It is the year 12020GE and the last Galactic Emperor Cleon 1 sits uneasily on the throne. When young Hari Seldonarrives on Trantor to present a paper on psychohistory, his astounding theory of prediction, the Emperor believes that his future security may rest on Seldon's prophetic powers. Now Hari is the most wanted man in the empire as he desperately struggles to keep his theory from reaching the wrong hands, while forging the key to the future - a power to be known as the Foundation !