We encounter the back cover of the Good Doctor’s first actual book as we wrap up The Pebble in the Sky with chapters 14 through 22.
“Podcast Along With Me The Best is Yet to Be.”
If you’ve been around for a while you probably remember our discussions of the “Great Man Theory of History” vs the “Bottom-Up” paradigm. In other words, do remarkable individuals with unique characteristics write history or is it driven by powerful historical forces that generate great leaders when they are needed? It’s a false dichotomy, but a useful one. In the Foundation Universe the bottom-up theory must dominate otherwise psychohistory could not work the way it does.
But Joseph Schwartz is just the right Jewish tailor with a special kind of trick memory who is accidentally thrust to an exact moment in Earth’s future. Once there he is brought to the only scientist on Earth doing a particular type of brain research. He then survives a dangerous experiment that gives him an unlikely set of psychic powers which he uses to save the lives of nearly every human in the galaxy.
Put those numbers into your Prime Radiant and crunch them!
This probably delayed the creation of psychohistory by hundreds of years. “I just don’t understand it, Hari, the math says everyone in the galaxy should be dead right now.”
You’ll want to hear this! Let’s GO!
Stars End: A Foundation Podcast 
Thanks for doing this recap. I was saving these episodes until I re-read this book but I couldn’t find my copy & the library had unhelpfully lent its copy to some undeserving Earther.
I am really surprised I didn’t pick up the Jewish Revolt connections, either when I read it the first time last century or a few years ago when Foundation the tv show arrived. It just didn’t click. Very grateful to you all for pointing this out. I didn’t hear it mentioned but the, uh, Easter egg here might be Joseph Schwartz – who was the historian of the 1st Jewish War, a commander who went over to the Roman side and first wrote that history of the war and then a history of the Jews? Joseph ben Matthias later Flavius Josephus. Asimov popped at least two characters out of this historical figure perhaps? I think Dr A is borrowing a bit of the history of all the Jewish revolts as he mentions Earth having revolted 3 times.
Now that we’ve gotten on this track I can’t help thinking that the “virus” that’s going to destroy the empire is a metaphor for religion – in particular, Christianity – and the effect it had on the Roman Empire. Asimov had read Gibbon – twice, he said.
Spot Daneel – love this new game!
LikeLike