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Isaac Asimov was born to Russian-Jewish parents in Petrovichi, Russia SFSR. Though born in Russia, he spent the majority of his childhood in Brooklyn, New York, after his family relocated to the United States when Asimov was three years old. In Brooklyn, Asimov became a self-taught reader at a young age and taught his younger sister as well. His parents owned a collection of candy stores which, in addition to sweets, sold magazines and newspapers. As a result, Asimov was exposed to written media outlets, including pulp magazines, that he otherwise would have been unable to afford. Asimov therefore pointed to his family's candy stores as the source of his lifelong love of literature.

Asimov is one of the most prolific writers of the science fiction genre and comprises one the genre's "Big Three," along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. In addition to his career as a celebrated author, he also worked as a professor of biochemistry at Boston University and served as president of the American Humanist Association. Alongside "The Last Question," Asimov's notable texts include his Galactic Empires series, Robot series, Foundation series (for which he won the Hugo Award), and his novella, "Nightfall," which was voted best sci-fi short story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. 

Though his early career was undoubtedly defined by his works of science fiction, Asimov also pursued nonfiction and wrote over one hundred science-related nonfiction books. However, Asimov maintained that, "No matter how various the subject matter I write on, I was a science-fiction writer first and it is as a science-fiction writer that I want to be identified.”

After a widely celebrated career, he died on April 6, 1992.

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