Isaac Asimov was a noted 20th century science fiction author on Earth. During the mid-1950s, Asimovs' stories were published by a magazine called Galaxy Magazine. (DS9: "Far Beyond the Stars")
Data's positronic brain was based on Asimov's dream of such a device one day being constructed. (TNG: "Datalore")
Background
Isaac Asimov was a well-respected voice within the scientific community and was an outspoken supporter of cybernetics and creator of the "Three Laws of Robotics," intended to protect humans from androids, or 'robots' as they were called then. As stated in "Datalore," he did in fact coin the term "positronic brain". He was also a good friend of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and scientific advisor for Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Captain Amasov was named for him.