I think the only thing he was way off the mark about was "There won't be any wars in 30 years, or there won't be any us". Well, there definitely are still wars, although "There won't be any us" still might be a possibility if Mr Putin (and his foes) don't back off from the edge of madness with the nuke threats.
I wrote to him twice in the late seventies. I'd read he answered his own mail without benefit of a secretary or publicist and wanted to see if it were true. Sure enough, he wrote back both times. It was a thrill to have something from Mr. Asimov that was just for me, not purchased in a bookstore. What a guy...
He was my hero when I was a youth, late 60s and early 1970s and I was too dumb to write to him. After I turned older, I have read the book of his letters which his brother Stanley edited. Thrilled to have it. I like to read his autobiographical stuff. I quoted him in a video on RUclips, "News at the End of the Day with Cranky Mike."
He would have had an amazing channel but still be beat to the top spot by Lazy Game Reviews, unless of course had put on a recurring 'Asimov Thrifts' series.
Issac Arthur has a channel dedicated to much of the books and technology that the godfather of sci-fi gifted us with his writings. ruclips.net/channel/UCZFipeZtQM5CKUjx6grh54g
Asimov was an obvious genius, with a sense of humor. And Letterman knew this. Letterman was always at his best when he had an intellect to talk to, and not just a trendy pop-star he had to go through the motions with. Great interview. Thanks for posting D. Giller!
I saw him in person (from hundreds of feet away) at a Star Trek convention in NYC, before ST:TMP. Spring 1978, I think. My first thought was, “Who is this guy doing the NYJewish shtick?” Turned out that was him, and he came by the accent the same way as the TV comedians (and Bernie Sanders) did.
Dave was always good at recognizing brilliance, and respecting it by asking thoughtful questions. It's when he was handed a dolt to interview that you notice his switch. He couldn't take a simpleton seriously and I always admired him for that.
@Eye of Horus "The audience didn’t want to laugh because if they did it would mean directly insulting him." That was an audience of the Letterman show. Had they really been that dumb, they should've stayed at home doing the dishes instead.
@@lunakid12 I sat in the Letterman audience in the 1980s and let me tell you it is a bit of a chore, if the guests are not super stars. Asimov is a literary superstar, but not a telegenic one.
The last part about communication gave me goosebumps. How precise and beautifully he described what we call now internet, and how distant it was from anybody's mind! Wow... What a genius...
It was Marconi who crossed the Atlantic with radio waves. It was a part of the technology explosion around Tesla's AC/DC (The Niagara Falls Tender). That's what Asimov called Quantum-jump, and he meant "allowed by government". This was made clear to him during his academic career. Bologna Airport is called after Marconi.
Thanks for uploading this! I read "In Joy Still Felt" for a book report in 11th grade. One of the questions we had to answer in the report was 'why do you think the author wrote his autobiography'. Well, Dr. Asimov was still alive so I figured I would just write him and ask him. He sent me back a simple post card that said " I wrote my autobiography because I like to talk about myself." signed Isaac Asimov. Well, that's what I wrote in my book report. When my teacher squawked, I showed her the post card. I ended up getting an A. First, I had to prove that I read the whole book (the teacher was a real @sshole) It was a huge book, but I ate it up in a week! He knew and interacted with all the other greats of Sci-Fi. Such an awesome human being! To this day, that post card is one of my prized possessions!
I read both volumes at a much older age (in my 40s) and could not put them down. I really loved how he kept detailed financial records of all his short story and book sales.
He cowrote with another of my favorites Silverberg a few times too. Man that brings back memories. I've many of his books on paper, and I think about 40 as Ebooks. I just started liking Ebooks more. I'm a slob, and you can't stain a tablet while eating and reading. It is what he talked about, soon all literature will be in that format. In time I'd love most of his books in E form.
I read through all of his Foundation books over a two or three-year period back in the late 1980s because they were just riveting. Since then (for over 30 years) I’ve been hoping and wishing for that series to be made into a movie series. Now finally, it looks like my wish is coming true. That man is one of the treasures of humanity. God rest his brilliant soul.
Dave went unusually serious and thoughtful with good ol' Isaac, understood all too clearly just what a heavyweight he had in front of him and acted accordingly.
Seemed like he didn't really know what to do with Issac to me. In the first 4 minutes, it didn't seem like Dave knew if he should be laughing or not at Issac's replies.
Also he was concerned about the subjects he touched. Cancer, diseases, communication, guns, space stuff. I mean if you got Isaac on your couch you should ask serious stuff. Isaac deserved it.
I like that the studio is so small you can hear individual people's gentle laughter. Theres no mindless woo-ing. It's just an interesting conversation with a fascinating person.
most shows the laughter feels fake cus oh it is fake cus they use a laugh track, big or small audience don't matter too much, there's points in many George Carlin or jeff Foxworthy, Sam Kinnison etc shows where I can hear individual laughs, hell in Robert Schimmel's Unprotected there's a specific lady you can hear all throughout it at certain points along with the general audience.... but also some guests on these shows do elicit more attention like on Leno when he had Morgan Freeman on that was awesome cus there wasn't a lot of laughter but intent listening cus Morgan is so interesting like Asimov is here....man Freeman was one of my fave interviews on Leno's whole run....
@@Red_Lanterns_Rage I've been to live tapings of several late nite shows, Colbert most recently, and they pump the audience up to cheer like mad at almost anything. That's why it sounds so fake.
His last prediction in this interview: in about 2010, communications bandwidth will have increased so greatly that everyone can have their own closed circuit television channel, just as in 1980 everyone has their own phone number.
After gobbling up some of his incredible fiction works through my high-school years - fascinated, enthralled, intrigued - I went on to college to find that he had also authored my Psych 101 textbook! I was blown away.
“Everyone (in the future) can have their own television channel, the way that they have their own television numbers.” Everyone can now have their own RUclips channel.
I think he meant “own TV channel” such as streaming TV where you “dial up” st whom your own program you wish to watch instead of being constrained by TV stations set programming. not your own actual TV (RUclips) show.
Edward Giovannelli Somehow I always thought Asimov would sound a bit like Andre the Giant. Isn’t it weird how we get ideas like that stuck in our heads?
Same here. Somehow, the New York accent caught me by surprise. It shouldn't have, of course, since I knew he lived in New York almost all his life. I had the same reaction the first time I saw physicist Richard Feynman in a video. ruclips.net/video/EYPapE-3FRw/видео.html
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. " Isaac Asimov
Wow, that was never truer than now! Good old Isaac. I used to read and re-read the Foundation trilogy . . . can you imagine any 14-year-old kid doing that now?
@@kamakirinoko How excited are you about the show? I never read the series, but was always curious about it. I'm SO happy they are visualizing one of his works!
That's quite a way to start. Hah. I became a fan of sci fi in 1963, starting with Rocket Ship Galileo, The Sands of Mars, and Tom Swift books. Then I fell in love with When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide. By 1965 I was a hard core sci fi guy, reading everything I could lay hands on.
Isaac Asimov: WOW! This man thinks at LIGHT-SPEED...in fact , he doesn’t need to “think” much, he seems to have all the replies at the ready , and so logical and precise!
He might be similar to whatever I have. When I write something its commitment to memory. I passed my RRT boards not by studying but by copying paragraphs. I believe his mind works that way.
