First Foundation
From Asimov
The First Foundation was established at the planet Terminus, outside the Imperial borders. The Foundation was set up with Imperial blessings as a "Encyclopedia Foundation", intending to preserve all of human knowledge during the predicted ten thousand years of chaos. Seldon's true intention for the Foundation is to preserve the physical sciences and provide a political starting point for the Second Empire.
The nature of the Foundation changes through the five hundred years of history Asimov provides in the books. In the beginning, the "Foundation" refers to the Encyclopedia Foundation in Terminus City. Terminus City is run by a mayor, and in the beginning Terminus was quite weak and subject to the political whims of the Four Kingdoms surrounding it. The most notable of those kingdoms is Anaceron. As the scientific knowledge of the galaxy continues to wane, the preservation of atomic power in Terminus enables it to use that knowledge to its advantage.
Mayor Salvor Hardin realizes that the Encyclopedia Foundation was a farce: Terminus' true role was to serve as the foundation of a new political entity, one that will hopefully grow into the Second Empire. Because the scientific and technological abilities of the Foundation are so far above those of the Four Kingdoms, Hardin is able to create a religion around atomic power.
The Foundation's nature throughout the books is one that is continually shifting. From an academic foundation to a religious center, it turns at the end of Foundation] into a trade hub. The Foundation will grow from Terminus to become a federation of planets under the direct control of Terminus or under its sphere of influence. The leader of the Foundation, and later the Foundation Federation, will retain the title of "Mayor" but some will grow to have almost dictatorial powers. The Foundation is briefly conquered by The Mule, since no one there can resist mentalics.
By Second Foundation (novel), those in the Foundation have become aware of the Second Foundation, and its leaders have surmised that its powers are mental, rather than physical. Both the Mule and the Foundation search for the Second Foundation in an effort to destroy it, but are unsuccessful. By Foundation's Edge, the Foundation Federation holds the overwhelming majority of the galaxy in its sphere of influence, aside from isolated worlds like the 50 Spacer Worlds and Gaia that are not on any maps.
