By means of psychohistory, Seldon has discovered the declining nature of the Empire, angering the aristocratic members of the Committee of Public Safety, the "de facto" rulers of the Empire. The Committee considers Seldon's views and statements treasonous, and he is arrested along with young mathematician Gaal Dornick, who has arrived on Trantor to meet Seldon. Seldon is tried by the Committee and defends his beliefs, explaining his theories and predictions, including his belief that the Empire will collapse in 300 years and enter a 30,000-year dark age. He informs the Committee that an alternative to this future is attainable, and explains to them that creating a compendium of all human knowledge, the "Encyclopedia Galactica", would not avert the inevitable fall of the Empire but would reduce the dark age to one millennium.