I once met him at a book signing and asked him what happened to "his robots" between "I Robot" and "Foundation's Edge" and he said "Read "Robots of Dawn.'" His knowledge of his own books were encyclopedic!
He was so brilliant. And prescient. But mostly he wrote great books. And as a kid I couldn't get enough of them starting with Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids when I was 10yrs old. He was like a 3rd parent to me. The way that he looked at the world just made sense. And I am very grateful to him.
Asimov is my "who do you wish you could have a conversation with, living or dead?" answer for forever. He's quite literally my hero and role model on what a person should devote their time to
He's definitely at the top of my list right next to General Chuck Yeager, even though I've spoken with him once in my life briefly. I would absolutely use a wish to let Isaac see what the future has become. I think he would be thrilled with some of the technology that we have now that he very clearly predicted. Can you imagine him examining an iPad? He would be tickled!
No, I really would advise against it. As much of a good writer he was, he was also very much problematic. I suggest reading up some of this on Wikipedia, or if you find Wikipedia untrustworthy then you see the references used.
Asimov had an immense intellect and a prodigious output of books. His life was cut short by AIDS he acquired from a blood transfusion. The triumvirate of A.C. Clarke, Carl Sagan and himself was a fount of science and fiction that fed an eager audience then and for years to come.
What a lovely and informative comment. I had no idea he died that way, that's tragic. But like you said he contributed so much in the time he had that one really must feel grateful for the amount of entertainment he produced in the time he had.
@@freedapeeple4049 Exactly. Not to deprecate Sagan, but Heinlein is still the grand master of science fiction. He showed everyone how it is done. So, Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke.
@David Hill Herbert was great, but like other great science fiction writers he reached his peak in a different era. Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke dominated the genre during the post-WWII era, when science fiction barely kept up with science fact.
It must have driven Letterman a bit nuts to get one direct and cogent answer after another, yet each answer delivered with such a tone of finality. Tough guest in that particular respect.
6:33 "I remember when radios first came out...see you're too young for that" - Dave smiles like a kid getting a good talking to from his wise old (cool) grandpa
I think Dave smiled because he thought of a joke response (as did I), but it wasnt good enough to interrupt Isaac. IE: that's the showman knowing when ego is not part of the show.
I grew up reading his novels and short stories. I admired him for his intellect, writing and humility. His PhD was in biochemistry, which is one reason my BS was biochemistry, on my way to earning an MD and a degree in chemical engineering. His writing inspired me to become a scientist, as well as now writing my own short stories. My writing tends to be high brow, even though writing coaches tell you to write at an 8th grade level. Smart writing challenges the reader. Asimov was a giant in this respect. I like how he predicts RUclips. Great interview by Letterman.
"At the rate they're going they'll do the last few Star Wars movies after I'm dead, which doesn't seem fair" Oh my dear Isaac, you were very lucky to not have to see the final 3 ruin all the others.
@@Rafabenitez01 everybody who has ever read a book then watched the movie version says the same thing..suppose it just proves our own imagination is much more fun than movies 🎥
@@2DReanimation He probably would have created annotations of the prequel memes. I don't think he missed out, I think we missed out on his epic meme annotations.
I like how in 1980 an audience would whistle on the appearance onstage of an elderly Professor of Chemistry. Or that one would be invited to appear come to think of it...
In the early 80s there were still a few characteristics of civilization left. I see today we have superpowers arguing over who should profit from the technology for TikTok.
He wouldn't have been invited if he'd only been a professor, as is obvious by the fact that it wasn't even mentioned in the interview. He was invited because he was a prodigious and popular author, which was reiterated throughout. It's like saying those were the days when a man with muttonchops could be invited on... true, but just as irrelevant.
This clip is from Dave’s short lived morning show that ran for about 9 months I believe. Dave was much “goofier” later on during the “Late Night” show.
Wow, just wow. Thanks for uploading this to RUclips! (And thanks to the YT algorithm for thinking I might enjoy it) I had the honor of meeting Dr. Asimov a year or two before this video. He was speaking to a conferenced of science teachers and my high school science teacher was able to bring a few students to the event to meet Dr. Asimov. He was very gracious and patient with us and I've still got my signed copy of Foundation on my bookshelf.
This interview is one of the most impressive things I've come across. Letterman was asking questions not to be funny but for further predictions (I understand this was before the tonight show but still interesting), and Asimov seemed to hit the nail right on the head for most things. The man just saw the real capabilities in the world. Incredible.
Letterman interviewed him fantastically! He asked the right questions - especially the biggest one - "after the moon landing, what is the next logical things we should do in space?"
@@user-vl9bw1lw1u *The prequels _could have been_ the most interesting part of the story. It turned out that Lucas couldn't add an oil thin surface layer of political and economical sub-plot to the rich waters of the Stat Wars galaxy and make it work. At the time I thought he should've handed it off to younger, keener minds. Oh, how the last five years have proved me wrong.
This footage is gold. I started first year of school back in 🇮🇷 in Sep 1980. He was loved in Iran the same way they loved Jules Verne👌 What a SiFi Nostradamus! He could see right through his innovative mind the progress of science and ways it would change our world. Loved his thoughts on future wars! There will be peace☮️or there will be no us.☢️💥 😇
I just watched a video on youtube from 40 years ago in which a man unexpectedly predicted the very existence of youtube almost 30 years later. Awesome.
Isn't it an incredibly strange feeling?! It's like his mind reached into the future for detailed reports, and is winking at us now. The first Heinlein novel I read, published in 1980, described live streaming video in such perfect detail that he'd moved on in the story before it even occurred to me this very familiar concept wasn't a reality until a few years before I read the book. The same feeling comes over me when I think about that as I feel you've expressed in your comment. 😁
One of the three greatest Science fiction writers of the 20th Century, a brilliant science writer and biblical scholar. Ironically, he was an atheist. He had a fear of flying and only flew 2 times in his life(in the Army). He would be 97 years old now but for unscreened blood(HIV). His death saddened me greatly. A literate man with a Brooklyn accent -an enigma inside a puzzle.
Very likely an atheist because of his biblical studies. 200 pages of annotations for 11 chapters of Genesis. He's a man of science and logic, so he likely couldn't help but notice all of the logical inconsistencies that men of the biblical eras would have unwittingly made in absence of the discoveries made in the last thousands of years of human history.
Robert, I am almost 67 years old and I remember reading so many things by this man, including the Foundation series. Pebble in the Sky is one of my favorites. And I was in my early twenties when I read it. Thanks for your comment, sir.
@@fartkerson This is misleading. Just because the Bible is inconsistent or irrational doesn't mean there is no God. Christianity is not the worlds only religion or philosophy. Plato and Xenophon understood a one transcendent God who was approached through reason and what could be understood today as science, the observation of order within chaos.
I read his books when I was a kid and kept a dictionary on my night stand so I could look up the meaning of the words he would use. I never moved on until l could clearly understand what he was saying. In this interview he was so light hearted and genuine.
Dr. Isaac Asimov is one of my greatest sources of inspirations. I've read many of his works, including the Foundation Series, his collection of best works, and various other short stories, but this is the first time I've seen his mind at work in a non-literary format. Thanks! If I could have dinner with anyone, I'd seriously think about Dr. Isaac Asinoc.
I love the Foundation series too. Foundation and Earth was a tough read though. It is too cerebral and gets burdened down by weighty dialogue. Frank Herbert does the same at times.
