I think one thing that always fascinated me was how anchored Asimov was in reality. I began reading 'The Gods Themselves' which Asimov wrote as a response to another writer (whose name escapes me) using a Isotope which couldn't exist and ignoring the science related ties that it would mean.<p>His science fiction was always speculative, but in as many places as possible it was anchored to the reality he knew.<p>Simple amazing.<p>Oh, and yeah, Google is scary how big, powerful, and... omnipresent it has become.