Foundation

The ship lands at Trantor. Dornick disembarks into a gigantic terminal and the thicker air and heavier gravity of the capital planet. He clears customs and searches for a taxi; behind him, a person follows quietly. The young mathematician hires a taxi to a nearby hotel; the spy makes a note of it.

The driver flies the craft up to a high wall pockmarked by a large set of tunnels; they soar through one and arrive at the hotel. Dornick notes that, since he left the spaceship, “there had been no glimpse of sky” (9).

The entire surface of the planet has been transformed into one gigantic city that caters to the administrative needs of the Empire. Trantor depends entirely on other planets for its food. At this late moment in imperial history, Trantor has become vulnerable.

At the hotel, Dornick buys a ticket to the observation tower. He rides up the anti-gravity elevator—failing to hook his feet under the floor bars, he promptly floats upward and must be pulled back down. As he steps out onto the deck, a bright sun shines down. All he can see in the distance are metal buildings.

A man named Jerril befriends him, and they talk about how Trantor’s citizens do not like to venture from their largely underground world to visit this observation deck because the sight terrifies them. Dornick explains that he is here to work for Dr. Seldon; Jerril calls him “Raven” Seldon, as the scientist keeps predicting doom. Irritated, Dornick leaves for his room. There, he finds an elderly man waiting for him. The man is Hari Seldon.

Dr. Seldon explains that the government is spying on his work and that Jerril is an imperial agent. Seldon pulls out a tablet and quickly computes the status of the Empire in 300 years. Dornick follows Seldon’s logic but objects to the use of one function, which Seldon expands more completely to prove its validity. The result shows that the odds of Trantor being totally destroyed stand at 92.5%. The government doesn’t want this to get out, and Seldon reckons that the odds of his being executed are currently 1.7%. The two men agree to meet the next day at the university.

Dornick awakens the next morning to a message that he’s under arrest. Government agents take him elsewhere and question him about his conversation with Seldon. They already have a record of that discussion but want to hear it from Dornick, who repeats Seldon’s assertion that Trantor is in peril.

Dornick demands an attorney. Dr. Seldon sends a tall, gaunt man named Lors Avakim to visit Dornick. Avakim uses a device that both records their conversation and prevents the government from listening. Avakim says that Seldon is under arrest, that his work will almost certainly succeed, and that the odds of Dornick avoiding prison are 77.2%. Seldon deliberately met with Dornick the previous day to force the government’s hand. An imperial agent interrupts them and retrieves their recording device. Avakim departs.

At Seldon’s trial, conducted in private by imperial barons, Dornick gets deposed quickly. The focus is on Seldon, who, unperturbed, withstands a hostile inquisition from Commission members. Seldon admits that he has 50 mathematicians and nearly 100,000 others working on his Project. The court Advocate accuses Seldon of spreading rumors of Trantor’s impending problems to foment revolution. Seldon insists that he is simply reporting the predictions of psychohistory, a new field of science he has developed which combines mathematics and psychology to predict the future of civilizations. Seldon believes Trantor cannot be saved and the Empire will collapse. This causes uproar in the courtroom.

Seldon insists that his purpose is to shorten the anarchic period that will follow the Empire’s fall, reducing it from 30,000 years to 1,000. His group would do so by “saving the knowledge of the race” (31). This human knowledge, spread out across the Empire, would otherwise be lost during the dark ages to come. To prevent that loss, Seldon’s project will employ 30,000 scholars to create an “Encyclopedia Galactica” that will collate all knowledge and place it in the major libraries of the galaxy. Seldon sits. Dornick whispers to him that he did brilliantly, but Seldon admits that the outcome will depend on the mood of the Chief Commissioner.

The next day, Seldon and Dornick are brought before the five-member Commission for a private meeting. The Chief—Linge Chen, the regent who actually rules the galaxy—asks Seldon why he should not be executed. Seldon replies that his efforts to save the galaxy will leak and word of his death will inspire unrest: “Have me killed and Trantor will fall not within three centuries but within fifty years and you, yourself, within a single year” (34).

Chen counters with an offer of exile: Seldon and his people can pursue their Encyclopedia project on the distant planet Terminus. Seldon will not bother the Empire, and meanwhile people will be told that Seldon’s project will save the Empire. The alternative is the mass execution of Seldon and his team. Seldon accepts the offer of exile.

Seldon and Dornick travel to the university, hundreds of miles away. There, a military guard places them under martial law and gives them six months to prepare for departure. Dornick is aghast at the short time limit, but Seldon seems unworried. At his office, he explains that he has been planning the project’s migration for over two years. He’d hoped, correctly, that the exile would be on Terminus. He reveals that a second Foundation will also be established at a distant location that he calls “Star’s End.” Seldon’s doctors say he has another year to live; others, like Dornick, will carry on in his place. Seldon’s work is finished.