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The Internet Time Travel Database

Isaac Asimov

writer

Cosmic Corkscrew

by Isaac Asimov
“Cosmic Corkscrew” was the first story that Asimov ever wrote for submission to the pulp magazines of the day. In the first part of his autobiography, he describes starting the story, setting it aside, and returning to it some thirteen months later. It was the story that he took with him on his first visit to John Campbell, inquiring about why the July 1938 Astounding was late arriving. Alas, the story was rejected and then lost, but it did have time travel!
In it, I viewed time as a helix (this is, as something like a bedspring). Someone could cut across from one turn directly to the next, thus moving into the future by some exact interval, but being incapable of traveling one day less into the future. (I didn’t know the term at the time, but what I had done was to “quantize” time travel.)
“Cosmic Corkscrew” by Isaac Asimov (Unpublished manuscript, 1938).

Time Pussy

by Isaac Asimov
Mr. Mac tells of the troubles of trying to preserve the body of a four-dimensional cat.
‘Four-dimensional, Mr. Mac? But the fourth dimension is time.’ I had learned that the year before, in the third grade.
“Time Pussy” by Isaac Asimov, Astounding, April 1942 (as by George E. Dale).

Thiotimoline

by Isaac Asimov
I don’t know if this is time travel or not, but it certainly violates causality when the time for thiotimoline to dissolve in water is minus 1.12 seconds.
Mr. Asimov, tell us something about the thermodynamic properties of the compound thiotimoline.
“Thiotimoline” by Isaac Asimov, Astounding, March 1948.

The Red Queen’s Race

by Isaac Asimov
By my count, this was Asimov’s fourth foray into time travel, but his first as Dr. Asimov. In the story, the dead Elmer Tywood also had a Ph.D. and a plan to translate a modern chemistry textbook into Greek before sending it back in time to inaugurate a Golden Age of science long before it actually occurred.
There was a short silence, then he said: “I’ll tell you. Why don’t you check with his students?”

I lifted my eyebrows: “You mean in his classes?”

He seemed annoyed: “No, for Heaven’s sake. His research students! His doctoral candidates!”

“The Red Queen’s Race” by Isaac Asimov, in Astounding Science Fiction, January 1949.

The Red Queen’s Race

by Isaac Asimov
“The Red Queen’s Race” by Isaac Asimov, in Astounding Science Fiction, January 1949.

Pebble in the Sky

by Isaac Asimov
Joseph Schwartz takes one step from 1949 to the year 847 of the Galactic Era, where he meets archaeologist Bel Arvardan, Earth scientist Dr. Shekt, the doctor’s beautiful daughter Pola, and a plot to destroy all non-Earth life in the galaxy.
He lifted his foot to step over a Raggedy Ann doll smiling through its neglect as it lay there in the middle of the walk, a foundling not yet missed. He had not quite put his foot down again. . .
Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov (Doubleday, January 1950).

Day of the Hunters

by Isaac Asimov
A midwestern professor tells a half-drunken story of time travel and the real cause of the dinosaur extinction.
— Michael Main
Because I built a time machine for myself a couple of years ago and went back to the Mesozoic Era and found out what happened to the dinosaurs.
“Day of the Hunters” by Isaac Asimov, in Future Science Fiction, November 1950.

What If—

by Isaac Asimov
“What If—” by Isaac Asimov, Fantastic Summer 1952.

Button, Button

by Isaac Asimov
Harry Smith has an eccentric scientist uncle who needs to make some money from his astonishing invention that can bring one gram of material from the past.
Do you remember the time a few weeks back when all of upper Manhattan and the Bronx were without electricity for twelve hours because of the damndest overload cut-off in the main power board? I won’t say we did that, because I am in no mood to be sued for damages. But I will say this: The electricity went off when my uncle Otton turned the third knob.
“Button, Button” by Isaac Asimov, Startling Stories, January 1953.

The End of Eternity

by Isaac Asimov
“The End of Eternity” by Isaac Asimov, initially unpublished, 6 February 1954.

The Immortal Bard

by Isaac Asimov
Dr. Phineas Welch tells an English professor a disturbing story about a matter of temporal transference and a student in the professor’s Shakespeare class.
I did. I needed someone with a universal mind; someone who knew people well enough to be able to live with them centuries way from his own time. Shakespeare was the man. I’ve got his signature. As a memento, you know.
“The Immortal Bard” by Isaac Asimov, in Universe Science Fiction, May 1954.

The End of Eternity

by Isaac Asimov
Andrew Harlan, Technician in the everwhen of Eternity, falls in love and starts a chain of events that could lead to the end of everything.
— Michael Main
He had boarded the kettle in the 575th Century, the base of operations assigned to him two years earlier. At the time the 575th had been the farthest upwhen he had ever traveled. Now he was moving upwhen to the 2456th Century.
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov (Doubleday, August 1955).

