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Asimov Isaac Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
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Isaac Asimov Trivia

Isaac Asimov Trivia Quizzes

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Although he is perhaps best known for his science fiction (including several series set in what is now called the Foundation Universe), Isaac Asimov was a prolific author who also wrote mysteries, fantasy and a lot of scientific non-fiction.
7 Isaac Asimov quizzes and 95 Isaac Asimov trivia questions.
1.
Isaac Asimov Short Stories
  Isaac Asimov Short Stories   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz challenges your knowledge of Isaac Asimov's short stories - a mix of his famous works and some lesser-known gems. Enjoy exploring the brilliance of this science fiction legend!
Average, 10 Qns, borimor, Aug 09 25
Average
borimor
Aug 09 25
80 plays
2.
  Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Isaac Asimov's famous "Foundation" series told of the fall of the Galactic Empire. But Asimov also wrote three books about the early history of humanity's galactic settlements, as the Empire was just getting started. What do you know of these beginnings?
Average, 10 Qns, CellarDoor, May 02 10
Average
CellarDoor gold member
557 plays
3.
  General Isaac Asimov   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
This quiz is on the general works of Isaac Asimov(1920-1992). He is recognized as one of the preeminent Science Fiction authors of all time and published almost 500 books.
Tough, 20 Qns, sean5789, May 13 17
Tough
sean5789
2477 plays
4.
  Asimov's Black Widowers   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
This quiz is about the "Black Widowers" books of Isaac Asimov. Since few could remember the titles, twists and turns of individual plots, most of the questions will deal with the club and its members, rather than idividual stories.
Tough, 15 Qns, Sallyo, Nov 19 03
Tough
Sallyo
441 plays
5.
  Asimov's Foundation and Empire    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
This is a quiz on the second book of the Foundation trilogy, 'Foundation and Empire'. Possible spoilers for the entire book.
Average, 15 Qns, sean5789, Oct 11 12
Average
sean5789
1572 plays
6.
  Isaac Asimov's Foundation    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
This is a quiz about the first book of Asimov's Foundation trilogy, simple titled 'Foundation'. It has a few general questions, and questions on each of the individual stories. Possible spoilers for the Foundation series.
Tough, 15 Qns, sean5789, Jan 02 21
Tough
sean5789
Jan 02 21
1894 plays
7.
  Foundation Redux    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Forward the Foundation...Do you have it in you?
Average, 10 Qns, matcauthon, Oct 11 12
Average
matcauthon
1003 plays
trivia question Quick Question
Why is the Mule given that name?

From Quiz "Asimov's Foundation and Empire"




Related Topics
  Science Fiction [Literature] (226 quizzes)


Isaac Asimov Trivia Questions
1. The Black Widowers club that features in Isaac Asimov's stories has how many regular current members?

From Quiz Asimov's Black Widowers

Answer: 7

The membership of the Black Widowers remained constant throughout the period covered by the stories. The members were - Thomas (Tom) Trumbull, Mario Gonzalo, Emmanuel (Manny) Rubin, Geoffrey (Geoff or Jeff) Avalon, James (Jim) Drake, Roger Halsted, and Henry Jackson.
Henry was the waiter, but the other Widowers always insisted that he was a full member and "the best man here".
The only other member I can recall being mentioned by name was Ralph Ottur, who was said to have left the district and subsequently died.

2. The book opens with Bel Riose searching out the Foundation on this planet:

From Quiz Asimov's Foundation and Empire

Answer: Siwenna

Hober Mallow has visited Onum Barr on Siwenna years before. Bel Riose sought information from Onum's son, Ducem.

3. What was Isaac Asimov's first published novel?

From Quiz General Isaac Asimov

Answer: Pebble in the Sky

'Pebble in the Sky' was published in 1950. 'Foundation' was published in 1951. 'The Stars, Like Dust' was also published in 1951. 'The Caves of Steel' was published in 1954.

4. Get off on the right foot. Who is the Father of Psychohistory?

From Quiz Foundation Redux

Answer: Hari Seldon

The man who started it all.

5. Which member of the Black Widowers is a code expert?

From Quiz Asimov's Black Widowers

Answer: Tom Trumbull

Thomas Trumbull is a government code expert, and occasionally his work produced mysteries or puzzles for the club to solve.

6. Initially, the men of the Foundation are known as this to Bel Riose:

From Quiz Asimov's Foundation and Empire

Answer: Magicians

Their technology is fairly advanced and considered magical by those who don't understand it.

7. Where is Terminus located?

From Quiz Isaac Asimov's Foundation

Answer: Periphery

Seldon used psychohistory to predict that they would be exiled to the periphery.

8. How many books did Asimov write in the 'Foundation' series?

From Quiz General Isaac Asimov

Answer: seven

In order of the series, 'Prelude to Foundation', 'Forward the Foundation', 'Foundation', 'Foundation and Empire', 'Second Foundation', 'Foundation's Edge', and 'Foundation and Earth'. He also wrote a number of other books that were set in the same universe, but not actually part of the 'Foundation' series.

9. Who is the disgraced councilman from the Foundation?

From Quiz Foundation Redux

Answer: Golan Trevise & Golan & Trevise & Golan Trevize & Trevize

The man who launched the Galactic consciousness.

