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Only A Trillion
Subtitled: speculations and explorations on the marvels of science
- GenresScienceNonfiction
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
1 person is currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,339 books27.7k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 16, 2009
The first of Asimov's many science essay collections is a strong, well-structured entry, and boasts virtues not often seen in anthologies, namely foreshadowing, momentum, and a big payoff at the end.
That said, my overall attitude toward Asimov's nonfiction is not terribly critical because since I was a child I have been in awe of the exuberance with which he acquired and disseminated historical and scientific knowledge. See my review of The Solar System and Back for an explanation of the filter through which I view his nonfiction, and particularly his science essays.
Being a first entry, the autobiographical or anecdotal asides with which Asimov began most of his later essays (particularly for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction) are almost entirely absent here--Asimov's tone is more businesslike than it would later become. While Asimov fans may find that this detracts, I don't--I enjoy Asimov's personality but I'm here for the science.
And he delivers. Importantly, astronomy is lightly represented in this collection; nuclear physics and organic chemistry dominate. Organic chem has long been a tough subject for me to get excited about even though I can intellectually apprehend its importance, and I am appreciative that Asimov turned his gifts for clear explanation to it in this anthology.
The essays here were written in the mid-to-late 1950s, but the Ace Paperback edition I'm reviewing dates to 1976; Asimov added endnotes of no more than a paragraph each to a few of the essays, but no other alterations are evident.
After a brief introduction (just over two pages) which serves to explain the title, this anthology comprises:
"The Atoms That Vanish" (original, 1957)
"The Explosions within Us" (original, 1957)
"Hemoglobin and the Universe" (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1955)
"Victory on Paper" (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1955)
"The Abnormality of Being Normal" (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1956)
"Planets Have an Air About Them" (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1957)
"The Unblind Workings of Chance" (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1957)
"The Trapping of the Sun" (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1957)
"The Sea-Urchin and We" (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1957)
"The Sound of Panting" (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1955)
"The Marvellous Properties of Thiotimoline"
1. "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1948)
2. "The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline" (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1953)
"Pâté de Foie Gras" (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1956)
The penultimate chapter republishes Asimov's parody of academic writing on the occasion of the completion of his Ph.D. dissertation work, and marks one of his first forays outside of science fiction. The companion piece constitutes his follow-up on the former's deliberately ludicrous premise.
The final article builds upon several of the nuclear-physical and metabolic concepts introduced earlier, and rather than taking the form of an essay, it's more of a whimsical scientific mystery story. Within the context of this collection, it's a five-star piece.
That said, my overall attitude toward Asimov's nonfiction is not terribly critical because since I was a child I have been in awe of the exuberance with which he acquired and disseminated historical and scientific knowledge. See my review of The Solar System and Back for an explanation of the filter through which I view his nonfiction, and particularly his science essays.
Being a first entry, the autobiographical or anecdotal asides with which Asimov began most of his later essays (particularly for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction) are almost entirely absent here--Asimov's tone is more businesslike than it would later become. While Asimov fans may find that this detracts, I don't--I enjoy Asimov's personality but I'm here for the science.
And he delivers. Importantly, astronomy is lightly represented in this collection; nuclear physics and organic chemistry dominate. Organic chem has long been a tough subject for me to get excited about even though I can intellectually apprehend its importance, and I am appreciative that Asimov turned his gifts for clear explanation to it in this anthology.
The essays here were written in the mid-to-late 1950s, but the Ace Paperback edition I'm reviewing dates to 1976; Asimov added endnotes of no more than a paragraph each to a few of the essays, but no other alterations are evident.
After a brief introduction (just over two pages) which serves to explain the title, this anthology comprises:
"The Atoms That Vanish" (original, 1957)
"The Explosions within Us" (original, 1957)
"Hemoglobin and the Universe" (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1955)
"Victory on Paper" (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1955)
"The Abnormality of Being Normal" (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1956)
"Planets Have an Air About Them" (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1957)
"The Unblind Workings of Chance" (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1957)
"The Trapping of the Sun" (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1957)
"The Sea-Urchin and We" (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1957)
"The Sound of Panting" (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1955)
"The Marvellous Properties of Thiotimoline"
1. "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1948)
2. "The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline" (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1953)
"Pâté de Foie Gras" (Astounding Science Fiction, September 1956)
The penultimate chapter republishes Asimov's parody of academic writing on the occasion of the completion of his Ph.D. dissertation work, and marks one of his first forays outside of science fiction. The companion piece constitutes his follow-up on the former's deliberately ludicrous premise.
The final article builds upon several of the nuclear-physical and metabolic concepts introduced earlier, and rather than taking the form of an essay, it's more of a whimsical scientific mystery story. Within the context of this collection, it's a five-star piece.
