The Book is a sacred text in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.
About the Book[]
Thw Book sometimes called The Book of Rules is the sacred text of the Mycogen Sector in Trantor. It was a physical, printed book of immense cultural and religious significance to the Mycogenian people, The Book of Rules is a technologically sophisticated artifact. Its pages are covered in microprint, which is made visible by pressing a button on the inner edge of the cover, causing lines of text to scroll upwards at an adjustable speed. The book is powered by a built-in microfusion battery designed to last the lifetime of the book itself. Crucially, it is a bilingual text, presenting its content in both an ancient, pre-Galactic script and a translation into standard Galactic, allowing the modern Mycogenian to read it. The book's central narrative is the detailed history of a single, primordial world—referred to as "the World," "the Planet," "the Oldest," "the World of Dawn," or, in one significant instance, "Aurora." It describes this world as a paradise with smiling fields and hospitable homes, from which the Mycogenians were forced to flee. The text presents this history as absolute fact, serving as the foundation for the entire Mycogenian identity and their fervent desire to one day reclaim their lost home. It contains lengthy dissertations on the world's internal politics and makes extraordinary claims, such as that its original inhabitants had life spans of three to four centuries. It also makes favorable mention of "robots," a legendary concept in the wider Galaxy. Every Mycogenian brother and sister carries a copy of the book with them at all times to remind them of who they are and where they came from.
For an outsider like Hari Seldon, acquiring the book was a pivotal event, though its initial examination proved disappointing as it focused intensely on a single world's internal affairs rather than providing the broader galactic historical framework he sought for psychohistory.