The Message

by Isaac Asimov
Time traveler and historian George tries to travel back to World War II without making any changes to the world.
George was deliriously happy. Two years of red tape and now he was finally back in the past. Now he could complete his paper on the social life of the foot soldier of World War II with some authentic details.
“The Message” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1956.

The Dead Past

by Isaac Asimov
“The Dead Past” by Isaac Asimov, Astounding Science Fiction, April 1956.

Gimmicks Three

by Isaac Asimov
Isidore Wellby makes a timely pact with the devil’s demon.
Ten years of anything you want, within reason, and then you’re a demon. You’re one of us, with a new name of demonic potency, and many privileges beside. You’ll hardly know you’re damned.
“Gimmicks Three” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1956.

The Last Question

by Isaac Asimov
“The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction Quarterly, November 1956.

Blank!

by Isaac Asimov
Dr. Edward Barron has a theory that time is arranged like a series of particles that can be traveled up or down; his colleague and hesitant collaborator August Pointdexter isn’t so sure about the application of the theory to reality.
An elevator doesn’t involve paradoxes. You can’t move from the fifth floor to the fourth and kill your grandfather as a child.
“Blank!” by Isaac Asimov, in Infinity Science Fiction, June 1957.

A Loint of Paw

by Isaac Asimov
Master criminal Montie Stein has found a way around the statute of limitations.
It introduced law to the fourth dimension.
“A Loint of Paw” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1957.

The Ugly Little Boy

by Isaac Asimov
Edith Fellowes is hired to look after young Timmie, a Neanderthal boy brought from the past, but never able to leave the time stasis bubble where he lives.
He was a very ugly little boy and Edith Fellowes loved him dearly.
“The Ugly Little Boy” by Isaac Asimov (Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1958, pp. 6-44.).

A Statue for Father

by Isaac Asimov
A wealthy man’s father was a time-travel researcher who died some years ago, but not before leaving a legacy for all mankind.
They’ve put up statues to him, too. The oldest is on the hillside right here where the discovery was made. You can just see it out the window. Yes. Can you make out the inscription? Well, we’re standing at a bad angle. No matter.
“A Statue for Father” by Isaac Asimov, in Satellite Science Fiction, February 1959.

Unto the Fourth Generation

by Isaac Asimov
During an ordinary day of business, Sam Marten is obsessively drawn to different men named Levkowich, each with a different spelling.

When I began putting together this Big List in 2005, I started with all the Asimov time travel stories that I could remember. Somehow I forgot about this story which I first read in 1973 in Nightfall and Other Stories. But then, while scouring the 1950s back issues of F&SF for more obscure stories, there it was: Sam Marten’s great, great grandfather brought from his deathbed to meet Sam, and there, also, was a moment of time travel for Sam himself.

Two new sentences were added at the end of the original story for the reprinting in Asimov’s collection, so I thought it would be appropriate to quote those new sentences here:

Yet somehow he knew that all would be well with him. Somehow, as never before, he knew.
“Unto the Fourth Generation” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1959.

Obituary

by Isaac Asimov
A young man looking for love in 1959 Brooklyn finds and answers a letter from a young woman in 1869 Brooklyn.
The folded paper opened stiffly, the crease permanent with age, and even before I saw the date I knew this letter was old. The handwriting was obviously feminine, and beautifully clear—it’s called Spencerian, isn’t it?—the letters perfectly formed and very ornate, the capitals especially being a whirl of dainty curlicues. The ink was rust-black, the date at the top of the page was May 14, 1882, and reading it, I saw that it was a love letter.
“Obituary” by Isaac Asimov, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1959.

Thiotimoline to the Stars

by Isaac Asimov
“Thiotimoline to the Stars” by Isaac Asimov, in Astounding: John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology, edited by Harry Harrison (Random House , November 1973).

Big Game

by Isaac Asimov
Jack Trent hears a half-drunken story of time travel and the real cause of the dinosaur extinction.

Asimov wrote this story in 1941, but it was lost until a fan found it in the Boston University archives in the early ’70s.

Jack looked at Hornby solemnly. “You invented a time machine, did you?”

“Long ago.” Hornby smiled amiably and filled his glass again. “Better than the ones those amateurs at Stanford rigged up. I’ve destroyed it, though. Lost interest.”

“Big Game” by Isaac Asimov, in Before the Golden Age, edited by Isaac Asimov (Doubleday, April 1974).

