# Favorite Non-Fiction books by Isaac Asimov?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 2, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088 "2013-02-02T01:19:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/1 "2013-02-02T01:19:10Z")
I got a $30.00 Amazon gift card and was looking for something to buy.
I was thinking of Asimov on Physics, but he was such a prolific writer, maybe you have a favorite Asimov science book to suggest.
I like all kinds of science books and my teenaged kids are interested in physics and chemistry. I’m sure some of his science books are dated now, but the basics should still be solid.
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### Author:  [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/2 "2013-02-02T01:23:11Z")
Oh- I just saw “Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: Two Volumes in One, the Old and New Testaments.”
A recommend?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/3 "2013-02-02T01:36:54Z")
How much is his two-part autobiography, _In Memory yet Green_ and _In Joy Still Felt_?
The titles come from this poem:
- In memory yet green, in joy still felt,
The scenes of life rise sharply into view.
We triumph; Life’s disasters are undealt,
And while all else is old, the world is new. \*
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### Author:  [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/4 "2013-02-02T01:47:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> How much is his two-part autobiography, _In Memory yet Green_ and _In Joy Still Felt_?
> The titles come from this poem:
>
> - In memory yet green, in joy still felt,
> The scenes of life rise sharply into view.
> We triumph; Life’s disasters are undealt,
> And while all else is old, the world is new. \*
Two copies, $14.00 each.
> **[In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov: Asimov, Isaac:...](https://www.amazon.com/Memory-Yet-Green-Autobiography-Asimov/dp/0380754320)**
>
> In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov \[Asimov, Isaac\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/5 "2013-02-02T01:58:05Z")
> [@Ca3799](#):
>
> Two copies, $14.00 each.
>
> [In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov: Asimov, Isaac: 9780380754328: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Yet-Green-Autobiography-1920-1954/dp/B00164ZJMS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359769607&sr=8-1&keywords=asimov+autobiography)
Snap it up-his history is tied in tight with the history of science fiction itself.
edited to add: Can you get the second volume, _In Joy Still Felt_?
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### Author:  [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/6 "2013-02-02T02:13:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Snap it up-his history is tied in tight with the history of science fiction itself.
>
> edited to add: Can you get the second volume, _In Joy Still Felt_?
Yes, there are a couple of copies of that one, too.
> **[In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978: Asimov, Isaac:...](https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Still-Felt-Autobiography-1954-1978/dp/0380530252)**
>
> In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 \[Asimov, Isaac\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978
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### Author:  [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/7 "2013-02-02T02:15:35Z")
> [@Ca3799](#):
>
> Oh- I just saw “Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: Two Volumes in One, the Old and New Testaments.”
>
> A recommend?
It’s been awhile since I read it, (and maybe I just read the OT volume) but I’d give it a mixed review. It starts out very thoroughly, analyzing the history and structure of Genesis, but as it continues it just becomes Ike making a few comments about the things that interest him. History. Trivia. Philosophy. So it’s not a serious reference book on the Bible, but is (like almost everything he wrote) good reading.
Asimov is often his own best subject, so I return to his two volume autobio more than anything else. In Memory Still Green. In Joy Still Felt.
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### Author:  [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/8 "2013-02-02T02:26:51Z")
For my money, it’s gotta be Asimov’s [The Sensuous Dirty Old Man](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0802703631). It is the only book of his that I think honestly encapsulates how dreadfully _unpleasant_ the man was to be around when he was alive. (Although I admit his books of erotic limericks also try their best.)
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### Author:  [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/9 "2013-02-02T03:44:26Z")
Moving to Cafe Society from IMHO.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/10 "2013-02-02T04:08:22Z")
It’s been a long, long time since I’ve read any Asimov science essay, but I don’t remember one single clinker among them. Pick any collection; you won’t go wrong.
You might also consider “Asimov Laughs Again”, his second (and better) collection of jokes and anecdotes.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/11 "2013-02-02T21:30:30Z")
Can you even find these outside of used-book sites?
I was underwhelmed by Asimov’s Guide to the Bible. It’s an interesting read, but the good Doctor bit of more than he could chew in that case.
A lot of his books, while good, have been overtaken by a lot of subsequent reseach, and I suspect they’re outdated. His guide to The Brain and The Bloodstream and suchlike would probably need revamping. And who would be reading his guide to the Slide Rule these days?
For my money, read his Annotated Gulliver’s Travels (which gives you all those references you’ve heard about, but not actually had pointed out) or his Annotated Paradise Lost, or his Words from the Myths.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/12 "2013-02-02T22:08:26Z")
I’m rather fond of “The Relativity of Wrong” and “The Measure of the Universe”.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/13 "2013-02-02T22:28:20Z")
_Asimov on Physics_ is good.
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### Author:  [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/14 "2013-02-02T22:32:54Z")
“Asimov on science fiction”, a collection of his essays
I would be interested in reading A Arthur C Clarke’s suggested "Asimovs guide to Cricket "
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### Author:  [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/15 "2013-02-02T22:44:44Z")
Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare is a wonderful book that I consult often.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/16 "2013-02-02T23:21:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> And who would be reading his guide to the Slide Rule these days?
This is the first I’ve heard of this work, but now I feel a strange compulsion to find myself a copy of it.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/17 "2013-02-03T01:13:17Z")
> [@Ca3799](#):
>
> Oh- I just saw “Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: Two Volumes in One, the Old and New Testaments.”
>
> A recommend?
This is what I’d recommend. I’ve gone through both of them and find them easy to read, with a decidedly non-sentimental and academic bent.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/18 "2013-02-03T02:01:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> _Asimov on Physics_ is good.
And “Asimov on Numbers”
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/19 "2013-02-03T02:06:36Z")
Looks like you’d need at least $75 if you wanted a copy of Asimov’s [_Annotated “Don Juan”_](http://www.asimovreviews.net/Books/Book130.html).
By the way, the link is to a site that reviews all of Asimov’s works. I am impressed.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-non-fiction-books-by-isaac-asimov/649088/20 "2013-02-03T02:14:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> How much is his two-part autobiography, _In Memory yet Green_ and _In Joy Still Felt_?
> The titles come from this poem:
>
> - In memory yet green, in joy still felt,
> The scenes of life rise sharply into view.
> We triumph; Life’s disasters are undealt,
> And while all else is old, the world is new. \*
And Asimov apparently wrote the poem…
On topic: Asimov wrote a non-fiction book called “The Universe” which was good. Notably, it mentions Tom Lehrer (and lists him in the index); also, one of Asimov’s friends (Pohl?) noted that only Asimov could write a one-volume book covering the entire universe, while taking two large volumes for his autobiography.
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