Matt Yglesias muses on the possible influence of Isaac Asimove's
series on the way he looks at the world. Interestingly, Paul Krugman admits his debt to this series as well in getting him interested in economics. Unlike Robert Heinlein or mentor John W. Campbell Asimov was a political liberal. It is not uncommon for nerdy males, who are disproportionately represented in the pundit-class, to go through a science fiction phase in their youth. It would be interesting to see how interests in various authors tracked their current political positioning (I'd bet money that Poul Anderson is more popular with people who work at the Cato Institute). Note: William Sims Bainbridge's Dimensions of Science Fiction explores the various demographic trends which characterize the science fiction subculture. Politically there's a bimodal distribution between liberals and libertarians, with more traditional conservatives such as Jerry Pournelle being the exception.