March 9, 2020
In my quest to start reading Asimov, I found this collection of essays (one of his earliest) on openlibrary and borrowed it (you can digitally borrow an e-book on openlibrary, btw). In a series of twelve essays, Asimov covers everything from rare elements to atoms to evolution of species to even how humans, as omnivorous beings, digest meat. But what delighted me the most was the story in the end called pate de fois gras in which a group of biochemists stumble upon a goose that lays golden eggs and went about researching how it does it. What follows is a delectable romp of speculative fiction that has to be the most-relatable piece of sci-fi ever written.
July 21, 2023
3.5 stars- this is the first book of Asimov's that I have read (other than his short story "The Fun They Had" way back in 6th grade. Asimov does a wonderful job of explaining things simply and clearly, though this collection does still have a lot of science concepts that went over my head. Still, I greatly enjoyed his writing style, and I'll be looking forward to trying to make my way through his extensive backlist.
October 9, 2025
This book starts with explanations of science meant for the public. The explanations were well done, but dated to the 1950s, so the information was rather old and not that interesting.
However, the last two chapters are science fiction, presented scientifically. I really liked those two chapters which raised my overall rating of this book.
However, the last two chapters are science fiction, presented scientifically. I really liked those two chapters which raised my overall rating of this book.
July 1, 2012
1957...w/a new material copyright 1976...i don't believe i've read anything from asimov...so this is a 1st.
has an introduction that begins:
one of the stories my mother likes to tell about me as a child is that once, when i was nearly five, she found me standing rapt in thought at the curbing in front of the house in which we lived. she said, "what are you doing, isaac?" and i answered, 'counting the cars as they pass.'
onward and upward.
the intro is loaded w/trivia...'how much time must pass in order than a million seconds may elapse?--answer: just over 11 1/2 days.' there's more like that.
chapter one "the atoms that vanish"
some interesting points, some that get lost (for me) in the jargon of science...carbon-14...but interesting in how one looks at the universe...we have what we were given...or less...cause atoms vanish, half-life and all that.
yet at the same time, the skeptic in me wonders how anyone can know "x"? probability. okay...not easy to buy, devilishly interesting...and too, the thought that certain atoms are a part of us...w/the potential to do damage...and i think, okay, Cell from Stephen King..."no phone"...yet we're bombarded w/all manner of rays, waves, nessy pas? i recall when project seafarer/project sanguine were afoot...something's afoot!...and this lady calls the wmply hot-line, saying she didn't want all those rays (elf rays) bombarding her temple. heh! who's to know?
oops...i did chapter two above, too..."the explosions within us"...wind me up! before you go!
so...two done..chapter 3 "hemoglobin and the universe"
ooo, good one: "even the purest and most high-minded scientist finds it expedient sometimes to assault the fortress of truth with the blunt weapon of trail and error. sometimes it works beautifully.
big numbers here...if you think the national debt--$16 trillion+--is big and incomprehensible...numbers here are big big. that means big. and honestly the essay lost me somewhere around number big big...but given the ways and means we have used to express the mystery of life...i can't help but think of blueprints...one sees some fine architectural wonder after hacking one's way through the jungle and the 1st thing one asks is, 'mon dieu! who built this!'
silly man, still pizzed off about having to attend sunday school, sees only chance, scoffs at the idea of a greater being...
...and then immediately petitions her/his congress critter to place obstacles in the path of others so as to attain nirvana here on earth...believing in their twisted heart that utopia is possible. faith...or something in the formula?
chapter 4 is victory on paper
the key to the answer to the problem of protein structure was found by a russian. this was michael tswett.
the germans didn't believe him or his ways until enough time had passed and they discovered his process for themselves and lo and behold...chemistry never changes, but people do, figure that one.
insulin makes an appearance...difficult to stay interested, me...in between some americans discovered so, too...but the germans were the big-cheese and so it goes. we never leave the playground behind.
chapter five is the abnormality of being normal
a common catch-phrase is the one that goes, 'there is no such thing as a normal person.' why? he asks...uses numbers to say at the end "normal plus normal plus normal-ever-so-many-times does not equal normal. it equals highly abnormal, and it is a limiting case." ...using the characteristics of a hemoglobin molecule...
chap 6 planets have an air about them
.....
update, finished, 7:42 a.m. sunday 15 jul 12
cough!
chap 7...the unblind workings of chance
8 the trapping of the sun
9 the sea-urchin and we
10 the sound of panting
11 the marvelous properties of thiotimoline
12 pate de foie gras
whew! those last two are meant to be comic...11...actually both...abound in chemical-speak, elements this that the other...daffodil-13....tulip-235...asparagus-57....that sort of thing. ga ga ga. goo goo goo. is all i got to say to you.
