Hari Seldon

Hari Seldon is the intellectual hero of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Saga. During his stay at Streeling University on Trantor he developed psychohistory, a series of equations that allowed him to predict the future in probabilistic terms. Because of his predictions about the decline and end of the Galactic Empire, he was given the nickname "Crow"; Seldon.

In the first 5 books of the Foundation Saga, Hari Seldon only makes a "live" in the first chapter of the first book (Foundation ), although he does appear on other occasions in pre-recorded messages to reveal a past Seldon Crisis. After writing 5 books in chronological order, Asimov went back with 2 additional books, which describe the initial process. The two proto-sequels (Prelude to the Foundation and Towards the Foundation ) describe his life in considerable detail. He is also the central character of the Second Foundation Trilogy written after Asimov's death (Fear of the Foundation by Gregory Benford, Foundation and Chaos by Greg Bear and Triumph of the Foundation by David Brin), which are set between Asimov's two proto-sequels. He also figures as a featured character in the short novel The Originist by Orson Scott Card.

Biography

Hari Seldon was born in the tenth month of the year 11,988 of the Galactic Era (GE) (-81 in the Foundational Era) and died in 12,069 GE (1 EF). In the Foundation Saga, the Galactic Era began when the Galactic Empire was created (when is an unknown date, but presumed to be about twenty thousand years from now). He is originally from the planet Helicon in the Arthur sector. He was the adoptive father of Raych and the husband of Dors Venabili.

His father worked in a hydroponic plant. As a young man he already showed mathematical abilities. At the same time, he learned the techniques of twist fighting which later proved to be of great use to him on Trantor. This martial art was very popular on Helicon and seemed like an equal mix of Jiu Jitsu, krav maga and wrestling. It seems that Helicon is "less notable for his math and more for his martial arts" (Prelude to the Foundation). The biography of him was written by Gaal Dornick.

Foundation

Using psychohistory, Seldon found the right time and place to start a new society, one that would replace the dying Galactic Empire within a thousand years, rather than a much longer period of galaxy-wide anarchy and chaos., just as his equations predicted would happen if he did not act immediately. The Foundation, a project started on a planet on the periphery of the galaxy called Terminus, was a planet entirely inhabited by scientists and their families. Initially, everyone believed that the project was dedicated to making the Galactic Encyclopedia, a huge collection of scientific knowledge accumulated throughout the history of the Galactic Empire that, according to their predictions, was doomed to disappear...

Once the first 'Seldon Crisis' is over, it is revealed that the Encyclopedia is a lie, and that the Foundation's ultimate goal is to create a new Galactic Empire (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation)

Prelude to the Foundation

As an assistant professor of mathematics at Helicon University, Seldon visits Trantor to attend the Decennial Math Convention. In it he presents an article indicating the mathematical possibility of theoretically predicting the future of the Galactic Empire. At first it is just a "game" mathematician who poses many problems that seem to have no solution, making practical prediction impossible. However, shortly after his introduction, Seldon finds himself embroiled in a manhunt by various political forces on Trantor who want to use psychohistory for their own benefit. The rest of the novel narrates the exile that he suffers by the sectors of the planet, which allows him to know the complex and varied society of Trantor. During this escape he collects information on how he can turn psychohistory into science. It is also in this novel that he meets his future wife Dors Venabili, his future adoptive son Raych Seldon and his future partner in psychohistory research Yugo Amaril.

Towards the Foundation

This novel is told as a sequence of novellas, as was the case with the original trilogy. These take place at intervals of decades or more and tell the story of Hari Seldon's life, beginning 10 after the events of Prelude to the Foundation and ending with his death. The stories contrast his successful professional life with his unfulfilling personal life. It is in his later years that he receives the nickname Crow for his fateful predictions of the future.

Fear of the Foundation

This novel narrates, with a lot of humor, the series of adventures that Hari Seldon had to go through before becoming prime minister of the Galactic Empire, surviving, thanks to the help of R. Daneel Olivaw and his robots to several assassination attempts by his political opponent Betan Lamurk. On the other hand, the work exposes a more intimate vision of his married life with Dors Venabili. On the same Seldon is developing and testing his mathematical model of psychohistory. Even in this story, Hari comes into contact with alien and artificial intelligence entities, all of which exist in the form of software programs on the Trantor network.

Foundation and Chaos

Here we return to the trial orchestrated by Linge Chen against Hari, although he is aware of the farce it means, since he knows the result in advance. Unknowingly, Hari Seldon is the target of a series of plots by various factions: on the one hand, those robots that oppose Daneel (Calvinians) who wish to erase his memory, and on the part of elements of the Imperial government (resumed). the trial of Hari Seldon with which the book Foundation begins). Seldon refines the last details of his two foundations, especially the Second, in charge of controlling the mental powers scattered throughout the Galaxy and directing the First according to the psychohistorical Plan. In this book, Seldon meets Klia Asgard and her husband Brann, the strongest mentalics in the Galaxy, who will be the origin of the community of telepathic minds that will later be known as GAIA (The Limits of the Foundation).

The Triumph of the Foundation

This novel narrates the last adventure of Seldon, who is old and ailing. Eager to find the key that explains the problem of chaos, Seldon embarks on a long journey that takes him from Trantor to Earth itself. On this journey through the Galaxy, Hari is accompanied by a variety of colorful characters, human and robotic, who try to validate his plans at his expense. In the end, on Earth, he meets Daneel Olivaw, who explains to Hari the scope of his Gaia-Galaxia plan. Seldon bets with him that his Foundation will succeed and prevail in the end. He sets sail again for Trantor for his final meeting with his beloved Dors.

In the Spanish version there is a link where David Brin leaves an addition at the end of the Saga in a few lines: a new Hari Seldon awakens on a distant planet. He does not state if he is a Clone, a Robot or a rejuvenated Seldon, but in the book "The Triumph of the Foundation"; Brin hints that something is happening (something is extracted or copied) to Hari Seldon when he is "rejuvenated"; twice by the Robots.

The originator

In this short story, Hari Seldon finds himself having to deny his friend Leyel Forska his application to join the First Foundation. Forska is the other great scientific genius of his time. Hari's intention is to include him in the Second Foundation. Seldon's refusal produces a momentary disagreement between the two, but in the end Forska understands the real reason, joining the librarians of the Second Foundation. Forska will be the one to pay for Seldon's funeral and will make an emotional speech in defense of his work, which puts him in a difficult situation with the imperial authority.