Birth of a Notion

by Isaac Asimov
The world’s first time traveler, Simeon Weill, goes back to 1925 and gives some ideas to Hugo.
That the first inventor of a workable time machine was a science fiction enthusiast is by no means a coincidence.
“Birth of a Notion” by Isaac Asimov, in Amazing, April 1976.

Classics Dark and Dangerous (s01e05)

The Ugly Little Boy

by Dennis Hutcheon, directed by Barry Moore and Don Thompson
Classics Dark and Dangerous (s01e05), “The Ugly Little Boy” by Dennis Hutcheon, directed by Barry Moore and Don Thompson (CBC TV, Canada, 17 February 1977).

Fair Exchange?

by Isaac Asimov
John Sylva has invented a temporal transference device that allows his friend Herb to enter the mind of a man in 1871 London and to thereby attend three performances of a lost Gilbert & Sullivan play.

I read this story as I was starting my graduate studies in Pullman in 1978. Sadly, there was no second issue of Asimov’s SF Adventure Magazine.

We can’t be sure how accurate our estimates of time and place are, but you seem to resonate with someone in London in 1871.
“Fair Exchange?” by Isaac Asimov, in Asimov’s SF Adventure Magazine, Fall 1978.

The Winds of Change

by Isaac Asimov
Jonas Dinsmore is not half the physicist as his colleagues, the politically astute Adams and the brilliant Muller, but in their presence, he claims to have figured out how to interpret Muller’s Grand Unified Theory to allow time travel.
Time-travel, in the sense of going backward to change reality, is not only technologically impossible now, but it is theoretically impossible altogether.
“The Winds of Change” by Isaac Asimov, in Speculations, edited by Isaac Asimov and Alice Laurance (Houghton Mifflin, 1982).

Norby

by Janet Asimov and Isaac Asimov
In the second book of this children’s series (Norby’s Other Secret, 1984), the precocious robot reveals his time-travel powers to his pal Jeff; their mishaps in time continue in at least three later books (Norby and the Queen’s Necklace, Norby Finds a Villain, and Norby and Yobo’s Great Adventure).
Norby by Janet Asimov and Isaac Asimov (1984).

Writing Time

by Isaac Asimov
“Writing Time” by Isaac Asimov, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, July 1984.

Конец Вечности

Konets vechnosti English release: The End of Eternity Literal: The end of eternity

by Будимир Метальников and Андрей Ермаш, directed by Андрей Ермаш
In a blunt violation of protocol, my technician formed a relationship with a woman from reality.
[ex=bare]Конец Вечности | The end of eternity | Konets vechnosti[/ex] by Будимир Метальников and Андрей Ермаш, directed by Андрей Ермаш (unknown release details, 1987).

The Turning Point

by Isaac Asimov
In exactly 100 words, Madison goes back in time to meet himself at the turning point of his young life.

Thanks to Marc Richardson for sending this one to me.

— Michael Main
He was a clerk.
“The Turning Point” by Isaac Asimov, in The Drabble Project, edited by Rob Meades and David B. Wake (Beccon Publications, April 1988).

The Instability

by Isaac Asimov
Professor Firebrenner explains to Atkins how they can go forward in time to study a red dwarf and then return back to Earth.
Of course, but how far can the Sun and Earth move in the few hours it will take us to observe the star?
“The Instability” by Isaac Asimov, in The London Observer, 1 January 1989.

The Time Traveler

by Isaac Asimov
The little demon Azazel (the hero of many an Asimov tale) sends a world-renowned writer travels back in time to see his first writing teacher at a 1934 school that is remarkably like Asimov’s own Boys High in Brooklyn.
“Because,” and here he struck his chest a resounding thump, “the burning memories of youthful snubs and spurnings remain unavenged and, indeed, forever unavengable.”
“The Time Traveler” by Isaac Asimov, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, November 1990.

Child of Time

by Isaac Asimov
Child of Time by Isaac Asimov (Polaris Beograd, 1991).

Robot Visions

by Isaac Asimov
A team of Temporalists send robot RG-32 200 years into the future where it seems to almost all that mankind is doing better than expected on Earth and in space.
RG-32 was a rather old-fashioned robot, eminently replaceable. He could observe and report, perhaps without quite the ingenuity and penetration of a human being—but well enough. He would be without fear, intent only on following orders, and he could be expected to tell the truth.
“Robot Visions” by Isaac Asimov, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, April 1991.

The Ugly Little Boy

by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg
The story of Ms. Fellowes and Timmie is augmented by the story of what his tribe did during his time away.
He was a very ugly little boy and Edith Fellowes loved him more dearly than anything in the world.
The Ugly Little Boy by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (Doubleday Foundation, October 1992).
as of 4:42 p.m. MDT, 18 April 2024
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