The Subatomic Monster

Seventeen science essays, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, make up this book. Each piece began as a monthly column, running from June 1983 through October 1984. The subjects range widely, from chaos theory and the color green to communications satellites, the way people think, and a red sun. The collection also takes up the subatomic world, the masses of objects, and the different measures of time and of the universe.

Asimov, a prolific writer of both popular science books and science fiction, wrote these pieces for general readers curious about how the natural world works. Each essay stands on its own, so readers can dip in at any point.