alt Hacker NewsI might be unusual in the sense that in my teens I absolutely adored Asimov as a writer of non-fiction rather than as a sci-fi author.
For the current generation, I never miss a chance to mention Gamow's non-fiction.
It's unfortunate that works of great non-fiction writers evaporate away from our cultural consciousness after their death.
It makes me sad that there will be a generation, or maybe it's already upon us, one that has not delighted in Martin Gardner.
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Sagan's books are still very popular, long after his time.
Which of Gamow's do you recommend? Physics Foundation and Frontiers looks nice.
martin gardner stood head and shoulders above everyone else for me, but asimov did indeed have some great works of non-fiction.
> It's unfortunate that works of great non-fiction writers evaporate away from our cultural consciousness after their death.
That's a bit of an overstatement? There's Confucius, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, ... Darwin, Newton, Einstein, ... Jefferson, Decartes, .... (you get the idea).
It is a competitive field; what's sufficient to win attention in the current generation is often not enough for future generations, which have their own contemporary writers.
> I absolutely adored Asimov as a writer of non-fiction rather than as a sci-fi author.
I am the same, though frustratingly he still somehow managed to weave his casual misogyny into even his non-fiction works.
>> I might be unusual in the sense that in my teens I absolutely adored Asimov as a writer of non-fiction rather than as a sci-fi author.
That's because he was only the second-best sci-fi writer but the best science writer in the world at the time [Clarke-Asimov Treaty of Park Avenue|https://sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/the-big-3.php]