This isn't a real review, but me wanting to point out, as I've wanted to do for years, that we are here, we GOT here, and it's not quite as bad as he predicted because we've taken that technology-driven lack of privacy and flooded it with junkmail. In other words, how is someone supposed to truly spy on you if they have to sift through endless statuses about the heat of a Gainesville summer or pictures of beautiful sushi? (Which I say as a positive.)So it turns out there was a solution after all...

OCD-inducing writing, as always. Still, lovely plot.Q:"You have created a new world among the three of you. I congratulate you. Happy goldfish bowl to you, to me, to everyone, and may each of you fry in hell forever. Arrest rescinded." (c)Q: "I suppose there's no way of putting the mushroom cloud back into that nice, shiny uranium sphere." (c)Q:Arnold Potterley, Ph.D., was a Professor of Ancient History. That, in itself, was not dangerous. What changed the world beyond all dreams was the fact th...

“Happy goldfish bowl to you”Asimov was remarkably prescient as both an intellect and a writer. The Dead Past demonstrates the reasons why on both counts.Published in 1956, The Dead Past is concerned about the loss of privacy through modern technology long before home computers, digital surveillance, and governmental obsession with counter terrorism. He understood exactly what was at stake if our lives were to become ‘transparent’ to others. And he understood the moral issues involved - not just ...

Full of surprising plot twists, this novelette about science and curiosity will blow you off your feet.

When I hear the word of Sci-Fi, I remember one name: Isaac Asimov. The Dead Past is a great story happening in an academic environment. This story contains a few "shocks" that make it very catchy and strong. You can find the satisfying elements of a Sci-Fi that any reader wants: an interesting scientific idea (Science) and nice story telling (Fiction). The only imperfection of this story is that its start might be a little bit boring for non academic readers. In all, I really liked the book and ...

The Dead Past by Isaac Asimov is actually a novelette, not a short story. And it happens to be a thought provoking one. Like Foundation trilogy it's a character driven story.Freedom to follow your curiosity in scientific research is the main thread around which the whole story revolves. The story is set in future, which is not dissimilar to ours, where scientific research is centralized and directed by a government agency. And there is a specialized branch of science, known as Chronoscopy, for w...

A superb short story. I just loved the characterization and how Asimov shows with his distinctive style that it's possible to write great literature grounded in the world of professors and researchers. The ending has an interesting twist, which I'm not going to spoil.

Nunca viene mal leer al amigo Isaac, y menos que menos cuando uno necesita un respiro entre libros largos o sagas para despejar la mente y porder abordar una nueva lectura con la cabeza fresca. Encontre este libro en uno de mis "dealers" de libros usados y aunque ya habia leido las historias me intrigo la portada.El libro relata historias en el futuro en el cual la ciencia, en muchos casos, esta guiada por Multivac llevando a distintas perspectivas sobre cuestiones cotidianas que van desde como ...

First short story of an Asimov collection I found in my basement. A social commentary, Asimov wrote about organized research, the natural curiosity of man, the role of government and business in respect to scientific progress, privacy and whistleblowing. An excellent psychological undertone follows the primary character and his wife. Real characters and perspectives, twists and of course SCIENCE!

This story is definitely not nine pages like mentioned in the description. This is a light novela-length story on the urges to understand the past. In this case, a historian's quest to glorify and shine the 'true' light into the great Carthaginian sovereignty in spite of its ancient enemies; and perhaps subconsciously pleading to allusions of his own past faults. All this through a covert radical experiment that has the potential to unleash drastic world changes. I read this in 2013, and I found...