Glad you finished it. I was reading.on a Kindle while backpacking. As soon as I got to where Rocky said he couldn't sleep alone, I started crying (guessing why, as it would be another few pages before it revealed the reason). I had to stop reading there, not because of dislike, but because I could not read this on my own... it was too good.

As soon as I was off the trail, I got the audio book and listened to it with my wife.

I liked the science, and never glazed over (PhD in Physics), but my wife did. I don't think it's that you didn't get it. It might just be that it was boring if you don't innately find this topic interesting. But, the Rocky-Grace relationship was so fantastic. Amaze, amaze, amaze jazz hands

My only part that I found I disliked was the rapidness of creating meaningful communication. But, I am able to look past that as the rest is so good.

I read I, Robot and some other collections of Asimov short stories in my teens, but didn't read Foundation til much later in life. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but unlike his other stories, it was from an academic perspective.

Reading Foundation you can see were different authors got their motivation, and you can see the "foundation" of modern sci-fi.

Along side that, Asimov has always been great at Man vs Nature (or Man vs Cold, Unfeeling Logic), and less about dynamic, three dimensional characters and internal turmoil.

If you are not into this style, that is about personal preference, not about quality of work.

PS OP saying essentially, "I'm a writer and therefore get to decide what is and is not good" is the most pretentious thing I have heard in a while.

I slogged through OP's post. It just dragged on, being overly redundent without actually adding insite past "I didn't get it."