The original Foundation novellas were published the 1940s. In the first ones, the creation of the Foundation on the planet Terminus is explained, and Hari Seldon's messages for the Foundation are revealed. The initial novellas tell of how various leaders of the Foundation cope with the emergencies that arise in a hostile galaxy in which law and order have disappeared. The Foundation becomes an important repository of knowledge that will eventually end the barbarism into which the empire is plunging. The last efforts of a still mighty but failing Galactic Empire to assert its control on the Outer Worlds are shown, with events roughly following those in the days of the failing Western Roman Empire. A character called the Mule is eventually introduced. He has profound psychic powers and can force people to do what he wants, even against their wills. He makes a mess of...