@@strawbarry7834 The letter c is to the left of the v on any Olivetti. I am sure the good doctor may have made the same type of mistake in authoring the 200 plus books that he penned.
Some did. Going to genetics for the question on medicine was very impressive for 1980. The communications answer was more 50/50. Laser communications is not so much a thing. At least nothing on the scale he talked of. However he nailed everyone having their own communications channel. I mean RUclips here we are.
An iconic interview with an icon. Asimov has the expected ego of a mega prolific author, but he demonstrates a practicality and brusqueness of the every man. Glad to hear he respected other sci fi works. Ironic how he says the special effects of the day drive the movies; that remains true even today in 2021 - 31 years later. His vision of space civilization is practical and ahem, grounded in reality. Just like his peer Arthur C Clarke, his predictions of technology were dead right. What a giant of humankind.
I had flyby run-ins with him when I lived in NYC in the early 80s, and got a book signed and a photo. I was like a teenager seeing Duran Duran, all weak in the knees. He's probably my favorite author. Love this closer glimpse of him.
Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, but his true genius was in his science writing. He was able to explain complex concepts so clearly and concisely. I was so pleased to hear him refer to his science articles in the Magazine of Fantasy of Science Fiction. Some of his very best work.
HunchbackJack Loved his science fiction books but reading his science books as a kid really got me into science and I ended up becoming an engineer. He had a huge influence in my life.
In high school I flunked chemistry. Years later I came across ia's book on chemistry it was almost chapter 4 chapter the same as my chemistry book except that it made sense. He just used analogies and imagery that made it work.
I always recommend to people "Atom: Journey Across The Subatomic Cosmos" for the most understandable history to the study of the atom. It's remarkably approachable by anyone, and makes a great companion piece to Hawking's A Brief History in Time.
His science articles were great. He was also good at writing popular articles on pure mathematics, but sadly only wrote a few of them in comparison. Perhaps the math articles were not as enjoyable to write or took too long.
For Asimov to single out genetic engineering and personal communication devices as the future big technological developments is quite astonishing and obviously accurate.
Interesting how about 15 years after this we had the Internet and then another 10 years or so we had RUclips, the iPhone etc. The dude really had a lot right! :-)
voicetube Yes! As he said he described and predicted spacewalks in 1950 and so many other things. And here he predicts DNA stem cell research to cure or prevent illness before the general public in 1980 had a clue what that was.
@@moarsaur It's possible that his prediction was just off by 30 or 40 years. Nuclear programs are surprisingly slow. But it is weird that he somehow ignored the wars branching from terrorism which was on the rise in the 1970s. Maybe he changed his tune after Iran-Contra and the first Desert Storm, which he lived through.
I can't believe I'm hearing Dr. Asimov speak for the first time, after having read so much of his fiction. Fantastic author, and as an interviewee he did not disappoint.
I just love Asimovs Books - he taught me to love science, space, futuristic thinking growing up. It was great to see him talk in person, what a genius he was.
Dave was surprisingly not flippant during the whole interview! I'm guessing he respects Asimov. Thanks for posting this. On one hand it's great that Asimov spent all of his time writing, so we have so much of his clear prose to read, but the downside is there is so little video of him, because he so rarely did TV appearances.
When I was a child in the 1950s and 60s, I read dozens of Dr. Asimov's books, both scientific and science fiction. He gave me a lifelong love of both; but science was his forte. He could explain very complex phenomena so even a child could understand them. In one treatise on how to think about large numbers (scientific notation) by proving that there were approximately 3,000 or so molecules (I forget the real number) of oxygen in my lungs that had also been breathed by Adolf Hitler. This stunned me and made me voracious for more science & numbers. Thank you, Dr. Asimov
Unfortunately however he forgot that greed will win out over altruism. all they wanted to do was to create new genes and gene therapies, patent them for millions of dollars, and fuck The people who suffer from these genetic anomalies, cough up of the money or piss off. it’s more profitable to not cure diabetes. of course there are those that if offered a gene therapy for diabetes, would turn it down, just as there are those deaf people who turn down cochlear implant‘s, and take pride in their disability. we have become small minded and petty vile vicious little animals, with nothing but greed and malice in our hearts. each generation rebels against the previous. I’m hoping that love and understanding will come back. but they are going to have to be warriors, and fight for what they believe in, or like the hippies in Chicago, they’re going to be beaten down and forgotten.
and he got one wrong. ruclips.net/video/365kJOsFd3w/видео.html, there will be no more wars in 30 years or will be no more any of us. And we are still here and with wars as plentiful as ever
I believe both Nicola Tesla and H.G. Wells had them both beat by decades. Also the internet was almost 11 years old when this was shot. The World Wide Web was what was created in the 90's.
@@helifanodobezanozi7689 You are talking about the ARPANET, only after the merging of single nets (including the ARPANET) is what we call today internet. That didn't happen until 81 - 83. 😉 After this video was made. But he knew it was coming as he was very well informed.
A great reminder and memoriam. It's been so long, I'd forgotten his brilliance on top of his genius. fwiw, he loved to create dirty lymericks. ;) We need a million more, just like him.
I grew up reading his science books when the only other thing to be found in the science section of the bookstore were books on wildlife. I called him several times in the 70s and visited his home in NYC in 1982. He gave me money to get a taxi back home. He was an exceedingly gracious and kind man.
When the space program was sending up rockets at Cape Canaveral, I was able to view several of the lift-offs in the viewing area with my fathers friend who worked at the Martin Marietta Corporation. I met Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and some other writers/scientists. Mr. Asimov told me to bring some of their books and he and the others signed them. It was such a thrill and now in my late 60's is fresh in my mind !
To a very great degree, 'weapons research' is not about making weapons, but about bilking the public through fear. Ever changing 'enemies' stokes the fires for making trillions of dollars. I do wish IA had mentioned that, rather than the fairy tale of, so-called, 'weapons research.'
@@ed95755 - I publish research results to peers who are fully ready, willing, and able to pick apart any flaw. But most directly, I support anyone still willing to accept the absolute reality of nature and the law of cause and effect.
In some ways this is certainly true, though notice how the audience here only reacts to Dave's sarcasm. Really I think it's just that the public discourse back then was better than it is today -- there was more room on broadcast television for thoughtful and engaging conversation. I don't believe that the people (generally speaking) were any wiser. It's just that the national media hadn't yet become so entangled in political nonsense.
@@rickycouture7224 - Excellent observation about the audience reaction. Instead of saying that people are dumber nowadays, I should say that today's entertainment ecosystem has supersaturated every possible avenue with a new normal that includes a lot of nonsense we might not have tolerated in the past.
I was 5 years old when he gave this interview. Years later I should read a ton of his novels and it would influence my mind and perception of the world since then. I think he was more an humanist than everything else, with a great sense of irony and humor, and a true old school legend like they don't exist anymore today, almost 40 years later. Welcome to the future. I wish it had become more like what he thought of and hoped for it would become. - Well, we still have a chance.
This appearance was done on the last week of Dave's short lived morning show. I remember watching and really enjoying Dave in the morning! Show only lasted 4 months.
I was in junior high school, and I was having trouble with algebra. I checked Isaac Asimov's book on algebra out of the school library. He gave me some fundamental insights, like the best tutor ever. Isaac Asimov, you saved my ass, and I am forever grateful.
