Who's Who in Asimov O

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Obiah: Red sash worn by Mycogenians on entering the Sacratorium. (8-11-51)
Observer: Second Foundationer with limited training, introduced by Preem Palver after the rise of the Mule to enhance the Second Foundation's information-gathering capability. (13-12-47)
Ogrinsky: Mediaevalist polemicist of Earth. (1-14)
Oldest: Euphemism used by more superstitious Comporellonians to refer to Earth. (14-II-6-23)
Olivaw, Daneel: Although it is in one place stated (1-20) that he was built in Spacetown, Earth, he was more convincingly built on Aurora by Roj Nemennuh Sarton and Han Fastolfe as an experimental, prototype humaniform robot, to further the understanding of the human brain, to venture into Earth's cities in place of the disease-prone Spacers, gather information on Earthmen for the Spacers' psychlogical and sociological research, and as a step towards the postulated future science of psychohistory.; Daneel's association and friendship with Elijah Baley, most notably as his partner during the investigations of the deaths of Sarton in Spacetown, Rikaine Delmarre on Solaria, and Jander Panell on Aurora, brought him valuable insights into human existence, and as a result of Baley's assertion that humanity was more important than individual humans he developed, after Fastolfe's death, and with his long-time friend Giskard Reventlov, the Zeroth Law of Robotics.; By this time Earth's post-Spacer settlement of the galaxy had begun in earnest, and when the growing tension between Aurora and Earth led to Kelden Amadiro's attempt to destroy Earth, the telepathic Giskard was unable to cope with having to apply the Zeroth Law and went into stasis, though not before passing his mental powers on to Daneel.; With Baley, Fastolfe and Giskard all dead, Daneel saw his role as caring for the galaxy and for Earth and trying to exert a benign influence in the best interests of humanity. He evidently disagreed with Giskard's decision to allow Earth gradually to die, since his next reported action was to persuade a newly-established Empire to sponsor an attempt to replace Earth's increasingly radioactive soil, and, when this failed, to build an island on the nearby world of Alpha and take there the remainder of Earth's population.; As his own best alternative to the as-yet-undeveloped science of psychohistory, and while the Settler colonies were still expanding to become the Galactic Empire, Daneel and robot helpers established Gaia, a world based on the Laws of Robotics and with its people given enough knowledge of the telepathic skills which he had inherited from Giskard to be able to begin to evolve a collective consciousness.; Knowing that Gaia would take many millenia to evolve into Galaxia, Daneel next turned up in the guise of Eto Demerzel, first Chief of Staff and then First Minister to Cleon I, as he had been to Cleon's predecessor. There, although aware of the irreversible decline of the Galactic Empire, with Trantor becoming increasingly vulnerable as the Empire became more centralised, and money being spent on the military at the expense of pressing social needs, he used his position as the power behind the Imperial throne to maintain the Empire in as humane a way as possible until Hari Seldon presented his paper on psychohistory at the Decennial Convention on Trantor.; Although he realised that a super-organism consisting solely of humans would be unstable, he gave Seldon the protection and encouragement he needed to develop psychohistory into a practical science which could take over from the crumbling Empire until Galaxia had evolved, until a succession of crises which he found increasingly difficult to deal with. When these crises culminated in Laskin Joranum's attempt to unseat him, which Seldon brought to a head and resolved, he resigned his First Ministership in favour of Seldon and disappeared from Trantor to continue his work elsewhere.; By the time of Golan Trevize's search for the lost planet Earth, Daneel, together with a number of other robots, had retreated to the sanctuary of an underground mansion in the Earth's satellite to preserve the functioning of his positronic brain, where, eventually, and largely with Daneel's help and encouragement, Trevize, Janov Pelorat, Bliss and Fallom found him. There Fallom stayed so that its brain could be merged with Daneel's to enable Daneel to live long enough to ensure the successful evolution of Galaxia. (1; 2; Mirror Image; 3; 4; 8-12-59,14-69,18-89,19; 9; 14-VII-21)
Opposing Periphery: Area at the edge of the galaxy opposite the Periphery, postulated as a possible location of the Second Foundation. (12-I-2)
