In 'Words of Science' Isaac Asimov presents the etymology of some 1500 terms from physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, geology, biology and medicine. Asimov traces words like alcohol, isosceles, monosaccharide and yttrium to their Greek, Latin, Arabic and vernacular roots. Discoveries and inventions, both great and obscure, as well as the men and women behind them, are presented in 250 entries of about a page each. We read of the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen who, in 1895, applied the mathematical variable X to the mysterious rays whose properties he was exploring. Later, the rays were renamed 'Roentgen rays' in his honor, but because their discoverer's surname was so difficult to pronounce by English speaking scientists, the term 'X-rays' stuck. The superstitions and serendipity that comprise so much of scientific history are related with clarity and wit. For example, the Romans considered a freak birth or deformity to be an omen from the gods; hence, from the Latin word 'monere' (a warning) we get the word 'monster'. 'Words of Science' is a handy reference for any library and makes good bathroom reading.

"The Final Science Fiction Collection [from Isaac Asimov]" is what the cover to GOLD proclaims, and to be honest, I find that to be a rather sobering realization. The Good Doctor was such a prolific author that even now, ten years after his death, the thought of that constant supply of words being silent is not a particularly happy one. So we are left with this collection, from the later stages of Asimov's career, which puts together a lot of pieces that hadn't been anthologized and were fairly difficult to find. The book is divided into three sections; the first, fifteen science fiction short stories; the second, eighteen essays about science fiction; the third, twenty selections about the art of writing science fiction. It's a bit of a haphazard collection with essays and material coming from a variety of seemingly random sources, but for someone looking for those hard-to-find writings this should prove invaluable.

The collection of science fiction stories is certainly passable. There's nothing particularly breathtaking or outstanding here, but the consistent level of quality is fairly high. There was really only one story that I seriously disliked, and the rest were at least average or better. A number of the stories would appear to be slightly autobiographical in nature, and it's interesting to see Asimov in a more reflective mood than usual.

The essays that deal with the topic of science fiction itself have been pulled from multiple sources. Some of them are editorials from his magazine, while others have been copied from introductions to SF collections. It's this section that gives one the slight feeling that this is merely a cashing in on the popularity of a famous author. Certainly it's odd to see Asimov discussing the particulars of the individual stories and themes that are present in the book he was writing for, but for obvious reasons aren't actually included in this text. Still, despite the strange nature of how they came to be included here, his thoughts and ideas on the subject are quite welcome. Whether Asimov is reminiscing about the "Golden Age" of printed science fiction or talking about the exact role of robots or aliens in the genre, his arguments are presented clearly and the healthy dash of wit familiar to his many fans.

The final third of the collection is a subject that Asimov knew well and loved speaking and writing about. He has a lot of tips for young and hopeful science fiction authors, as well as insights into his own creative process. Asimov's approach to describing science fiction is to talk a lot about his own science fiction stories. Not just that he liked talking about his own work (which, of course, he did), but by analyzing criticism and praise of his own writings he demonstrates his own particular way of developing stories. I found this section to be fairly interesting although he had covered this topic in other areas (in particular, his autobiography and in various introductions).

My only wish was that we readers had been given some information on the selection and editing process. Presumably only a fraction of the editorials and introductions that Asimov ever wrote were included here, but we aren't actually told what the criteria were. Possibly the editor(s) wanted only essays on a certain subject, but as the umbrella seems to have been fairly wide on this collection, it's difficult to ascertain what they were looking for. It's a minor complaint of mine, to be sure, but it would have gone a long way towards explaining the somewhat haphazard manner that the collection seems to take.

I recommend skipping through GOLD, mixing the reading order so that one experiences Asimov's thoughts in a random progression rather than attempting to view it as an arranged analysis (though eventually reading every work in the collection, of course). Asimov was an author who had a lot to say (a LOT to say -- over 400 books worth) and here is what will probably serve as his final written words on and about science fiction. It's a fitting tribute.

"Gold" is, according to the book's cover, the final science fiction collection from Isaac Asimov. One of the genre's most revered figures, Asimov died in 1992. "Gold" contains both short stories and a bunch of short essays. While the material in "Gold" does not quite reach the level of Asimov's best work, the book is still worth reading.

Part One of "Gold" sandwiches 13 short stories in between two longer tales of about 40 pages each. I found most of the shorter tales to be fairly forgettable, but the longer ones are fine pieces. The first of the two longer tales, "Cal," is a cleverly written tale of a robot who wants to be a writer. This is a moving tale which effectively returns to one of Asimov's great themes (the place of robots in human-dominated society). The second of the longer tales, "Gold," is a compelling story of a science fiction writer who hires a director to make a "compu-drama" out of one of his books. This thoughtful story is an interesting commentary on two things: (1) the relationship of science fiction to canonical "high" literature, and (2) the relationship of science fiction books to science fiction in other media.

