Their real purpose, however, is to form the basis for a technologically advanced society that will replace the Galactic Empire and lead humanity out of Seldon’s predicted dark age. The Foundation is the group of intellectuals brought together by Hari Seldon to (ostensibly) compile the Encyclopedia Galactica. This, however, turns out to be part of Seldon’s incredibly elaborate master plan. Instead of executing him, the Empire decides to banish Seldon and some of the galaxy's greatest minds to the remote planet of Terminus to work on their encyclopedia.

Seldon says there’s no way to salvage the Empire, but there is a way to make sure that dark age only lasts 1,000 years: Seldon needs to put together a giant encyclopedia, called the Encyclopedia Galactica, which will preserve the scientific knowledge of the Empire. Based on his models, the Empire has already entered an irreversible slide into self-destruction, which will lead to a dark age that will last 30,000 years. RELATED: 18 Best Sci-Fi Book Series You Won't Want to MissĪccording to Seldon, he’s created a new field of science called ‘psychohistory’ that allows him to predict how human society will develop. Seldon’s on trial for predicting the downfall of the Empire, but he argues it’s not treason-it’s scientific fact. The original book, simply titled Foundation, kicks off with Seldon’s trial before the rulers of the Galactic Empire, an interstellar society made of billions of humans. At heart, Foundation is a space opera writ very, very large: the series spans hundreds of years and multiple generations, but it all comes back to one man: mathematician Hari Seldon.

The foundation series by isaac asimov