Led by its founding father, the great psycho-historian Hari Seldon, and taking advantage of its superior science and technology, the Foundation survived the greed and barbarism of its neighboring warrior-planets. Yet now it must face the Empire—still the mightiest force in the Galaxy, even in its death throes. When an ambitious general determined to restore the Empire's glory turns the vast Imperial fleet toward the Foundation, the only hope for the small planet of scholars and scientists lies in the prophecies of Hari Seldon. But not even Hari Seldon could have predicted the birth of the extraordinary creature called the Mule-a mutant intelligence with a power greater than a dozen battle fleets. . .a power that could turn the strongest-willed human into an obedient slave.

Udgivet af Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Co., Inc. 1905

Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov var en af sf-genrens kæmper. Asimov blev født i 1920. Han begyndte af skrive sf i 40'erne, deriblandt de noveller som endte med at blive til hans klassiske "Foundation" trilogi. Han er lige så kendt for sine Robot-noveller hvor Asimov kom med tre love som var nødvendige for at robotter kunne tjene mennesker. Senere i 80'erne begyndte Asimov at genoptage sine gamle serier og endte med flette dem sammen til én lang kronologi. Han skrev også flere "Foundation" bøger, selvom han aldrig nåede at gøre serien helt færdrig. Det har så David Brin, Greg Bear og Gregory Benford gjort for ham med deres egen trilogi.