@Nature and Physics While I agree that the short story is best, I enjoy the novel because it goes into the next day and you see the beginning of the rebuilding of society.
I've always heard of Mr. Asimov from books and movie references, but never until watching this video have I ever seen him or heard him speak. He is without a doubt one of the most interesting people I have ever come across in my life. It would have been such an amazing opportunity to have known him or even just talk with him for a couple hours while on a train ride or something like that or sit next to him at a bus stop, etc and make polite conversation. Such a wonderful human being.
This is a fascinating interview, what a brilliant man. He is up there as my favorite authors of all time with Hebert and Tolkien. I grew up with his short stories and then the Robot series... then Foundation... amazing stuff. In this interview he almost describes operating systems like Windows and MacOS... as he talks about newer technologies being complicated and difficult at first and then they get easier to use. An iPad is actually the type of thing he's talking about.
I haven't read his books for 40 years but I remember such fantastic things like houses that are grown, not built. The man was a genius. Great interview.
I was only 9 when this aired, and in the wrong hemisphere (I didn't see it and too young to appreciate it). I'm 49 now and educated in Asimov and Letterman. This was a great interview by a considered and respectful host of an epic mind. Wow. $0.02
"Everyone could have their own TV channel" is a hell of a thing to hear while watching a youtube video. The man was a real visionary.
precisely my friend
It's almost like he had inside information 😉
@@simonb467 haha 😉
I think the only thing he was way off the mark about was "There won't be any wars in 30 years, or there won't be any us". Well, there definitely are still wars, although "There won't be any us" still might be a possibility if Mr Putin (and his foes) don't back off from the edge of madness with the nuke threats.
I got chills when I heard that prediction! That was spot on! Back then that would have sounded bonkers to some!
I wrote to him twice in the late seventies. I'd read he answered his own mail without benefit of a secretary or publicist and wanted to see if it were true. Sure enough, he wrote back both times. It was a thrill to have something from Mr. Asimov that was just for me, not purchased in a bookstore. What a guy...
"Was"? Do you not have those letters anymore? That sounds like the most amazing memorabilia one could hope to have...
@@jetaimemina Would you publish the letters?
That's friggin awesome!
He was my hero when I was a youth, late 60s and early 1970s and I was too dumb to write to him. After I turned older, I have read the book of his letters which his brother Stanley edited. Thrilled to have it. I like to read his autobiographical stuff. I quoted him in a video on RUclips, "News at the End of the Day with Cranky Mike."
I wrote him a letter and mailed it-then read in the paper that he had died.
he predicted youtube...he'd probably have the best channel ever
He would have had an amazing channel but still be beat to the top spot by Lazy Game Reviews, unless of course had put on a recurring 'Asimov Thrifts' series.
And most prolific web site!
ThePerradox oh man i do love Clint and LGR lol
Issac Arthur has a channel dedicated to much of the books and technology that the godfather of sci-fi gifted us with his writings.
ruclips.net/channel/UCZFipeZtQM5CKUjx6grh54g
And Mir.
I once met Dr. Asimov at a sci-fi convention. A true gentleman. He actually paid attention to a teenage sic-fi geek.
I bet he truly enjoyed a teenage sci-fi geek.
...as he did in this interview.
@@edwardofgreene Huh??
Man! I can't believe it! You met an amazing person with great imagination.
Asimov was an obvious genius, with a sense of humor. And Letterman knew this. Letterman was always at his best when he had an intellect to talk to, and not just a trendy pop-star he had to go through the motions with. Great interview. Thanks for posting D. Giller!
Wow I've never seen Isaac Asimov the person, much less as a guest on Letterman, great piece of television history here, thanks again
Ditto. I've seen Clarke/Bradbury lots thanks to their well know shows but Asi and Hein I've only seen stills of until now.
I saw him in person (from hundreds of feet away) at a Star Trek convention in NYC, before ST:TMP. Spring 1978, I think. My first thought was, “Who is this guy doing the NYJewish shtick?” Turned out that was him, and he came by the accent the same way as the TV comedians (and Bernie Sanders) did.
Him and frank herbert my fav
@@Egilhelmson Have you ever heard Richard Feynman speak? It's amazing.
bro, i am from India and we read his stories in school. even i was surprised to know that he was pretty much of contemporary times.
i'm so glad Letterman took this interview seriously
Same. He knew when to be a clown and when to rein it in.
This was David Letterman's morning show. The entire show was much more serious than late night was later.
Did you notice how intelligent his questions were? Who knew he was so well informed!
Dave was always good at recognizing brilliance, and respecting it by asking thoughtful questions. It's when he was handed a dolt to interview that you notice his switch. He couldn't take a simpleton seriously and I always admired him for that.
@@tracywilliams7929 He had them written beforehand. I bet all were discussed beforehand too.
"Here I am, a handsome writer".....looks to the audience: bugger all laughs. That was a good line!
I think that flew over the audience's head.
That's better than the audience laughing too quickly at that.
He was known for his sense of humor and wrote several joke books. Some of the jokes are dirty too lol.
@Eye of Horus "The audience didn’t want to laugh because if they did it would mean directly insulting him."
That was an audience of the Letterman show. Had they really been that dumb, they should've stayed at home doing the dishes instead.
@@lunakid12 I sat in the Letterman audience in the 1980s and let me tell you it is a bit of a chore, if the guests are not super stars. Asimov is a literary superstar, but not a telegenic one.
The last part about communication gave me goosebumps. How precise and beautifully he described what we call now internet, and how distant it was from anybody's mind! Wow... What a genius...
It was Marconi who crossed the Atlantic with radio waves. It was a part of the technology explosion around Tesla's AC/DC (The Niagara Falls Tender).
That's what Asimov called Quantum-jump, and he meant "allowed by government". This was made clear to him during his academic career.
Bologna Airport is called after Marconi.
Thanks for uploading this! I read "In Joy Still Felt" for a book report in 11th grade. One of the questions we had to answer in the report was 'why do you think the author wrote his autobiography'. Well, Dr. Asimov was still alive so I figured I would just write him and ask him. He sent me back a simple post card that said " I wrote my autobiography because I like to talk about myself." signed Isaac Asimov. Well, that's what I wrote in my book report. When my teacher squawked, I showed her the post card. I ended up getting an A. First, I had to prove that I read the whole book (the teacher was a real @sshole) It was a huge book, but I ate it up in a week! He knew and interacted with all the other greats of Sci-Fi. Such an awesome human being! To this day, that post card is one of my prized possessions!
I read both volumes at a much older age (in my 40s) and could not put them down. I really loved how he kept detailed financial records of all his short story and book sales.
great story
He cowrote with another of my favorites Silverberg a few times too. Man that brings back memories. I've many of his books on paper, and I think about 40 as Ebooks. I just started liking Ebooks more. I'm a slob, and you can't stain a tablet while eating and reading. It is what he talked about, soon all literature will be in that format. In time I'd love most of his books in E form.
@@dodesskiy1 be mindful that the collaborations (the 2 I'm aware of) were longer versions of "The Ugly Child" and "Bicentennial Man"
Fantastic story, this is one of the best youtube comments I've ever read
Dr. Asimov was 60 years old here; he had 12 more good years left.
RIP
I just was about to write it...
I read through all of his Foundation books over a two or three-year period back in the late 1980s because they were just riveting. Since then (for over 30 years) I’ve been hoping and wishing for that series to be made into a movie series. Now finally, it looks like my wish is coming true. That man is one of the treasures of humanity. God rest his brilliant soul.
