for those who've never read Asimov, this story is not really his best. his most famous and beefy works are the Foundation series and the Robots series, and highly recommended. They influenced many many things that came after, both in science and in science fiction. you can't call yourself a true SF fan unless you've read at least his main works.

for example: when I read HHGG for the first time, and the parts about the Deep Thought computer, I assumed it was inspired by and/or a humourous tribute/riff on Asimov, because there were so many strong similarities in structure and narrative techniques.