foundation's

Triumph

3 F.E

Death of Hari Seldon. Chief Commissioner Linge Chen dies.

Replacement pays attention mostly to Trantor and vicinity.

Psychohistorians provoke succession at Empire's Periphery.

The Originist

50 F.E

Anacreon declares independence, separating Terminus from the

Empire. Seldon's hologram explains the true purpose of the

Foundation. Terminus offers scientific support for neighboring

kingdoms, balancing their powers.

The

Encyclopedists

The Mayors

80 - 195

F.E

Foundation develops quasi-religious sway over neighboring kingdoms.

Foundation then relies more on economic influence.

The Mayors

The Traders

The Merchant

Princes

195 F.EUnder Cleon II, Imperial General Bel Riose campaigns against theFoundation, conquering large territories. But Cleon recalls the fleet,

as predicted by psychohistory.

The General

260 F.E

Dagobert VIII rules remnant Empire. The rebel Gilmer's troops sack

Trantor. Second Foundation protec ts the Galactic Library, then signs

a peace treaty with Gilmer.

Trantor Falls

300 F.E

Empire of Dagobert IX has shrunk to twenty worlds centered on

Neotrantor. The Mule, a mutant with strong mentalic power,

conquers the Foundation, knocking Seldon Plan off course. The Mule

establishes the Union of Worlds and searches for the Second

Foundation.

The Mule

Search By The

Mule

305 F.EMembers of the Second Foundation mentalically alter the Mule, whothen gives up further conquest.

Search By TheMule

310 F.E

Death of the Mule. The Foundation regains strength, but also begins

studying neglected mental sciences, further endangering Seldon

Plan.

Search By The

Foundation

376 F.E

The Foundation searches for the Second Foundation, fearing its

mentalic rule. Diverting this search with a ruse, the Second

Foundation continues operating secretly on Trantor (Star's End).

Daneel Olivaw unleashes his Gaia overmind.

Search By The

Foundation

498 F.E

The Gaia overmind offers Golan Trevize ("the man who is always

right") a choice between an Empire built by physical force, one rules

by Second Foundation mentalics, or a galaxy-sized version of Gaia..

Galaxia. No other options are presented and no other humans

consulted. Trevize chooses Galaxia. Preparations being for gradual

assimilation of humanity into the collective overmind.

Foundation's

Edge

499 F.E

Trevize embarks on a journey, seeking to explain his choice. OnSolaria he finds the planet's vanished folk have become a new race.

Reaching Earth, he meets R. Daneel Olivaw, whose actions to thispoint were compelled by the Zeroth Law. Trevize realized any real

solution must take into consideration robots, Solarians, memes,mutants, and any other kind of intelligence. The right answer may

not be to simplify.

Foundation And

Earth





520 F.E

First Galactic Coalescence Investigation Commission convenes on

planet Pengia. The subsequent Great Destiny Debates rage on for

180 years, interrupted by waves of violence, amnesia, and chaos.

Robotic civil ward reignite. Foundation civilization approaches

ultimate confrontation with both Gaia and Chaos.

Foundation'sTriumph

1020 F.E 116th Edition of the Encyc lopedia Galactica published. Foundation

1054 F.E25621 C.E

117th Edition of the Encyc lopedia Galactica published.Foundation'sTriumph

Compiled by Attila Torkos, 1998





Notes:

C.E = Common Era = AD

G.E = Galactic Era

F.E = Foundation Era

Bold RelatedBooks = I have not read these books... yet

May 20th 2003

Colby Coutou was kind enough to inform me of another Foundation related novel. This one is

called Psychohistorical Crisis and is written by Donald Kingsbury. You can read a review here.





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TimeLine for the Robots & Foundations Universe