Centenary 02Jan2020.
@@thhall459 honestly terrified for that screen translation, not hopeful based on the teaser trailer.
He is an angel and a major energy source in Heaven.
Dave went unusually serious and thoughtful with good ol' Isaac, understood all too clearly just what a heavyweight he had in front of him and acted accordingly.
great observation
Dave knew how to be respectful of serious issues.
Seemed like he didn't really know what to do with Issac to me. In the first 4 minutes, it didn't seem like Dave knew if he should be laughing or not at Issac's replies.
Also he was concerned about the subjects he touched. Cancer, diseases, communication, guns, space stuff. I mean if you got Isaac on your couch you should ask serious stuff. Isaac deserved it.
Struck me that the interviewer got into ihs stride when he realized Asimov had an opinion on just about every future trend.
I like that the studio is so small you can hear individual people's gentle laughter. Theres no mindless woo-ing. It's just an interesting conversation with a fascinating person.
Good observation!
most shows the laughter feels fake cus oh it is fake cus they use a laugh track, big or small audience don't matter too much, there's points in many George Carlin or jeff Foxworthy, Sam Kinnison etc shows where I can hear individual laughs, hell in Robert Schimmel's Unprotected there's a specific lady you can hear all throughout it at certain points along with the general audience....
but also some guests on these shows do elicit more attention like on Leno when he had Morgan Freeman on that was awesome cus there wasn't a lot of laughter but intent listening cus Morgan is so interesting like Asimov is here....man Freeman was one of my fave interviews on Leno's whole run....
@@Red_Lanterns_Rage I've been to live tapings of several late nite shows, Colbert most recently, and they pump the audience up to cheer like mad at almost anything. That's why it sounds so fake.
Very, very true. Take me back!
@@edwardgiovannelli5191 Well of course they do. That is precisely what the studio audience is there for.
His last prediction in this interview: in about 2010, communications bandwidth will have increased so greatly that everyone can have their own closed circuit television channel, just as in 1980 everyone has their own phone number.
I mean, he basically predicted RUclips.
@@DeltathRiylaan yep, were watching his prediction on the medium he predicted
@@DeltathRiylaan and fiber optics in a way
@@TheOptimistiCynic They were available back then and earlier. Just not ready for mass use
After gobbling up some of his incredible fiction works through my high-school years - fascinated, enthralled, intrigued - I went on to college to find that he had also authored my Psych 101 textbook! I was blown away.
One of the most fascinating humans to have walked our Earth
And Asimov's pretty interesting too
agreed
He was a fraud....
GOD IS AN ALIEN BUT HE DENIES GOD EXISTED! HOLY HELL
Hes a false prophet
@@daxsmith193 Go and take your meds. It seems you forgot to take them...
“Everyone (in the future) can have their own television channel, the way that they have their own television numbers.” Everyone can now have their own RUclips channel.
lol, what nonsense. That will never happen!
I think he meant “own TV channel” such as streaming TV where you “dial up” st whom your own program you wish to watch instead of being constrained by TV stations set programming. not your own actual TV (RUclips) show.
Social media accounts can be exactly like television channels so he predicted the future with %100 accuracy in this one.
And it will be heavily censored if you have beliefs deemed unpopular by Big Brother.
@@fattymcfatso1083 George Orwell meets Isaac Asimov . . .
I just realized I’ve never heard Asimov’s voice before. I grew up with his books.
same here. Isn't that so freaking weird? This man, and Clarke were GODS to me (though somehow I've seen lots of Clarke interviews)
Edward Giovannelli
Somehow I always thought Asimov would sound a bit like Andre the Giant.
Isn’t it weird how we get ideas like that stuck in our heads?
Same here
I didn't expect him to be this cool.
Same here. Somehow, the New York accent caught me by surprise. It shouldn't have, of course, since I knew he lived in New York almost all his life.
I had the same reaction the first time I saw physicist Richard Feynman in a video.
ruclips.net/video/EYPapE-3FRw/видео.html
Wow. I cannot believe I just saw Isaac Asimov--THE architect of Sci-Fi on Letterman. And Dave was On. Love this more than i could express.
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge. " Isaac Asimov
I quote this often
Time prooved this also...
Wow, that was never truer than now! Good old Isaac. I used to read and re-read the Foundation trilogy . . . can you imagine any 14-year-old kid doing that now?
@@kamakirinoko How excited are you about the show? I never read the series, but was always curious about it. I'm SO happy they are visualizing one of his works!
So true
My very first serious book reading, as a youngster was his Foundation Trilogy.
My favorite science fiction series. I like the Hober Mallow era of the interplanetary traders the best.
I think I just had a Hari Seldon moment there. Books 4 & 5 were much, much later but somehow kept the story alive.
Same. I loved reading the Foundation series as a kid.
That's quite a way to start. Hah. I became a fan of sci fi in 1963, starting with Rocket Ship Galileo, The Sands of Mars, and Tom Swift books. Then I fell in love with When Worlds Collide and After Worlds Collide. By 1965 I was a hard core sci fi guy, reading everything I could lay hands on.
Love those book!
Isaac Asimov: WOW! This man thinks at LIGHT-SPEED...in fact , he doesn’t need to “think” much, he seems to have all the replies at the ready , and so logical and precise!
I wonder whether he had answered all of the same questions before.
I think he’s probably thought - and likely written - about these issues before, and so knows exactly what he thinks already.
He might be similar to whatever I have. When I write something its commitment to memory. I passed my RRT boards not by studying but by copying paragraphs. I believe his mind works that way.
Too many questions as a scientist, not many as a writer.
I once met him at a book signing and asked him what happened to "his robots" between "I Robot" and "Foundation's Edge" and he said "Read "Robots of Dawn.'" His knowledge of his own books were encyclopedic!
Picture that all the research he did was done without using the internet
He was his own internet.
Yes he certainly was
Too much information is sometimes hazardas, maybe he wouldn't have been able to write as much as he did in the internet age. Who knows.
@@MadushanNishantha He would have been annotating memes. lol
We had buildings called "libraries", back in the day.
He was so brilliant. And prescient. But mostly he wrote great books. And as a kid I couldn't get enough of them starting with Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids when I was 10yrs old. He was like a 3rd parent to me. The way that he looked at the world just made sense. And I am very grateful to him.
Won't ever be another like him. What a voracious intellect, what a hardworking author and what a character.
Truly amazing mind. Predicted exactly what we are doing right this very second watching him from our communication device.
And our own channel.!
Asimov is my "who do you wish you could have a conversation with, living or dead?" answer for forever. He's quite literally my hero and role model on what a person should devote their time to
Yes, he seems fond of conversation. May you have your wish somehow.......
He isn't in my top five. I'm not worthy of conversing with him. Wouldn't waste his time. Grew up with his books. An amazing man, and amazing stories.
Mine too
He's definitely at the top of my list right next to General Chuck Yeager, even though I've spoken with him once in my life briefly. I would absolutely use a wish to let Isaac see what the future has become. I think he would be thrilled with some of the technology that we have now that he very clearly predicted. Can you imagine him examining an iPad? He would be tickled!
No, I really would advise against it. As much of a good writer he was, he was also very much problematic. I suggest reading up some of this on Wikipedia, or if you find Wikipedia untrustworthy then you see the references used.
