Apparently, it comes from an obsession with Isaac Asimov:
Newt Gingrich assumes the mantel of the history professor when it suits the occasion. Other times he plays down his academic background. When in professor mode he likes to recommend books. None carry more weight in understanding his political and personal drive and his strategy to transform America more than the science fiction of Isaac Asimov. The greatest influence on Newt Gingrich, the conservative Republican, was the liberal atheist Isaac Asimov. Many in Newt’s generation, including me, read that stuff with great gusto and fascination. It was marvelous entertainment. Newt saw not just entertainment but a master plan using the Foundation trilogy as his political handbook, a guide to how one man creates a new force for civilized life. Two thousand years ago Cicero observed that to be ignorant of history was to remain always a child. To which we might add a Gingrich corollary: to confuse science fiction with reality is to remain always a child.
The Dish 