Foundation

Mathematician Hari Seldon develops psychohistory, a method for predicting the behavior of large populations, and foresees the fall of the Galactic Empire. To shorten the long period of disorder that will follow, he establishes a community of scholars at the edge of the galaxy. Presented through linked episodes across generations, the novel follows the Foundation as it faces political, religious, and economic crises that test Seldon's plan. It opens Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.