Asimov had an immense intellect and a prodigious output of books. His life was cut short by AIDS he acquired from a blood transfusion. The triumvirate of A.C. Clarke, Carl Sagan and himself was a fount of science and fiction that fed an eager audience then and for years to come.
And there's still no one like them today
What a lovely and informative comment. I had no idea he died that way, that's tragic. But like you said he contributed so much in the time he had that one really must feel grateful for the amount of entertainment he produced in the time he had.
Clarke, Asimov and Robert Heinlein were "The Big Three"
@@freedapeeple4049 Exactly. Not to deprecate Sagan, but Heinlein is still the grand master of science fiction. He showed everyone how it is done. So, Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke.
@David Hill Herbert was great, but like other great science fiction writers he reached his peak in a different era. Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke dominated the genre during the post-WWII era, when science fiction barely kept up with science fact.
Letterman actually did a very good interview here. Thanks for posting this. One of my literary heroes, Dr. Asimov!
Such a great man. I was too young to appreciate him while he was alive, but his legacy is an inspiration.
And here we are, watching each other's TV channels.
It must have driven Letterman a bit nuts to get one direct and cogent answer after another, yet each answer delivered with such a tone of finality. Tough guest in that particular respect.
6:33 "I remember when radios first came out...see you're too young for that" - Dave smiles like a kid getting a good talking to from his wise old (cool) grandpa
I think Dave smiled because he thought of a joke response (as did I), but it wasnt good enough to interrupt Isaac. IE: that's the showman knowing when ego is not part of the show.
I grew up reading his novels and short stories. I admired him for his intellect, writing and humility. His PhD was in biochemistry, which is one reason my BS was biochemistry, on my way to earning an MD and a degree in chemical engineering. His writing inspired me to become a scientist, as well as now writing my own short stories. My writing tends to be high brow, even though writing coaches tell you to write at an 8th grade level. Smart writing challenges the reader. Asimov was a giant in this respect. I like how he predicts RUclips. Great interview by Letterman.
"At the rate they're going they'll do the last few Star Wars movies after I'm dead, which doesn't seem fair"
Oh my dear Isaac, you were very lucky to not have to see the final 3 ruin all the others.
yeah, he got to miss episodes I, II, II, VII, VIII, and IX.
Speaking of which - I Robot . a book from my youth much enjoyed . The Will Smith film version was so disappointing.
@@Rafabenitez01 everybody who has ever read a book then watched the movie version says the same thing..suppose it just proves our own imagination is much more fun than movies 🎥
He was mercifully spared the horror of JJ Abrams.
I remember the before days, the days where hope existed
3:16 He was right about the Star Wars episodes coming out after he was dead, he really had no need to be bummed about it though.
Exiles Of The Underground best comment ever
Too bad he missed TFA, TLJ, and Solo .
He lived in the age of the original trilogy, before it was Special Editioned out of existence, to say nothing of being spared the prequels.
He did miss the prequel memes though!
@@2DReanimation He probably would have created annotations of the prequel memes. I don't think he missed out, I think we missed out on his epic meme annotations.
I like how in 1980 an audience would whistle on the appearance onstage of an elderly Professor of Chemistry. Or that one would be invited to appear come to think of it...
In the early 80s there were still a few characteristics of civilization left. I see today we have superpowers arguing over who should profit from the technology for TikTok.
A comparably popular figure today would be Neil deGrasse Tyson. No offense to Neil but I think Asimov was a bit more popular and well-known.
He wouldn't have been invited if he'd only been a professor, as is obvious by the fact that it wasn't even mentioned in the interview. He was invited because he was a prodigious and popular author, which was reiterated throughout. It's like saying those were the days when a man with muttonchops could be invited on... true, but just as irrelevant.
Man you forget how good an interviewer Letterman can be at times. Hes not goofing as much, real thoughtful conversation.
This clip is from Dave’s short lived morning show that ran for about 9 months I believe. Dave was much “goofier” later on during the “Late Night” show.
Wow, just wow. Thanks for uploading this to RUclips! (And thanks to the YT algorithm for thinking I might enjoy it)
I had the honor of meeting Dr. Asimov a year or two before this video. He was speaking to a conferenced of science teachers and my high school science teacher was able to bring a few students to the event to meet Dr. Asimov. He was very gracious and patient with us and I've still got my signed copy of Foundation on my bookshelf.
This interview is one of the most impressive things I've come across. Letterman was asking questions not to be funny but for further predictions (I understand this was before the tonight show but still interesting), and Asimov seemed to hit the nail right on the head for most things. The man just saw the real capabilities in the world. Incredible.
I think you mean that this was before Dave’s Late Night.
Letterman interviewed him fantastically! He asked the right questions - especially the biggest one - "after the moon landing, what is the next logical things we should do in space?"
If you are named Asimov you've got to start every answer with the word "well...".. Man, what a great down to earth guy!!!
5:25 "I predicted 'Pocket computers' in 1950."
One of my favorite books is Asimov's guide to Shakespeare. It gives a historical back ground to each of the plays.
I found Isaac Asimov at my junior high school library in 1967 and I never stopped reading.
He was so lucky not to have seen the other Star Wars movies, very lucky man.
I should have died young
Jarjar Binx....nooooooooooo
@@dionysianapollomarx Yes, little water bear, you should have.
@@user-vl9bw1lw1u yes, fuck Disney especially
@@user-vl9bw1lw1u *The prequels _could have been_ the most interesting part of the story. It turned out that Lucas couldn't add an oil thin surface layer of political and economical sub-plot to the rich waters of the Stat Wars galaxy and make it work. At the time I thought he should've handed it off to younger, keener minds. Oh, how the last five years have proved me wrong.
RIP Hari Seldon. Let us not dissapoint you any further
Then 2020 came along
The Mule caused Brexit.
I saw a trailer for a TV show and looks horrible, just the trending recipe (in this times "orange man bad" xD) stamped into Foundation u.u
He disappointed me by being a prolific patriarch.
They don't bring experts like this on tv anymore unless it is to make a point about politics. Which pretty much just means insulting the president.
This footage is gold. I started first year of school back in 🇮🇷 in Sep 1980. He was loved in Iran the same way they loved Jules Verne👌
What a SiFi Nostradamus! He could see right through his innovative mind the progress of science and ways it would change our world. Loved his thoughts on future wars!
There will be peace☮️or there will be no us.☢️💥 😇
Well... they did make the last few after he was dead.
He didn't miss anything.
Long after he was dead.
he told them to stop they never did.
@@davidmenorca7170 Who?
making starwars movies
I just watched a video on youtube from 40 years ago in which a man unexpectedly predicted the very existence of youtube almost 30 years later. Awesome.
Isn't it an incredibly strange feeling?! It's like his mind reached into the future for detailed reports, and is winking at us now.
The first Heinlein novel I read, published in 1980, described live streaming video in such perfect detail that he'd moved on in the story before it even occurred to me this very familiar concept wasn't a reality until a few years before I read the book. The same feeling comes over me when I think about that as I feel you've expressed in your comment. 😁
One of the three greatest Science fiction writers of the 20th Century, a brilliant science writer and biblical scholar. Ironically, he was an atheist. He had a fear of flying and only flew 2 times in his life(in the Army). He would be 97 years old now but for unscreened blood(HIV). His death saddened me greatly. A literate man with a Brooklyn accent -an enigma inside a puzzle.
