Asimov Number

Everyone's heard of "six degrees of Kevin Bacon", or the Erdős number ... I haven't really heard of anything similar for science fiction so I thought I'd work out people's "Asimov number".

As with the Erdős number or Bacon number, the Asimov number measures the collaborative distance between an author and the starting individual - in this case, Isaac Asimov.

Asimov himself has an Asimov number of 0. Co-authors with him have an Asimov number of 1. Their co-authors have an Asimov number of 2 and so on.

Despite my choosing him because he was perhaps the most prolific author in science fiction, Asimov doesn't seem to have had many literary partnerships, according to the ISFDB.

The list below isn't exhaustive ... feel free to suggest corrections if someone is in the wrong place, or if you work out someone else's Asimov number to include!

0. Isaac Asimov

1. Ben Bova (Beyond Our Brain, 1977)
Harlan Ellison (I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay, 1994)
Larry Niven (On the Marching Morons, 1981)
Frederik Pohl (Our Angry Earth, 1991)
Robert Silverberg (Nightfall, 1990)

2. Steven Barnes (Niven)
Edward Bryant (Ellison)
Algis Budrys (Ellison)
Samuel R. Delany (Ellison)
Gordon R. Dickson (Bova)
Randall Garrett (Silverberg)
Keith Laumer (Ellison)
Jerry Pournelle (Niven)
Robert Sheckley (Ellison)
Theodore Sturgeon (Ellison)
A. E. Van Vogt (Ellison)
Jack Williamson (Pohl)
Roger Zelazny (Ellison)

3. Forrest J. Ackerman (Sturgeon - Ellison)
Kevin J. Anderson (Van Vogt - Ellison)
Poul Anderson (Dickson -Bova)
Alfred Bester (Zelazny - Ellison)
Tobias S. Buckell (Sheckley - Ellison)
Pat Cadigan (Sheckley -Ellison)
Avram Davidson (Garrett - Silverberg)
Michael F. Flynn (Pournelle - Niven)
Harry Harrison (Dickson - Bova)
Brian Herbert (Sheckley - Ellison)
Nancy Kress (Sheckley - Ellison)
Michael Moorcock (Delany - Ellison)
Jody Lynn Nye (Sheckley - Ellison)
Mike Resnick (Sheckley - Ellison)
Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Sheckley - Ellison)
Fred Saberhagen (Zelazny - Ellison)
Charles Sheffield (Pournelle - Niven)
Dan Simmons (Bryant - Ellison)
S. M. Stirling (Pournelle - Niven)
Connie Willis (Bryant - Ellison)
John C. Wright (Van Vogt - Ellison)
Jane Yolen (Sheckley - Ellison)

4. Piers Anthony (Nye - Sheckley - Ellison)
Robert Asprin (Nye - Sheckley - Ellison)
Barrington J. Bailey (Moorcock - Delany - Ellison)
Greg Bear (Stirling - Pournelle - Niven)
Gregory Benford (K. J. Anderson - Van Vogt - Ellison)
Ilsa J. Bick (Buckell - Sheckley - Ellison)
David Bischoff (Harrison - Dickson - Bova)
Ray Bradbury (Ackerman
Marion Zimmer Bradley (Bester- Sturgeon - Ellison)
Jack L. Chalker (Resnick - Sheckley - Ellison)
Storm Constantine (Moorcock - Delany - Ellison)
James Doohan (Stirling - Pournelle - Niven)
David Drake (Stirling - Pournelle - Niven)
George Alec Effinger (Resnick - Sheckley - Ellison)
Gordon Eklund (P. Anderson - Dickson - Bova)
Chris Fowler (Cadigan - Sheckley - Ellison)
Neil Gaiman (Moorcock - Delany - Ellison)
Jack C. Haldeman, II (Harrison - Dickson - Bova)
Joe Haldeman (Yolen - Sheckley - Ellison)
Robert J. Harris (Yolen - Sheckley - Ellison)
M. John Harrison (Moorcock - Delany - Ellison)
Frank Herbert (K. J. Anderson - Van Vogt - Ellison)
Dean Ing (P. Anderson - Dickson - Bova)
James Patrick Kelly (Cadigan - Sheckley - Ellison)
Holly Lisle (Stirling - Pournelle - Niven)
Anne McCaffery (Nye - Sheckley - Ellison)
Barry N. Malzberg (Harrison - Dickson - Bova)
Richard Matheson (Bester - Zelazny - Ellison)
Marvin Minsky (Harrison - Dickson - Bova)
Rebecca Moesta (K. J. Anderson - Van Vogt - Ellison)
Ward Moore (Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Karl Schroeder (Buckell - Sheckley - Ellison)
Dean Wesley Smith (Rusch - Sheckley - Ellison)
Michael Swanwick (Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Harry Turtledove (Resnick - Sheckley - Ellison)
Donald A. Wollheim (Ackerman - Sturgeon - Ellison)

5. David Brin (Benford - K. J. Anderson - Van Vogt - Ellison)
Jack Dann (Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Gardner Dozois (Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Philip Jose Farmer (Anthony - Nye - Sheckley - Ellison)
William Gibson (Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Clifford A. Pickover (Anthony - Nye - Sheckley - Ellison)

6. John Shirley (Gibson -Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Bruce Sterling (Gibson - Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)

7. Rudy Rucker (Sterling - Gibson - Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Paul di Filippo (Sterling - Gibson - Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Howard Waldrop (Sterling - Gibson - Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)

8. Damien Broderick (di Filippo - Sterling - Gibson - Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)
Terry Bisson (Rucker - Sterling - Gibson - Swanwick - Davidson - Garrett - Silverberg)