Second Foundation (1953) - Author Isaac Asimov

The Second Foundation was the story that was the 3rd such published book in the Foundation Trilogy (although some later books were introduced that told the story before this book). The Second Foundation was published more than 50 years back (to be precise 55 years back, in 1953 by Gnome Press). The book was the sequel to the book - Foundation and Empire. I would not treat the book purely as science fiction, given that science is not the central theme of the book. The book weaves science in and out, but the book is all about human emotions, including the strongest ones, ambition. In the previous 2 books (Foundation & Foundation and Empire), Asimov had only given trace descriptions of the Second Foundation. It is this book which describes the Second Foundation in some detail, but not enough (more detail is revealed in the book, Foundation's Edge).



The actual novel is the combination of 2 separate stories separated by 55 years. Both are about searches for the Second Foundation, Search by the Mule, and Search by the Foundation. The Second Foundation was the Foundation set up by Hari Seldon to be composed of mentalists (people who can control and influence human thought) (although the initial novels never really clear as to how people came to develop these powers - it was only once you read the later novels such as 'Prelude to the Foundation' that reveal as to how all of this was a great plan).
The Mule had conquered everything that was visible, including the great Foundation itself (from its base on Terminus). He was searching for the Second Foundation, since they, the shadowy society of mentalists, were the only one who could break his plan (and he had started finding that some of his important people were getting modified, and could only be possible by the Second Foundation). It was important for him to find the Second Foundation, and it was this story that details his search, and how eventually, the First Speaker of the Second Foundation fulfills his duty by modifying the Mule to make him not care anymore about the Second Foundation (and eventually the Mule would die a natural death).
The Second Story, 55 years after the death of the Mule, was about the Foundation (the First one, the one that grew based on physical power) wanting to find the Second Foundation and destroy it. With the encounter with the Mule, it was clear that the Second Foundation existed. The Foundation and its leader could not stand to have the prospect of anybody but them being the center of the next Empire, and if the Second Foundation consisting of mentalics remained at large, the Foundation would never be the dominant power. And hence, driven by ambition, the search for the Second Foundation through the use of technology - this technology enables them to determine the way to disrupt the use of the telepathic powers of the Second Foundation and to cause harsh mental pain to any such agent of the Second Foundation. They eventually find agents on the same planet, Terminus (since the Second Foundation is at star's end, and circling the galaxy comes back to the original point).
However, have they really ended the Second Foundation ?