Very likely an atheist because of his biblical studies. 200 pages of annotations for 11 chapters of Genesis. He's a man of science and logic, so he likely couldn't help but notice all of the logical inconsistencies that men of the biblical eras would have unwittingly made in absence of the discoveries made in the last thousands of years of human history.
Robert, I am almost 67 years old and I remember reading so many things by this man, including the Foundation series. Pebble in the Sky is one of my favorites. And I was in my early twenties when I read it. Thanks for your comment, sir.
Not only literate, but hyper-literate!
martk fartkerson He was an atheist way before his biblical studies. Check out his autobiography.
@@fartkerson This is misleading. Just because the Bible is inconsistent or irrational doesn't mean there is no God. Christianity is not the worlds only religion or philosophy. Plato and Xenophon understood a one transcendent God who was approached through reason and what could be understood today as science, the observation of order within chaos.
What a treasure all of his appearances and interviews are
Yes. I watch them over and over. I'm 72 (same age as Isaac when he died) and he's always been my hero.
O M G Its a VERY rare clip from the original day time David Letterman show!! SO Cool!!!!
My motherf'n childhood hero. The very person that showed me the beauty of thought and the reason I became a scientist.
I read his books when I was a kid and kept a dictionary on my night stand so I could look up the meaning of the words he would use. I never moved on until l could clearly understand what he was saying. In this interview he was so light hearted and genuine.
I did the same thing while learning English as a young boy!
Dr. Isaac Asimov is one of my greatest sources of inspirations. I've read many of his works, including the Foundation Series, his collection of best works, and various other short stories, but this is the first time I've seen his mind at work in a non-literary format. Thanks!
If I could have dinner with anyone, I'd seriously think about Dr. Isaac Asinoc.
Dr. Asinoc? Is he good too?
I love the Foundation series too. Foundation and Earth was a tough read though. It is too cerebral and gets burdened down by weighty dialogue. Frank Herbert does the same at times.
All 6 movies would be a tragedy to miss. RIP to a legend. So thankful I lived to see the continuation of the franchise.
@@able75dev60 hey, lay off! I too would like to have dinner with Dr. Casino Saacinoc.
@@strawbarry7834 The letter c is to the left of the v on any Olivetti. I am sure the good doctor may have made the same type of mistake in authoring the 200 plus books that he penned.
His predictions certainly proved accurate, and awesome sideburns dude
I think he would have looked like a million bucks without the sideburns, and shorter hair like 1962 style.
Some did. Going to genetics for the question on medicine was very impressive for 1980. The communications answer was more 50/50. Laser communications is not so much a thing. At least nothing on the scale he talked of. However he nailed everyone having their own communications channel. I mean RUclips here we are.
An iconic interview with an icon. Asimov has the expected ego of a mega prolific author, but he demonstrates a practicality and brusqueness of the every man. Glad to hear he respected other sci fi works. Ironic how he says the special effects of the day drive the movies; that remains true even today in 2021 - 31 years later. His vision of space civilization is practical and ahem, grounded in reality. Just like his peer Arthur C Clarke, his predictions of technology were dead right. What a giant of humankind.
41 years later. :)
I had flyby run-ins with him when I lived in NYC in the early 80s, and got a book signed and a photo. I was like a teenager seeing Duran Duran, all weak in the knees. He's probably my favorite author. Love this closer glimpse of him.
Spent my young years reading his books. Lived his passion for science-fiction. Thank you sir🙏
Christ, he's a genius and hilarious.
The guy is way funnier than I'd ever imagined him being considering the serious predictions he made for society
@@VictoryAviation I have read a few of his books and also didn't expect him to be funny. I expected him to be some stuffy old guy.
I read his Hugo Anthologies series and his intros to each SF author were hilariously witty. Brilliant mind. Love his Foundation series.
Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, but his true genius was in his science writing. He was able to explain complex concepts so clearly and concisely.
I was so pleased to hear him refer to his science articles in the Magazine of Fantasy of Science Fiction. Some of his very best work.
HunchbackJack Loved his science fiction books but reading his science books as a kid really got me into science and I ended up becoming an engineer. He had a huge influence in my life.
In high school I flunked chemistry. Years later I came across ia's book on chemistry it was almost chapter 4 chapter the same as my chemistry book except that it made sense. He just used analogies and imagery that made it work.
I always recommend to people "Atom: Journey Across The Subatomic Cosmos" for the most understandable history to the study of the atom. It's remarkably approachable by anyone, and makes a great companion piece to Hawking's A Brief History in Time.
His science articles were great. He was also good at writing popular articles on pure mathematics, but sadly only wrote a few of them in comparison. Perhaps the math articles were not as enjoyable to write or took too long.
It was because of Dr. Asimov that I finally understood chemistry.
For Asimov to single out genetic engineering and personal communication devices as the future big technological developments is quite astonishing and obviously accurate.
He predicted so many things correctly...or he was the inspiration for such things we have today...Simply amazing
I came looking for this comment! Even the 9 Starwars movies. What a trip.
Miss you Dr. A. You are were a huge part of my childhood and adulthood.
Interesting how about 15 years after this we had the Internet and then another 10 years or so we had RUclips, the iPhone etc. The dude really had a lot right! :-)
voicetube Yes! As he said he described and predicted spacewalks in 1950 and so many other things. And here he predicts DNA stem cell research to cure or prevent illness before the general public in 1980 had a clue what that was.
Yes sir! I almost mentioned, in my comment, about His comments harmonizing with current stem cell research - Yep right on the cutting edge there.
Aside from the "no war or no us" bit.
@@moarsaur It's possible that his prediction was just off by 30 or 40 years. Nuclear programs are surprisingly slow. But it is weird that he somehow ignored the wars branching from terrorism which was on the rise in the 1970s. Maybe he changed his tune after Iran-Contra and the first Desert Storm, which he lived through.
All the basic technology of the internet already existed.
I can't believe I'm hearing Dr. Asimov speak for the first time, after having read so much of his fiction. Fantastic author, and as an interviewee he did not disappoint.
Ridiculously way ahead of his time... We need more like him nowadays.
They do exist. But nowadays they will not be interviewed. Or like Kasparov, talked over and interrupted.
I just love Asimovs Books - he taught me to love science, space, futuristic thinking growing up. It was great to see him talk in person, what a genius he was.
Dave was surprisingly not flippant during the whole interview! I'm guessing he respects Asimov. Thanks for posting this. On one hand it's great that Asimov spent all of his time writing, so we have so much of his clear prose to read, but the downside is there is so little video of him, because he so rarely did TV appearances.
I bet Dave was more than a little intimidated having Asimov on the show. He's no Lily Tomlin!
Dave tried to take advantage of having an oracle in front of him. Who wouldn't!
This was short-lived daytime show not Late Night.
@@ericsierra-franco7802 thank you
When I was a child in the 1950s and 60s, I read dozens of Dr. Asimov's books, both scientific and science fiction. He gave me a lifelong love of both; but science was his forte. He could explain very complex phenomena so even a child could understand them. In one treatise on how to think about large numbers (scientific notation) by proving that there were approximately 3,000 or so molecules (I forget the real number) of oxygen in my lungs that had also been breathed by Adolf Hitler. This stunned me and made me voracious for more science & numbers. Thank you, Dr. Asimov
Incredible, gene editing predicted exactly as it turned out
First successful CRISPR in-blood fix was very recently.
