In 1439, Johann Gutenberg developed a printing press with movable type, and his invention transformed the world. Most people were illiterate, but with this new access to printed books, more and more people learned to read and write. Science flourished. People read the Bible on their own. Ideas were exchanged.
Well, there's a new Gutenberg in town, Project Gutenberg. It's a source for free electronic books in the public domain, and it was founded by Michael Hart in order to create and encourage the sharing of ebooks. At www.gutenberg.org, you'll find thousands of books in text and audio form, music like Beethoven's string quartets, and audio sounds. Here is Thomas Edison recording Mary Had A Little Lamb on his own invention. And here is Theodore Roosevelt believing in the rights of the people to rule themselves.
Project Gutenberg keeps a list of the top 100 downloads. Here are the top 10 downloaded titles in the last 30 days:
1. The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) by J. Arthur Thomson (35465)
2. Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Miles and Thomson (21763)
3. Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by Paul Lacroix (19919)
4. History of the United States by Charles A. Beard and Mary Ritter Beard (15146)
5. Our Day by William Ambrose Spicer (14209)
6. Searchlights on Health by B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols (13894)
7. The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum (12796)
8. The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English by Ray Vaughn Pierce (10792)
9. A Text-Book of the History of Painting by John Charles Van Dyke (9806)
10. Illustrated History of Furniture by Frederick Litchfield (9441)
Who are all these people downloading The Outline of Science from 1922? I can't imagine, but Pride and Prejudice was no. 11, Beowolf clocked in at no. 15, and A Tale of Two Cities was 19th on the list. Books in all kinds of categories are here, whatever some volunteer felt was important enough to include. The website spells out the guidelines for adding your own favorite public domain book or piece of music. It reminds me of Farenheit 451 when people memorized one classic book and recited it to everyone else so it wouldn't be forgotten. You choose your favorite book and represent it, only now you can scan it in and share it with the world for free without having to recite a single word.
The Project is run exclusively by volunteers who send cash or type or scan books and music and put it in the proper viewable format. You can sign up to proofread a page a day, if that's all you can do. On any given day, there might be as many as 400 volunteers proofreading. Project Gutenberg probably won't transform the world in the same way as the invention of the printing press, but it's got the name intent, to get people reading and learning and discovering the world for themselves without being told what's what by someone else. It just makes you want to read a book, doesn't it? I'll skip Amusements in Mathematics (no. 28), but I just might download The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (no. 69). I have lost my copy.
Well, there's a new Gutenberg in town, Project Gutenberg. It's a source for free electronic books in the public domain, and it was founded by Michael Hart in order to create and encourage the sharing of ebooks. At www.gutenberg.org, you'll find thousands of books in text and audio form, music like Beethoven's string quartets, and audio sounds. Here is Thomas Edison recording Mary Had A Little Lamb on his own invention. And here is Theodore Roosevelt believing in the rights of the people to rule themselves.
Project Gutenberg keeps a list of the top 100 downloads. Here are the top 10 downloaded titles in the last 30 days:
1. The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) by J. Arthur Thomson (35465)
2. Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Miles and Thomson (21763)
3. Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by Paul Lacroix (19919)
4. History of the United States by Charles A. Beard and Mary Ritter Beard (15146)
5. Our Day by William Ambrose Spicer (14209)
6. Searchlights on Health by B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols (13894)
7. The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum (12796)
8. The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English by Ray Vaughn Pierce (10792)
9. A Text-Book of the History of Painting by John Charles Van Dyke (9806)
10. Illustrated History of Furniture by Frederick Litchfield (9441)
Who are all these people downloading The Outline of Science from 1922? I can't imagine, but Pride and Prejudice was no. 11, Beowolf clocked in at no. 15, and A Tale of Two Cities was 19th on the list. Books in all kinds of categories are here, whatever some volunteer felt was important enough to include. The website spells out the guidelines for adding your own favorite public domain book or piece of music. It reminds me of Farenheit 451 when people memorized one classic book and recited it to everyone else so it wouldn't be forgotten. You choose your favorite book and represent it, only now you can scan it in and share it with the world for free without having to recite a single word.
The Project is run exclusively by volunteers who send cash or type or scan books and music and put it in the proper viewable format. You can sign up to proofread a page a day, if that's all you can do. On any given day, there might be as many as 400 volunteers proofreading. Project Gutenberg probably won't transform the world in the same way as the invention of the printing press, but it's got the name intent, to get people reading and learning and discovering the world for themselves without being told what's what by someone else. It just makes you want to read a book, doesn't it? I'll skip Amusements in Mathematics (no. 28), but I just might download The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (no. 69). I have lost my copy.
Comments
And what a strange top ten. I wonder what it says about the modern American?