Origin Myth (Alpha): After Earth developed hyperspatial travel, the Spacer worlds were the first to be founded, developing independently and turning against Earth. After a couple of centuries the Earth broke free and started a second wave of colonization, the Settlers, who outcompeted the Spacers and eventually formed the Galactic Empire. During the conflict between the Spacers and Settlers the Earth became radioactive, its population having to be controlled with a combination of strict birth control and euthanasia. After stocking the oceans of the planet Alpha, and building the island which was to be called New Earth, the Empire transported the Earth's remaining population to Alpha; hence the Alphan's ancestors were the last people to leave Earth. (14-VI-18-79)
Origin Myth (Comporellon): Earth had an extraordinary diversity of life, and a giant satellite. After the development of hyperspatial travel a group of planets was colonized with the help of robots. These settlers had an advanced technology and long lifespans, but turned against Earth and were punished. A second wave of settlers, led by Benbally, landed on and colonized Comporellon, and the worlds colonized in the first wave were placed out of bounds, but Earth was made radioactive as a punishment for using robots. (14-II-6-25)
Origin Myth (Dahl): The now lost and forgotten Earth was the original planet, on which people had lived for millions of years. Aurora was evil, and with its sister worlds turned on Earth, until they were destroyed with the help of heroes like Ba-lee. Robots were the work of the evil worlds, and were also destroyed, except for Da-nee, a friend of Ba-lee, who never died but promised one day to return and bring back the good times. (8-14-69)
Origin Myth (Gaia): Earth was the only planet with a complex ecology and intelligent life because the Eternals chose that particular reality as being the best for humans. Gaia itself was founded by refugees from the overprotection of robots, but nonetheless they learned from the robots the craft of telepathy which they had developed into a group consciousness. (13-17-74)
Origin Myth (Mycogen): Mycogen's people were descendants of those of the lost world of Aurora, or world of the dawn. One of the robots which had helped them on Aurora learned how to influence human emotions and turned traitor. On having to leave Aurora they wandered the galaxy until they found a corner of Trantor which they were able to turn into an enclave. (8-10-44,10-47)
Origin Myth (Sayshell): When Earth was the only inhabited planet, its people built robots to help them colonize nearby planets. Earth rebelled against the robots, but the robot-assisted colonies defeated them. The people of Earth then started a second wave of colonization, without robots, and the earlier colonies died out. (The story that Earth was in fact the nearby planet Gaia, vanished into hyperspace, was a contemporary addition encouraged by the Sayshell government to discourage public interest in the real Gaia.) (13-13-52,54)
Origin Question: As the people of Earth went forth and multiplied through the galaxy and the number of colonized worlds increased so Earth became less significant, and even before the establishment of the Galactic Empire, it had become a backwater. Although the idea that humanity had a single world of origin was widely supported, particularly by biologists and mystics, there was no agreement on its location. With the social and economic instability that marked the disintegration of the Empire there was a resurgence of interest in the origin question despite the discouragement of an increasingly besieged Imperium, though it remained a subject of little more than intellectual speculation. It was not until the showdown between Foundation, Second Foundation and Gaia, by which time historical records had long since become folklore, that Golan Trevize, Janov Pelorat and Bliss were able to rediscover the lost planet Earth. (8-10-47; 10-II-4; 13-3-10,6-21,22,10-33; 14-II-7-26)
Orre: Engineer of Bel Riose's flagship. (11-I-7)
Orsha II: Capital of the Normannic Sector after the sacking of Siwenna. (10-V-10)
Orsy, Jaim: Foundation Action Party activist. (10-III-4)
Oser, Jamin: Second-in-command of D.G.Baley's ship. (4-II-5-18)
Osterfith: Eminent mathematician of the generation before Seldon. (8-1-2)
Outer Worlds: The fifty worlds colonized by the Spacers. The term was also used rather more loosely in Imperial times to refer to planets outside of Trantor's immediate vicinity. (1-15; 2; 3; 4; 8-18-89; 14-III,IV,V)
Outworlder: Trantorian term for a non-Trantorian, and used in a similar way on other worlds. (8-2-6)