Unfortunately however he forgot that greed will win out over altruism. all they wanted to do was to create new genes and gene therapies, patent them for millions of dollars, and fuck The people who suffer from these genetic anomalies, cough up of the money or piss off. it’s more profitable to not cure diabetes. of course there are those that if offered a gene therapy for diabetes, would turn it down, just as there are those deaf people who turn down cochlear implant‘s, and take pride in their disability. we have become small minded and petty vile vicious little animals, with nothing but greed and malice in our hearts. each generation rebels against the previous. I’m hoping that love and understanding will come back. but they are going to have to be warriors, and fight for what they believe in, or like the hippies in Chicago, they’re going to be beaten down and forgotten.
dream on-- he was talking about therapeutic not genocidal .. that's how it tuned out.
These are great! Thank you for uploading😊👍
One of the greatest Americans. We need more like him NOW.
I just realized I'm watching this exactly 37 years after it aired.
Truly, it is still at most amazing
and he got one wrong. ruclips.net/video/365kJOsFd3w/видео.html, there will be no more wars in 30 years or will be no more any of us. And we are still here and with wars as plentiful as ever
Possibly on your pocket computer.
40
@@ehombane not really conception-perception of war back then was way different from today lets say 50/50?
And here I am watching his 1980 interview on my 2020 pocket computer. Pretty amazing.
12:30 ISAAC ASIMOV PREDICTS THE INTERNET and SMART PHONES!! Cool!
I believe that Heinlein wrote about wireless walkie talkies (cell phones) before Asimov.
I believe both Nicola Tesla and H.G. Wells had them both beat by decades. Also the internet was almost 11 years old when this was shot. The World Wide Web was what was created in the 90's.
@@helifanodobezanozi7689 This video is from 1980.
@@Shatterer101 Correct. 1969+11=1980. The internet was created on Oct 29th, 1969. The video is dated Oct 21st, hence the word "almost",
@@helifanodobezanozi7689 You are talking about the ARPANET, only after the merging of single nets (including the ARPANET) is what we call today internet. That didn't happen until 81 - 83. 😉 After this video was made. But he knew it was coming as he was very well informed.
Thank you for THIS!
According to my youtube feed, Andy Kaufman was on this show 6 days before this brilliant interview aired. What a great show this was.
The world needs more visionaries like him.
This is like finding a treasure. I remember reading a few of his books as a kid.
A great reminder and memoriam.
It's been so long, I'd forgotten his brilliance on top of his genius.
fwiw, he loved to create dirty lymericks. ;)
We need a million more, just like him.
I grew up reading his science books when the only other thing to be found in the science section of the bookstore were books on wildlife. I called him several times in the 70s and visited his home in NYC in 1982. He gave me money to get a taxi back home. He was an exceedingly gracious and kind man.
When the space program was sending up rockets at Cape Canaveral, I was able to view several of the lift-offs in the viewing area with my fathers
friend who worked at the Martin Marietta Corporation. I met Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and some other writers/scientists.
Mr. Asimov told me to bring some of their books and he and the others signed them. It was such a thrill and now in my late 60's is fresh in
my mind !
Holy moly~ he got it right. Or maybe he inspired a whole generation to implement the things he described?
Good point. Just like Julius Verne "predicted" moon landing.
That's a good point I ponder often
"I see the best weapons research is no weapons research."
Yeap , smart statement
No more war by 2010… it would have been nice. But we are still us.
A weapons research program we might all wish upon our enemies. :)
To a very great degree, 'weapons research' is not about making weapons, but about bilking the public through fear. Ever changing 'enemies' stokes the fires for making trillions of dollars. I do wish IA had mentioned that, rather than the fairy tale of, so-called, 'weapons research.'
@@thorn262 But is the moneys bilked not spent on ... weapons research? Unnecessary weapons research perhaps, but weapons research nonetheless?
Back in the day when thoughtful intelligence still mattered...
What are you doing to help?
@@ed95755 - I publish research results to peers who are fully ready, willing, and able to pick apart any flaw. But most directly, I support anyone still willing to accept the absolute reality of nature and the law of cause and effect.
@@encellon 💀
In some ways this is certainly true, though notice how the audience here only reacts to Dave's sarcasm. Really I think it's just that the public discourse back then was better than it is today -- there was more room on broadcast television for thoughtful and engaging conversation. I don't believe that the people (generally speaking) were any wiser. It's just that the national media hadn't yet become so entangled in political nonsense.
@@rickycouture7224 - Excellent observation about the audience reaction. Instead of saying that people are dumber nowadays, I should say that today's entertainment ecosystem has supersaturated every possible avenue with a new normal that includes a lot of nonsense we might not have tolerated in the past.
came about as close to predicting RUclips as anyone could, what was this like 50 years ago? Great man.
Thanks for uploading this man. Appreciate it.
He’s funnier than some comedians and most ‘funny’ chat show hosts!!
I was 5 years old when he gave this interview. Years later I should read a ton of his novels and it would influence my mind and perception of the world since then. I think he was more an humanist than everything else, with a great sense of irony and humor, and a true old school legend like they don't exist anymore today, almost 40 years later. Welcome to the future. I wish it had become more like what he thought of and hoped for it would become. - Well, we still have a chance.
This appearance was done on the last week of Dave's short lived morning show. I remember watching and really enjoying Dave in the morning! Show only lasted 4 months.
I was in junior high school, and I was having trouble with algebra. I checked Isaac Asimov's book on algebra out of the school library. He gave me some fundamental insights, like the best tutor ever. Isaac Asimov, you saved my ass, and I am forever grateful.
Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed it very much
"The Last Question" and "Nightfall" are brilliant little short stories of his. A clever fellow, no doubt.
Nightfall was turned into a full-blown novel by doctor Asimov and Robert silverberg.
@Nature and Physics the movie is awful , please dont watch it , the book is miles better :)
@Nature and Physics While I agree that the short story is best, I enjoy the novel because it goes into the next day and you see the beginning of the rebuilding of society.
I'm just glad he didn't live to see the movie they made of 'Nightfall'. It was horrendous!
The book length extension by Silverberg is a bit meh.
I've always heard of Mr. Asimov from books and movie references, but never until watching this video have I ever seen him or heard him speak. He is without a doubt one of the most interesting people I have ever come across in my life. It would have been such an amazing opportunity to have known him or even just talk with him for a couple hours while on a train ride or something like that or sit next to him at a bus stop, etc and make polite conversation. Such a wonderful human being.
This is a fascinating interview, what a brilliant man. He is up there as my favorite authors of all time with Hebert and Tolkien. I grew up with his short stories and then the Robot series... then Foundation... amazing stuff. In this interview he almost describes operating systems like Windows and MacOS... as he talks about newer technologies being complicated and difficult at first and then they get easier to use. An iPad is actually the type of thing he's talking about.
A man after my own heart.
My top 3 too!
I haven't read his books for 40 years but I remember such fantastic things like houses that are grown, not built. The man was a genius. Great interview.
LOL, Dr. Asimov calling Letterman "young man". Made my night. I'm so get used to the present Letterman that that comment amused me.
I was only 9 when this aired, and in the wrong hemisphere (I didn't see it and too young to appreciate it). I'm 49 now and educated in Asimov and Letterman. This was a great interview by a considered and respectful host of an epic mind. Wow. $0.02