10. Which member of the Black Widowers is the club artist?

From Quiz Asimov's Black Widowers

Answer: Mario Gonzalo

At the meetings he attends, (which is almost all of them) Mario Gonzalo draws a portrait of the guest to add to the "gallery" on the walls. Gonzalo is the dandy of the club, and his clothing is often commented on by the other members.

11. This man was emperor during Foundation and Empire:

From Quiz Asimov's Foundation and Empire

Answer: Cleon II

Cleon II was known as 'The Great'. 'To the common man, he is simply known as 'Riose's Emperor'. Riose was a general. Klayus was emperor earlier, and Cleon I before him.

12. Which company has Asimov published the most books with?

From Quiz General Isaac Asimov

Answer: Doubleday

Of his first 200 books, Doubleday published 75.

13. Which Planet is the capital of the Galactic Empire?

From Quiz Foundation Redux

Answer: Trantor

Would have loved to see the metal covered world.

14. The second book in the series, "The Currents of Space" (1952), takes us to the two worlds of Florina and Sark. Florina has many problems, but it's the sole source of kyrt -- a substance the galaxy doesn't want to do without. What is kyrt?

From Quiz Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire

Answer: A fiber based on cellulose

Midway through the book, Lady Samia Fife muses on the miraculous kyrt: "Of course kyrt didn't really shine of itself, but properly spun, it would gleam metallically in the sun in a variety of colors or in all colors at once ... Its fibers could be spun finer than the most delicate synthetics and those same fibers had a tensile strength no steel alloy could duplicate." People have tried to grow kyrt on other worlds, but away from Florina, it grows "white, flat, weak and useless. Not even honest cotton." Its immensely valuable kyrt crop could have been a blessing for Florina, but instead, the people of that planet are horribly oppressed by the Squires of Sark, and their riches flow to that other world. Until something changes...

15. Which member of the Black Widowers had a twin sister who was murdered?

From Quiz Asimov's Black Widowers

Answer: Mario Gonzalo

Gonzalo's twin sister, Marge, was murdered. He told the other members of the Black Widowers about it some time after the event. This was the only mystery Henry didn't solve at the meeting... he met Gonzalo privately later to break the unwelcome news of "whodunnit".

16. Why does Lathan Devers get captured?

From Quiz Asimov's Foundation and Empire

Answer: He wants to be

His being captured is part of the Foundation's plan.

17. Hari Seldon is known by this unflattering nickname:

From Quiz Isaac Asimov's Foundation

Answer: Raven

The Raven is often used in mythology as a bad omen. Seldon predicted bad things would happen to the empire.

18. Which robot novel does Gladia not appear in?

From Quiz General Isaac Asimov

Answer: The Caves of Steel

Gladia first appears in 'The Naked Sun', the second robot novel. 'The Caves of Steel' is the first.

19. And which was capital of the Foundation?

From Quiz Foundation Redux

Answer: Terminus

And of the ensuing galactic federation envisioned by Seldon, until Golan put a spanner in the works.

20. Who invariably solved the puzzles at Black Widower meetings?

From Quiz Asimov's Black Widowers

Answer: Henry & Henry Jackson & the waiter & Henry the waiter

Henry, the permanent waiter at the Black Widower banquets, invariably solves the mysteries. However, he always gives credit to the other Widowers, claiming that they offer all sorts of solutions, leaving him to see the only possibility left.

21. How do Lathan Devers and Ducem Barr stop Riose?

From Quiz Asimov's Foundation and Empire

Answer: They don't

Cleon II viewed Riose as a threat and had him arrested.

22. This author novelized one of Asimov's short stories.

From Quiz General Isaac Asimov

Answer: Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg novelizes Asimov's short story 'The Bicentennial Man'. David Brin wrote 'Foundation and Chaos', an add-on to the Foundation series. Harlan Ellison was a friend of Isaac's from the Science Fiction community. Martin Harry Greenberg was an editor of his.

23. Who is Stor Gendibal?

From Quiz Foundation Redux

Answer: A prodigy at the Second Foundation

The only man, apart from Golan, who suspects the presence of some greater force shaping all of human history, namely R. Daneel Olivaw.

24. When Bayta and Toran meet Magnifico, he is deathly afraid of what?

From Quiz Asimov's Foundation and Empire

Answer: The Mule

Magnifico acts terrified of the Mule.

25. After 'five days of discussing' with the Encyclopedists, what did Lord Dorwin say?

From Quiz Isaac Asimov's Foundation

Answer: 'Not one damned thing'

Salvor Hardin taped all of the conversations and in 5 days, Lord Dorwin said nothing whatsoever of substance.

26. In the Empire novels, the Earth is less habitable than most planets. Why?

From Quiz General Isaac Asimov

Answer: radioactivity

The reason for Earth's radioactivity is revealed in "Robots and Empire".

27. Who was the only smoker among the Black Widowers?

From Quiz Asimov's Black Widowers

Answer: James Drake

Drake is often described as being wreathed in smoke, or coughing, or speaking in a soft, hoarse, smoker's voice. Isaac Asimov was not a smoker and didn't like it when others smoked, but he makes Drake a likable character.

28. Ebling Mis was The Scientist. Most specifically though, he was a ...

From Quiz Asimov's Foundation and Empire

Answer: psychologist

Ebling Mis revived psychology in the Foundation. Seldon had purposefully left psychologists out.

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