Asimov was a professor of Biochemistry and a writer of science fiction. He wrote several books about the collapse of a galactic empire, commonly called the Foundation Series, which eventually tied into several other series he wrote.
The Foundation Series began as a series of stories published in 1951. It was picked up again in the 1980s, with the final novel being written and published in the 1990s.
Themes from that series can be found throughout the Nudge Stories as a homage. Read about the stories and books in the Foundation Series.