The short essays are a mixed bag, but the best of them are delightful. They are full of amusing and enlightening anecdotes, often about other classic SF writers of Asimov's generation. Some of Asimov's essay topics include women and SF, religion and SF, the SF short-short story, plagiarism, and the background to the names of some of his fictional characters. Asimov's essay on book reviewing is particularly interesting; I think that everyone who participates in the Amazon review program should read this essay (entitled "Book Reviews," it's on pages 369-374 of the paperback edition).

Finally, a personal note. Isaac Asimov was one of my childhood icons, and many of his classic stories had a profound influence on me. I will also never forget the opportunity I had to hear him speak in person at a New York City convention: he was as delightful and charming in person as he is in print. If you are a fan of Asimov or of that great generation of SF writers in general, don't miss "Gold."

This book is surely not one of Isaac's best books, but still, its a great book as all of him are. If you are interested in stories, and nothing else however, you might be disappointed, for the second half of the book contains essays and articles from the various magazines he was involved(I was disappointed at first). But if you take the time and read them too, you might find them interesting and funny, as they are also writen in Asimov's style... (P.S: I did not yet read the hardcover version - but I guess its pretty much the same - right?)

There can be no question that Isaac Asimov deserves his place among the legends of science fiction. The original Foundation trilogy and the Robot series are canon deservedly so. Unfortunately, Earth Is Room Enough does not do justice to the Grand Master. The stories collected range from the fairly decent to the deadly dull. The sole stand-out is the brief "An Immortal Bard," answering the amusing question, "What if Shakespeare were alive today and taking a Shakespeare class?" Otherwise, the collection is largely forgettable.

Isaac Asimov was, unquestionably, one of the greatest science fiction writers to ever pick up a pen. As well as his award-winning novels, he also wrote some of the classic short stories of the genre. This collection was one of his earliest such (preceded only by 1955's The Martian Way.) As these are early Asimov, they are not his best or most representative work. Although all are written in Asimov's clever and intimitable style (including the witty poem), there are not real, true classics included - some are very good, some are quite good, and a few merely pedestrian. Personal favorites of mine from this collection are Dreaming Is A Private Thing (concerning which Robert A. Heinlein accused Asimov of making money out of his own psychoses), and Jokester, a highly original and clever story. Pick this up if you are an Asimov fan and have already made headway into his works; otherwise, read a few of his better, more classic collections (such as Nine Tomorrows), first.

Some of Asimov's best short stories, including some funny ones.

I think that this is an o.k. book about words it's almost like a dictionary of words used in myths but they are not in alphabetical order. It doesn't say wich myth this word comes from or anything. It could be a little better but at least it gave part of a story. Whoever wrote it had a good idea about it but I don't think they knew how to start. It mostly had the names of the gods and goddesses. If it is called words from myths it should have explanations of the places too.

This book contains only 9 small chapters. Before I read this book, I have already perused Greek myth; hence I enjoyed this book a lot. Especially, Isaac's coherent explanation was admirable. He never makes a cursory attempt at delineating the origin of words concerning myth. In addition, his ebullient expression not only showed his own unique creativeness but elicited my deeper imagination about the myth itself. Even though there are prodiginous ways of interpreting the symbols of myth, his erudite opinion enabled me to assimilate some astronomical esorteric terms easily and even explicitly. I felt sullen just to see the epilogue, this book is too short!
This book is mainly concerned with the origins of words that are connected to mainly greek myth. If you have an ardor about myth and the derivation of english words, I strongly recommand this lucid text.

Do you know the origin of the word "mysterious" concerned with the eleusinian ceremonies? Why do you call anything that is airtight as "hermetically sealed"? Can you discern claustrophobia to agoraphobia?

TRY this book~ It won't take long...

I am still reading this book that I managed to fish out from a box somewhere. I find it to be tremendously insightful on the subject of the mytholgical gods of ancient Rome and Greece. Not everything is as it seems. It is too bad that this important work of literature is out of print. Published in 1969 this book is a treasure. I urge anyone with an interest in ancient history (not just science fiction) to find this book.

This is a collection of stories set in Asimov's worlds, written by other authors. It is subtitled "Stories in Honor of Isaac Asimov", and that's exactly how these stories come across - as tributes to Asimov and his creations.

And a fine collection it is. Much of Asimov's fiction is covered; there are a few Foundation stories, a few robot stories, and even a couple of mysteries. Some are disappointing - or have very little to do with Asimov's worlds - but the majority of the stories are very enjoyable and very well done.

