Foundation

In the distant future, a Galactic Empire ruled by a dynasty of clones of Cleon I dominates nearly the entire galaxy. Brother Day reigns at the height of his power, Brother Dusk, retired and the eldest, serves as an advisor, and Brother Dawn, the youngest, is preparing to succeed him. Hari Seldon, a mathematician and professor of psychology, has created psychohistory, a science that predicts the behavior of large groups of people over vast periods of time. His calculations foretell the collapse of the Empire and a long dark age, and Seldon has devised a plan to shorten it. To find a mind capable of understanding his work, he holds a galactic contest, which is won by Gaal Dornick, a young self-taught woman from a planet where seeking knowledge is considered heresy. Upon arriving on Trantor, Gaal finds herself caught in the clash between the Cleonic dynasty and Seldon's schools over the value of psychohistory.