Foundation (1951)

Hari Seldon's psychohistory turns imperial collapse into a problem that experts believe they can manage across centuries. Collected in 1951 from earlier stories, Foundation remains brisk and ingenious in the way one apparent dead end becomes a new strategic possibility. Its elite viewpoint leaves much ordinary life offstage. That limitation sharpens the discussion: who is entitled to shape a future, and what would count as evidence against the plan?