Most of the authors play it straight, trying to capture the flavour and style of Asimov's own stories. They succeed, for the most part. None of the authors were too ambitious, either; all of the serious stories stay nicely within the confines of the worlds Asimov created. For this reason, I enjoyed this collection more than other works set in Asimov's world - such as the Second Foundation Trilogy, for example.

However, some of the authors take a more humourous approach, writing take-offs or spoofs of Asimov's stories. The best of these are _Dilemma_ by Connie Willis, and _Maureen Birnbaum After Dark_ by George Alec Effinger. Both of these stories were funny enough to make me laugh out loud, and yet it is clear that no lack of respect for the Good Doctor is intended by them. While the straight stories were impressive, I think my favourite stories were the humourous ones.

I would recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys Asimov's fiction. The stories may not be of Grand Master calibre, but they are still a fitting tribute to a Grand Master.

I read this on a flight and ended up skipping several stories because they were so tedious and leaving the book on a recyle bin in O'Hare. The best one is "The Originist" which describes the start of the Second Foundation. "Fall of Trantor" and "Strip Runner" were also memorable because they consistently filled in a portion of the Foundation universe. Some stories were just plain silly, such as one where two robot meet with Asimov and argue to have the 3 laws "repealed".

It's incredible to see through this collection of stories, just how much Isaac Asimov has inspired us all through his writings. It's truly amazing to see what can be done through his work, by others. Although none of the stories match his brilliance, I urge you to get a copy of this book if you can find it, and see what an effect he has had on science fiction.

I have got to stop giving my old books away. I probably have a small fortune in out of print volumes. Every time I look up a book for a gift I reach the same section, "sorry." "13 Crimes" is one of those entertaining books that probably started as a coffee shop conversation. "Hey Joe, you notice there aren't any SciFi detective stories." "Can't be done Fred. Too easy. The Gumshoes could just come up with some gizmo to see fingerprints, or track shoe size. It can't be fair. For along time this was the case. Then someone got the idea of making rules. What if you had a world of the future, but no surprises? Any technology you want, but the reader has to be let in on it. A hundred years ago crime stories were just laid out. Today it's different. You have to give the reader a chance to figure it out along with the detective. "13 Crimes" does this masterfully. It takes the 13 types of mystery stories, the loc! ked room mystery, the hard boiled PI mystery, etc., and puts it in a SciFi setting. The result is a collection of authors and stories that will satisfy both the SciFi AND mystery fan. Or a least it would if you can find it.

Authors do not develop new stories, they write new twists on old ones. While a science fiction setting does provide additional possibilities for a mystery, it is also very limiting. To be effective, the science fictional aspects must be important, yet secondary. For example, it would be a very dull tale if a locked room mystery was solved by a principal character simply using a device to step into the fourth dimension at a critical moment.
These thirteen stories of crimes are well crafted. Each follows one of the basic themes of crime stories: hard-boiled detective, psychic detective, spy, analytical detective, whodunit, why-done-it, how-done-it, inverted, locked room, cipher, police procedural, trial and punishment. The science fiction aspects are necessary, yet do not overshadow what is a tale of suspense. My favorite stories are "Mouthpiece" by Edward Wellen and "Time In Advance" by William Tenn. In "Mouthpiece", the personality of a gangster is loaded into a powerful computer and the programmer who did it becomes an unwitting pawn of the gangster who wants to avenge his assassination. "Time In Advance" is aptly named, as in this story, the human race has expanded out to other planets and colonists are badly needed. A solution is to have people voluntarily serve a sentence for murder before the fact and then in the unlikely event they survive, they have the right to commit one murder.
These are thirteen of the best combinations of crime and science fiction stories that have ever been written. The editors made their selections well and I enjoyed each one immensely, even though I generally do not read crime stories.

From the title and table of contents i expected a lot more. It indeed did cover all the topics of logic and faulty reasoning and avoidance of prejudice as listed but only in the most superfical ways. Not very many specific examples beyond common sense.

This is a great book for those that need to brush up on reasoning skills or as an introduction. With many full grown adults possessing little or no science and critical thinking education these days, books like these are a must-read. It is never too late to empower yourself with logic!

Hi, I'm the original reviewer and I want to make a truce with the latter reviewer. Before I make the compromise, however, I'd like to ask one question. Where would science be today without imagination? I'll let the readers answer this question. The next question is: Who is the author of variety? Science is struggling to understand the beginnings of life, so how can they ever understand the complexities of variety without end. I suppose somewhere in the universe oil and water readily mix.