okay...okay...the unblind workings or chance...some interesting, thought-provoking stuff happening there...i get a kick out of it when scientists say things like "must"...this is the variation on "assume" and we know what that means. chance. he mentions some other guy who suggested from findings that a sort of intelligence could-might be responsible...and then he shows there is a chance that chance worked, given the ingredients he provides...
the panting chapter tells a bit about the volume, the number of articles/reviews/lists of lists that exist...all of which has no doubt by now doubled or tripled since the 50s when asimov wrote this.
that 12 is about the goose that laid the golden egg...a bit of a hoot...but even so it contains pumpkin-451...pansie-3435...hayseed-12...things like that.
has an introduction that begins:
one of the stories my mother likes to tell about me as a child is that once, when i was nearly five, she found me standing rapt in thought at the curbing in front of the house in which we lived. she said, "what are you doing, isaac?" and i answered, 'counting the cars as they pass.'
onward and upward.
the intro is loaded w/trivia...'how much time must pass in order than a million seconds may elapse?--answer: just over 11 1/2 days.' there's more like that.
chapter one "the atoms that vanish"
some interesting points, some that get lost (for me) in the jargon of science...carbon-14...but interesting in how one looks at the universe...we have what we were given...or less...cause atoms vanish, half-life and all that.
yet at the same time, the skeptic in me wonders how anyone can know "x"? probability. okay...not easy to buy, devilishly interesting...and too, the thought that certain atoms are a part of us...w/the potential to do damage...and i think, okay, Cell from Stephen King..."no phone"...yet we're bombarded w/all manner of rays, waves, nessy pas? i recall when project seafarer/project sanguine were afoot...something's afoot!...and this lady calls the wmply hot-line, saying she didn't want all those rays (elf rays) bombarding her temple. heh! who's to know?
oops...i did chapter two above, too..."the explosions within us"...wind me up! before you go!
so...two done..chapter 3 "hemoglobin and the universe"
ooo, good one: "even the purest and most high-minded scientist finds it expedient sometimes to assault the fortress of truth with the blunt weapon of trail and error. sometimes it works beautifully.
big numbers here...if you think the national debt--$16 trillion+--is big and incomprehensible...numbers here are big big. that means big. and honestly the essay lost me somewhere around number big big...but given the ways and means we have used to express the mystery of life...i can't help but think of blueprints...one sees some fine architectural wonder after hacking one's way through the jungle and the 1st thing one asks is, 'mon dieu! who built this!'
silly man, still pizzed off about having to attend sunday school, sees only chance, scoffs at the idea of a greater being...
...and then immediately petitions her/his congress critter to place obstacles in the path of others so as to attain nirvana here on earth...believing in their twisted heart that utopia is possible. faith...or something in the formula?
chapter 4 is victory on paper
the key to the answer to the problem of protein structure was found by a russian. this was michael tswett.
the germans didn't believe him or his ways until enough time had passed and they discovered his process for themselves and lo and behold...chemistry never changes, but people do, figure that one.
insulin makes an appearance...difficult to stay interested, me...in between some americans discovered so, too...but the germans were the big-cheese and so it goes. we never leave the playground behind.
chapter five is the abnormality of being normal
a common catch-phrase is the one that goes, 'there is no such thing as a normal person.' why? he asks...uses numbers to say at the end "normal plus normal plus normal-ever-so-many-times does not equal normal. it equals highly abnormal, and it is a limiting case." ...using the characteristics of a hemoglobin molecule...
chap 6 planets have an air about them
.....
update, finished, 7:42 a.m. sunday 15 jul 12
cough!
chap 7...the unblind workings of chance
8 the trapping of the sun
9 the sea-urchin and we
10 the sound of panting
11 the marvelous properties of thiotimoline
12 pate de foie gras
whew! those last two are meant to be comic...11...actually both...abound in chemical-speak, elements this that the other...daffodil-13....tulip-235...asparagus-57....that sort of thing. ga ga ga. goo goo goo. is all i got to say to you.
okay...okay...the unblind workings or chance...some interesting, thought-provoking stuff happening there...i get a kick out of it when scientists say things like "must"...this is the variation on "assume" and we know what that means. chance. he mentions some other guy who suggested from findings that a sort of intelligence could-might be responsible...and then he shows there is a chance that chance worked, given the ingredients he provides...
the panting chapter tells a bit about the volume, the number of articles/reviews/lists of lists that exist...all of which has no doubt by now doubled or tripled since the 50s when asimov wrote this.
that 12 is about the goose that laid the golden egg...a bit of a hoot...but even so it contains pumpkin-451...pansie-3435...hayseed-12...things like that.
February 3, 2018
Early Essays. The Good Doctor has not quite found the special touch. Good enough, of course.
