Asimov had a Very Good Brain and could make a certain type of person (or, many types of people) very interested in his ideas/plots in an intellectual way.

If that is not you, that's fine, but it's core to much of Sci-fi and that's why he has written so many classics, including science popularization. He's far better as a science popularizer than Sagen or anyone else I can think of, as far as written word goes, in my book.