My original disappointment to this book was due to it's lack of variety. I felt fastened to a very narrow viewpoint. We may need strict adherence to our scientific research but let's not push it when it comes to reading a great story. Imagination is the science text to good science fiction. I have a book that I use a lot with my writing (and here comes my compromise). It is a book about plausible sceintific facts as it pertains to a non-logical universe. A go-between, so-to-speak, for science fact and science fiction. This book tells me why an alien might smell awful. It could be that they eat something like garlic, or maybe it's the air that they breathe, or maybe they have a dull sense of smell and don't know that they stink. The question is: Is it really important to know why they stink? Well, if it is, then this book I have on creating a science fiction universe can be very useful.

My belief is that there is only one truth and that science and religion will come to that truth some day. However, when that time comes there will still exist imangination, and imagination is the forerunner of all scientific discoveries.

Aristotle had once said, in part, that a workable falsehood is better than an incomprehensible truth. If Science has any imagination, it is used in its ability to simplify complex concepts, by sometimes making small assumptions, in order to explain them better to the common laymen. Science fiction writers borrow heavily on this concept to tell their own stories.

Since man, in reality, cannot travel faster-than-light to reach distant stars in his own lifetime, the writer of such a fantastic tale should be able to explain how such a fantastic journey could have ever taken place. How you explain this fantastic journey between the stars in your story (though now a well-established convention in SF) can mark the difference in fiction between science, fantasy, or just plan unbelievable (...). It is up to you, and if you want to write good believable science fiction, then you should make every effort to learn everything you can about your scientific subject, and then you can create your own workable falsehoods.

The editors of *Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy* have divided the book into three sections, which they hope will inspire would-be-authors into writing credible fiction. Section One deals with *Storytelling* and includes the controversial essay from Robert A. Heinlein *On the Writing of Speculative Fiction*. Controversial because he advises, "you must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order." Section Two deals with *Ideas and Foundations*, which will advise you on how to write better believable science fiction by using real rational science. (The essay on *The Ideas that Wouldn't Die* is mandatory reading.) Although the third section on *The Business of Writing* lacks enough market resources and is all too brief with its essay on *The Mechanics of Submission*, it gives some of the best pieces of advice that any new writer could receive from Stanley Schmidt's essay on *Authors vs. Editors*.

Despite any shortcomings, *Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy* is a necessary read for anyone who is seriously considering writing in any of these genres. Such luminaries as Anderson, Asimov, Barnes, Heinlein, and Spinrad, who are the best in their fields, wrote some of the twenty collected essays. Leaving little doubt that the advice and insights given therein comes from legends, whose prose we should all-be so lucky to follow.

This book is a fantasic source of advice and counsel for the budding writer. I really do not approve of the condescending nature of Mr. Dozois' remarks toward the beginning writer. Isaac Asimov has great adsvice in this book. People should buy the book just to read what the different authors say. I really love this book! Buy it today (if you want)!

As the previous reviewer points out, the first Fantastic Voyage was not Asimov's story, but merely his novelization of the movie plot. So Asimov decided to write his own story on the same theme. Unfortunately, his was not as good as the original.

Asimov had an enormous ego (if he was called "The Great Explainer", as the previous reviewer notes, I wouldn't be surprised if I were to learn that Asimov gave himself the title. He often bragged about the huge volume of output from his typewriter. The problem is that quantity does not equal quality, and much of his writing wasn't worth much. This book falls into that category.

Asimov bowed to pressure to write a sequel to his highly acclaimed Fantastic Voyage. Unfortunately, as it is with many non-series sequels, this novel is rather flat compared to his original.

If you like medical related sci-fi or thrillers, than this is a book you should buy.

To what pressure did Asimov bow in writing this book other than his own? And, incidentally, this is no sequel to the first Fantastic Voyage. There is no mention of anything from the first novel here. Asimov's first Fantastic Voyage was not his own: he merely novelized a movie, and was never satisfied with the end result for all of its scientific and otherwise flaws. II is a much better example of Asimovian sicence fiction: totally cerebral, and I like that at the end of the plot, there was no "getting the girl," as one sees all to often, even in Asimov's novels. The victory here involved no sexual liason of any sort-- it was merely that of a scientist having his views validated by grueling experience. There is too strong a tendency in many novels, especially in science fiction novels, to present the attaining of a woman's affections as the "prize" toward which the male hero works and eventually succeeds in getting. Here there is the setup of that, but in the end no actualization. Asimov presents enough scientific notions throughout this book to spin any reader's head, and more than one is are presented a little too didactically. But Asimov could not help it. In the end he was the disseminator of scientific knowledge that earned him the distinction "Great Explainer."