November 18, 2024
When Asimov wrote one of these essays “Hemoglobin and the Universe” (c.1950s, more or less) the popular estimate of the global population was apparently 2.5billion people. Today it is 8.8billion.
June 9, 2007
Please see my review of X Stands for Unknown ([http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98...]) for general comments on Isaac Asimov's science essays.
This collection, Only a Trillion, hails from the mid-1950s, and therefore some of the scientific notions are, well, quaint. To me, this isn't necessarily a disadvantage: it is informative as well as intriguing to read about "cutting-edge" science from an earlier time, as it reveals much about how we came to know facts that we now take for granted. The essays herein are not grouped in sets according to a common theme, as is common in Asimov's later work.
The first two chapters deal with the quantities of naturally-occurring radionuclides (radioactive atoms), and which poses the greatest risk to us. These are followed by two chapters on amino-acid sequences in proteins, leading up to the Nobel Prize-winning feat of sequencing the two polypeptides in the insulin molecule. Chapter Five, "The Abnormality of Being Normal," applies statistics to the question of whether someone who is average in every way is truly "normal." Chapter Six deals with likely constituents for planetary atmospheres. Chapter Seven is an early attempt to explain abiogenesis; however, the argument still works today against the creationist belief that life is too complex to have a natural origin.
In Chapter Eight, Asimov presents the basics of photosynthesis. This is followed by a very nice introduction to molecular evolution, "The Sea Urchin and We." Asimov then takes a surprising turn and in Chapter 10, describes the rigors of carrying out a literature search in the 1950s. (Any scientist or student who uses PubMed on line, and anyone who disagrees with the notion that computers are time-saving devices, should read this essay to gain the proper appreciation for modern technology.)
Finally, there appear two humorous vignettes. The first follows up on Asimov's parody paper in Astounding Science Fiction, "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline," and explores the properties of endochronicity—the tendency of thiotimoline to dissolve in water before the water is actually added. The second, actually a mystery of sorts, asks the reader to deduce the mechanism by which the Golden Goose manufactured gold from oxygen-18 atoms obtained from the environment.
This collection, Only a Trillion, hails from the mid-1950s, and therefore some of the scientific notions are, well, quaint. To me, this isn't necessarily a disadvantage: it is informative as well as intriguing to read about "cutting-edge" science from an earlier time, as it reveals much about how we came to know facts that we now take for granted. The essays herein are not grouped in sets according to a common theme, as is common in Asimov's later work.
The first two chapters deal with the quantities of naturally-occurring radionuclides (radioactive atoms), and which poses the greatest risk to us. These are followed by two chapters on amino-acid sequences in proteins, leading up to the Nobel Prize-winning feat of sequencing the two polypeptides in the insulin molecule. Chapter Five, "The Abnormality of Being Normal," applies statistics to the question of whether someone who is average in every way is truly "normal." Chapter Six deals with likely constituents for planetary atmospheres. Chapter Seven is an early attempt to explain abiogenesis; however, the argument still works today against the creationist belief that life is too complex to have a natural origin.
In Chapter Eight, Asimov presents the basics of photosynthesis. This is followed by a very nice introduction to molecular evolution, "The Sea Urchin and We." Asimov then takes a surprising turn and in Chapter 10, describes the rigors of carrying out a literature search in the 1950s. (Any scientist or student who uses PubMed on line, and anyone who disagrees with the notion that computers are time-saving devices, should read this essay to gain the proper appreciation for modern technology.)
Finally, there appear two humorous vignettes. The first follows up on Asimov's parody paper in Astounding Science Fiction, "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline," and explores the properties of endochronicity—the tendency of thiotimoline to dissolve in water before the water is actually added. The second, actually a mystery of sorts, asks the reader to deduce the mechanism by which the Golden Goose manufactured gold from oxygen-18 atoms obtained from the environment.
April 27, 2015
Maybe I’m a math-head at heart, secretly, but this was by far my favorite of the old Asimov non-fiction books I picked up for change at a garage sale.
I enjoyed it start to finish with its cheerful exploration of large numbers and the trials of mid-century scientists trying to solve seemingly unsolvable problems. The book ends with two rather silly - but very academic- science fiction stories, one in the form of an academic paper on a curious substance with a negative dissolution time. (Theories suggest that one end of the molecule exists in the future.)
I enjoyed it start to finish with its cheerful exploration of large numbers and the trials of mid-century scientists trying to solve seemingly unsolvable problems. The book ends with two rather silly - but very academic- science fiction stories, one in the form of an academic paper on a curious substance with a negative dissolution time. (Theories suggest that one end of the molecule exists in the future.)
March 30, 2016
Science!
January 4, 2013
My first Asimov read: St Anthony's library
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews