Editing Isaac Asimov (section)

=== Other writings ===
In addition to his interest in science, Asimov was interested in history. Starting in the 1960s, he wrote 14 popular history books, including ''The Greeks: A Great Adventure'' (1965),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Greeks: A Great Adventure |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1965 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston}}</ref> ''The Roman Republic'' (1966),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Roman Republic |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1966 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston}}</ref> ''The Roman Empire'' (1967),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Roman Empire |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1967 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston}}</ref> ''The Egyptians'' (1967)<ref>{{cite book |title=The Egyptians |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1967 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston}}</ref> ''The Near East: 10,000 Years of History'' (1968),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Near East: 10,000 Years of History |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1968 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston}}</ref> and ''[[Asimov's Chronology of the World]]'' (1991).<ref>{{cite book |title=Asimov's Chronology of the World |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1991 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York}}</ref>

He published ''[[Asimov's Guide to the Bible]]'' in two volumes—covering the [[Old Testament]] in 1967 and the [[New Testament]] in 1969—and then combined them into one 1,300-page volume in 1981. Complete with maps and tables, the guide goes through the books of the Bible in order, explaining the history of each one and the political influences that affected it, as well as biographical information about the important characters. His interest in literature manifested itself in several annotations of literary works, including ''[[Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare]]'' (1970),{{efn|Asimov, ''In Joy Still Felt'' (1980), pp. 464–465: "Of all the books I have ever worked on, I think ''Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare'' gave me the most pleasure, day in, day out. For months and months I lived and thought Shakespeare, and I don't see how there can be any greater pleasure in the world—any pleasure, that is, that one can indulge in for as much as ten hours without pause, day after day indefinitely."}} ''Asimov's Annotated Don Juan'' (1972), ''Asimov's Annotated Paradise Lost'' (1974), and ''The Annotated Gulliver's Travels'' (1980).<ref>''I. Asimov: A Memoir'' chapter 112.</ref>

Asimov was also a noted mystery author and a frequent contributor to ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine''. He began by writing science fiction mysteries such as his Wendell Urth stories, but soon moved on to writing "pure" mysteries. He published two full-length mystery novels, and wrote 66 stories about the [[Black Widowers]], a group of men who met monthly for dinner, conversation, and a puzzle. He got the idea for the Widowers from his own association in a stag group called the Trap Door Spiders, and all of the main characters (with the exception of the waiter, Henry, who he admitted resembled Wodehouse's Jeeves) were modeled after his closest friends.<ref>{{cite book |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |title=Puzzles of the Black Widowers |publisher=Bantam Books |date=1991 |page=xiii }}</ref> A parody of the Black Widowers, "An Evening with the White Divorcés," was written by author, critic, and librarian Jon L. Breen.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breen |first1=Jon L. "An Evening with the White Divorcés" |title=Hair of the Sleuthhound |date=1982 |publisher=Scarecrow |location=Metuchen, NJ |pages=125–131}}</ref> Asimov joked, "all I can do ... is to wait until I catch him in a dark alley, someday."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breen |first1=Jon L. "An Evening with the White Divorcés" |title=Hair of the Sleuthhound |date=1982 |publisher=Scarecrow |location=Metuchen, NJ |page=131}}</ref>

Toward the end of his life, Asimov published a series of collections of [[limerick (poetry)|limericks]], mostly written by himself, starting with ''[[Lecherous Limericks]]'', which appeared in 1975. ''Limericks: Too Gross'', whose title displays Asimov's love of [[pun]]s, contains 144 limericks by Asimov and an equal number by [[John Ciardi]]. He even created a slim volume of [[Sherlock Holmes|Sherlockian]] limericks. Asimov featured [[Yiddish]] humor in ''[[Azazel (Asimov)|Azazel, The Two Centimeter Demon]]''. The two main characters, both Jewish, talk over dinner, or lunch, or breakfast, about anecdotes of "George" and his friend Azazel. Asimov's ''[[Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor|Treasury of Humor]]'' is both a working joke book and a treatise propounding his views on [[Theory of humor|humor theory]]. According to Asimov, the most essential element of humor is an abrupt change in point of view, one that suddenly shifts focus from the important to the trivial, or from the sublime to the ridiculous.<ref name="Asimov 1971">{{cite book |title=Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1971 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=New York |isbn=0-395-12665-7}}</ref><ref name="Asimov 1992">{{cite book|title=Asimov Laughs Again |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1992 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |isbn=0-06-016826-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/asimovlaughsagai00isaa }}</ref>

Particularly in his later years, Asimov to some extent cultivated an image of himself as an amiable lecher. In 1971, as a response to the popularity of sexual guidebooks such as ''[[The Sensuous Woman]]'' (by "J") and ''[[The Sensuous Man]]'' (by "M"), Asimov published ''The Sensuous Dirty Old Man'' under the byline "Dr. 'A{{'"}}<ref>''In Joy Still Felt'', p. 569.</ref> (although his full name was printed on the paperback edition, first published 1972). However, by 2016, Asimov's habit of groping women was seen as [[sexual harassment]] and came under criticism, and was cited as an early example of inappropriate behavior that can occur at science fiction conventions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/dont-look-away-fighting-sexual-harassment-in-the-scifi-1785704207|title=Don't Look Away: Fighting Sexual Harassment in the Scifi/Fantasy Community|last=Hines|first=Jim C.|date=August 29, 2016|work=io9|access-date=December 18, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=November 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123220020/https://io9.gizmodo.com/dont-look-away-fighting-sexual-harassment-in-the-scifi-1785704207|url-status=live}}</ref>

Asimov published [[Autobiographies of Isaac Asimov|three volumes of autobiography]]. ''In Memory Yet Green'' (1979)<ref>{{cite book |title=In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920–1954 |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1979 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |isbn=0-385-13679-X}}</ref> and ''In Joy Still Felt'' (1980)<ref>{{cite book |title=In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954–1978 |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1979 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |isbn=0-385-13679-X}}</ref> cover his life up to 1978. The third volume, ''I. Asimov: A Memoir'' (1994),<ref>{{cite book|title=I. Asimov: A Memoir |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1994 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |isbn=0-385-41701-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/iasimovmemoir00asim_0 }}</ref> covered his whole life (rather than following on from where the second volume left off). The epilogue was written by his widow [[Janet Asimov]] after his death. The book won a [[Hugo Award]] in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 26, 2007|title=1995 Hugo Awards|url=https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1995-hugo-awards/|access-date=December 29, 2022|website=The Hugo Awards|language=en-US}}</ref> Janet Asimov edited ''[[It's Been a Good Life]]'' (2002),<ref>{{cite book|title=It's Been a Good Life |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=2002 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=New York |isbn=1-57392-968-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/itsbeengoodlife00asim }}</ref> a condensed version of his three autobiographies. He also published three volumes of retrospectives of his writing, ''[[Opus 100]]'' (1969),<ref name="Asimov 1969">{{cite book |title=Opus 100 |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1969 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston}}</ref> ''[[Opus 200]]'' (1979),<ref name="Asimov 1979">{{cite book|title=Opus 200 |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1979 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-27625-X |url=https://archive.org/details/opus20000asim }}</ref> and ''[[Opus 300]]'' (1984).<ref name="Asimov 1984">{{cite book |title=Opus 300 |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |date=1984 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-36108-7}}</ref>

In 1987, the Asimovs co-wrote ''How to Enjoy Writing: A Book of Aid and Comfort''. In it they offer advice on how to maintain a positive attitude and stay productive when dealing with discouragement, distractions, rejection, and thick-headed editors. The book includes many quotations, essays, anecdotes, and husband-wife dialogues about the ups and downs of being an author.<ref>{{cite book|title=How to Enjoy Writing: A Book of Aid and Comfort |last1=Asimov |first1=Janet |author-link=Janet Asimov |last2=Asimov |first2=Isaac |date=1987 |publisher=Walker & Co. |location=New York |isbn=0-8027-0945-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/howtoenjoywritin00asim_0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asimovreviews.net/Books/Book362.html |title=How to Enjoy Writing: A Book of Aid and Comfort |publisher=John H. Jenkins |access-date=August 4, 2016 |archive-date=August 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803195159/http://asimovreviews.net/Books/Book362.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Asimov and ''[[Star Trek]]'' creator [[Gene Roddenberry]] developed a unique relationship during ''Star Trek''{{'}}s initial launch in the late 1960s. Asimov wrote a critical essay on ''Star Trek''{{'}}s scientific accuracy for ''[[TV Guide]]'' magazine. Roddenberry retorted respectfully with a personal letter explaining the limitations of accuracy when writing a weekly series. Asimov corrected himself with a follow-up essay to ''TV Guide'' claiming that despite its inaccuracies, ''Star Trek'' was a fresh and intellectually challenging [[science fiction on television|science fiction television]] show. The two remained friends to the point where Asimov even served as an advisor on a number of ''Star Trek'' projects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/getting-star-trek-on-air-was-impossible.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627222403/http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/06/getting-star-trek-on-air-was-impossible.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |title=Letters of Note: Getting Star Trek on the air was impossible |date=June 25, 2012 }}</ref>

{{anchor|Calendar}}
In 1973, Asimov published a proposal for [[calendar reform]], called the World Season Calendar. It divides the year into four seasons (named A–D) of 13 weeks (91 days) each. This allows days to be named, e.g., "D-73" instead of December 1 (due to December 1 being the 73rd day of the 4th quarter). An extra 'year day' is added for a total of 365 days.<ref>{{cite book |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |author-link=Isaac Asimov |chapter=The Week Excuse |title=The Tragedy of the Moon |pages=48–58 |publisher=Doubleday and Co |date=1973 |isbn=0-440-18999-3|title-link=The Tragedy of the Moon }}</ref>