Opus 100 is Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

's one hundredth book. It was published by Houghton Mifflin

Houghton Mifflin

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...

 on 16 October 1969. Asimov chose to celebrate the publication of his hundredth book by writing about his previous 99 books, including excerpts from short stories and novels, as well as nonfiction articles and books. Opus 100 also includes five complete science fiction stories and one complete science essay.

Contents

Introduction

Part 1. Astronomy

• Excerpt from "The Callistan Menace
  The Callistan Menace
  The Callistan Menace is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the April 1940 issue of Astonishing Stories and was reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov...
  
  "
• Excerpt from Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter
  Lucky Starr series
  Lucky Starr is the hero of a series of science fiction books by Isaac Asimov, using the pen name "Paul French". Intended for juveniles, the books were written in the middle of the Cold War and the series shows traces of this, both in educational intent and in the nature of the social forces involved...
  
  
• Excerpt from "View from Amalthea" from The Solar System and Back
• Excerpt from Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus
  Lucky Starr series
  Lucky Starr is the hero of a series of science fiction books by Isaac Asimov, using the pen name "Paul French". Intended for juveniles, the books were written in the middle of the Cold War and the series shows traces of this, both in educational intent and in the nature of the social forces involved...
  
  
• Excerpt from "The Martian Way
  The Martian Way
  The Martian Way is a science fiction novella by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections The Martian Way and Other Stories , The Best of Isaac Asimov , and Robot Dreams...
  
  "
• Excerpt from The Universe
• Excerpt from Galaxies

Part 2. Robots

• Excerpt from "The Perfect Machine" from Today and Tomorrow and ...
• Excerpt from "Strange Playfellow" (usually titled "Robbie")
• Excerpt from "Liar!
  Liar!
  "Liar!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the May 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and was reprinted in the collections I, Robot and The Complete Robot . It was Asimov's third published positronic robot story...
  
  "
• Excerpt from "Runaround
  Runaround
  "Runaround" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, featuring his recurring characters Powell and Donovan. It was written in October 1941 and first published in the March 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...
  
  "
• Excerpt from "I, Robot
  I, Robot
  I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, first published by Gnome Press in 1950 in an edition of 5,000 copies. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction between 1940 and 1950. The stories are...
  
  "
• Excerpt from The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science
  The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science
  The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science is a general guide to the sciences written by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in 1960 by Basic Books in two volumes, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences, though some subsequent editions were published as single volumes...
  
  
• "The Last Question
  The Last Question
  "The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and was reprinted in the collections Nine Tomorrows , The Best of Isaac Asimov , Robot Dreams , the retrospective Opus 100 , and in Isaac Asimov: The...
  
  "

Part 3. Mathematics

• Excerpt from Realm of Numbers
• Excerpt from Quick and Easy Math
• "The Feeling of Power
  The Feeling of Power
  The Feeling of Power is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the February 1958 issue of If: Worlds of Science Fiction, and was reprinted in the 1959 collection Nine Tomorrows, the 1969 retrospective Opus 100, and the 1986 collection Robot Dreams...
  
  "

Part 4. Physics

• Excerpt from Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
• Excerpt from the introduction to Only a Trillion
• Excerpt from The Neutrino
• Excerpt from "Superneutron
  Super-Neutron
  "Super-Neutron" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, originally published in the September 1941 issue of Astonishing Stories, and included in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov...
  
  "

Part 5. Chemistry

• Excerpt from "The Sound of Panting" from Only a Trillion
• Excerpt from Biochemistry and Human Metabolism
• Excerpt from The Chemicals of Life
• Excerpt from The Noble Gases
• "Thiotimoline and the Space Age
  Thiotimoline
  Thiotimoline is a fictitious chemical compound conceived by science fiction author Isaac Asimov and first described in a spoof scientific paper titled "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" in 1948...
  
  "
• Excerpt from The Kinetics of the Reaction Inactivation of Tyrosinase during its Catalysis of the Aerobic Oxidation of Catechol

Part 6. Biology

• Excerpt from The Wellsprings of Life
• Excerpt from Photosynthesis

Part 7. Words

• Excerpts from Words of Science
  • "Helium"
  • "Idiot"
  • "RH Negative"
• Excerpts from Words on the Map
  • "New Jersey"
  • "Philadelphia"
  • "Virgin Islands"
• Excerpts from Words from History
  • "Bloody Shirt"
  • "Mob"
  • "Potemkin Village"

Part 8. History

• Excerpt from The Greeks
  • "The Spartan Way of Life"
• Excerpt from The Roman Republic
• Excerpt from The Egyptians
• Excerpt from The Near East
• Excerpt from "There's Nothing Like a Good Foundation" from Asimov on Science Fiction
• Excerpt from "The Dead Hand
  Foundation and Empire
  Foundation and Empire is a novel written by Isaac Asimov that was published by Gnome Press in 1952. It is the second book published in the Foundation Series, and the fourth in the in-universe chronology...
  
  "

Part 9. The Bible

• Excerpt from Asimov's Guide to the Bible
• "Twelve Point Three Six Nine" from Science, Numbers, and I

Part 10. Short Shorts

• Excerpt from Please Explain
• "On Prediction", an introduction to Future Tense edited by Richard Curtis
• "An Uncompromising View", a review of Mechanical Men by Dean E. Wooldridge
• "Dreamworld"

Part 11. Humor

• "The Holmes-Ginsbook Device"

Appendix: My Hundred Books

Reception

Algis Budrys

Algis Budrys

Algis Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names "Frank Mason", "Alger Rome", "John A. Sentry", "William Scarff", and "Paul Janvier."-Biography:...

gave Opus 100 a mixed review, saying "the book as a whole demans so many shifts of personality and attitude in the reader that no one, not even Asimov, could keep up with them comfortably."