Wanda Seldon
Encyclopedia
Wanda Seldon is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov
's science fiction
Foundation series. The daughter of Raych Seldon
and Manella Dubanqua, Wanda played a key role in creating the two Foundations.
As Seldon's sixtieth birthday is being celebrated by his colleagues, Wanda overhears mathematician Tamwile Elar talking to the military junta that served as a government. She tells Dors Venabili
what she had heard - the phrase "lemonade death". Venabili investigates and discovers that it is a garbled version of "Elar-Monay death", with reference to the would-be assassin Tamwile Elar and technician Cinda Monay.
When Wanda is 14, she askes Yugo Amaryl
about how psychohistory
is developing. Yugo shows her the Prime Radiant, a device that displays all the psychohistoric
equations. Wanda points to a certain set of equations and says it doesn't look right. Yugo finds it was indeed wrong, and Hari Seldon deduces that Wanda had somehow read Yugo's mind. He conceives the idea of a Second Foundation
, whose power would lie in its telepathic power and clandestine invisibility.
Wanda Seldon continues to develop her "mentalic" abilities during her life. She is able to influence a witness when Seldon was put on trial for attacking someone "without provocation". Seldon persuades her to find other people with similar mental powers; the first is Stettin Palver and the second is psychologist Bor Alurin. They would eventually form the Second Foundation
.
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
Foundation series. The daughter of Raych Seldon
Raych Seldon
Raych Seldon is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series. Raych is the adopted son of Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili, the primary characters in the first two books of the series...
and Manella Dubanqua, Wanda played a key role in creating the two Foundations.
As Seldon's sixtieth birthday is being celebrated by his colleagues, Wanda overhears mathematician Tamwile Elar talking to the military junta that served as a government. She tells Dors Venabili
Dors Venabili
In Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series, Dors Venabili is a good friend, protector and later wife of Hari Seldon, the primary character of Prelude to Foundation and Forward the Foundation. At face value, Dors is an attractive woman, two years younger than Seldon...
what she had heard - the phrase "lemonade death". Venabili investigates and discovers that it is a garbled version of "Elar-Monay death", with reference to the would-be assassin Tamwile Elar and technician Cinda Monay.
When Wanda is 14, she askes Yugo Amaryl
Yugo Amaryl
Yugo Amaryl is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. Amaryl, along with Hari Seldon, worked on psychohistory until his death at age 52....
about how psychohistory
Psychohistory
Psychohistory is the study of the psychological motivations of historical events. It attempts to combine the insights of psychotherapy with the research methodology of the social sciences to understand the emotional origin of the social and political behavior of groups and nations, past and present...
is developing. Yugo shows her the Prime Radiant, a device that displays all the psychohistoric
Psychohistory (fictional)
Psychohistory is a fictional science in Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe which combines history, sociology, and mathematical statistics to make general predictions about the future behavior of very large groups of people, such as the Galactic Empire...
equations. Wanda points to a certain set of equations and says it doesn't look right. Yugo finds it was indeed wrong, and Hari Seldon deduces that Wanda had somehow read Yugo's mind. He conceives the idea of a Second Foundation
Second Foundation
Second Foundation is the third novel published of the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, and the fifth in the in-universe chronology. It was first published in 1953 by Gnome Press....
, whose power would lie in its telepathic power and clandestine invisibility.
Wanda Seldon continues to develop her "mentalic" abilities during her life. She is able to influence a witness when Seldon was put on trial for attacking someone "without provocation". Seldon persuades her to find other people with similar mental powers; the first is Stettin Palver and the second is psychologist Bor Alurin. They would eventually form the Second Foundation
Second Foundation
Second Foundation is the third novel published of the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, and the fifth in the in-universe chronology. It was first published in 1953 by Gnome Press....
.