The Mule in the Foundation Trilogy

Hmm. Interesting topic. Offhand, I think the Mule is unique. Even within the context of the book, he is seen as an anomaly, a variable which throws off all of Selden's psychohistory calculations. But I should probably revisit the books, which I haven't touched in many, many a year.

As for real life mathematical formulas, you are definitely talking to the wrong person. Keine Ahnung.

Mir auch nicht.

Man, I've got to read that series.....

I agree with MA. The Mule is an anamoly, unpredcted by Seldon's formulae, and outside the construct of society. To some extent, certainly, Asimov drew bits and pieces of the character from real persons; that is what authors do. I don't see The Mule being analogous to any real-world individual, and I don't imagine such was Asimov's intent. BTW ... the "Foundation" series was conceived and originally produced as a trilogy, but was expanded by both prequels and sequels ... Asimov delighted in revisiting and refining the work. To my knowledge, the only comparable opus in the SF genre has been Herbert's incredible Dune series.

A bit of trivia ... Asimov was one of the most prolific authors of all time, with over 500 books and thousands of articles and essays to his credit, covering an amazing array of disciplines and subjects.



timber

He wrote text books too!

Speaking of mathematical formulas the obvious great one is the win win theory by John Nash.