Online books - free e-books

[Yorkie]

I guess that many will know of the Gutenburg project for free online e-books, but another source that might be of interest is the 'Online Books Page' - a website that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. You can browse the titles under partcular topic headings, or search under author or book title. It also aims to encourage the development of such online books, for the benefit and edification of all. Major parts of the site include:

• An index of over one million online books freely readable on the Internet
• Pointers to significant directories and archives of online texts
• Special exhibits of particularly interesting classes of online books
• Information on how readers can help support the growth of online books

Who's Responsible, and Who Supports It?

The Online Books Page was founded and is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom, a digital library planner/researcher at Pennsylvania Uni, who's solely responsible for the content of the site.

The site is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, who provide the server, disk space, and network bandwidth for the site. They also employ the editor, and support him in his various digital library activities (of which this is but one). The online books listed have been authoured, placed online, and hosted, by a wide variety of individuals and groups throughout the world.

Where It Started:

The Online Books Page originally was founded in 1993 by the current editor, while he was a student at Carnegie Mellon University. He maintained it there until summer 1999, with Web space and computing resources provided by the School of Computer Science. In 1999, it moved to its present location at Penn.

What Gets Listed:

The index of individual titles includes books and definitive collections that meet these criteria, and major serial archives that meet these criteria. The index has two parts: a "curated collection" of books that we've personally reviewed and catalogued, and "extended shelves" of books where cataloguing data has been automatically imported and adapted from outside organizations. Books in the curated collection are given preference in many search and browse results, and they also have information pages on this site with stable URLs.

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/

An example of the sort of thing that can be viewed or dowloaded is Popular Mechanics magazine; 1900 – 2000:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Wd4DAAAAMBAJ&redir_esc=y

Another interesting book is 'The Age of Invention' - a Project Gutenberg EBook by Holland Thompson.

To quote the terms of use:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: The Age of Invention
A Chronicle of Mechanical Conquest, Book, 37 in The
Chronicles of America Series

COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK,

May 10, 1921.

CONTENTS

I. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND HIS TIMES
II. ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON GIN
III. STEAM IN CAPTIVITY
IV. SPINDLE, LOOM, AND NEEDLE IN NEW ENGLAND
V. THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
VI. AGENTS OF COMMUNICATION
VII. THE STORY OF RUBBER
VIII. PIONEERS OF THE MACHINE SHOP
IX. THE FATHERS OF ELECTRICITY
X. THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2900/2900.txt

True, the project is American, but nonetheless, much of the stuff will have broad appeal to anyone interested in 20th Century history in several spheres from law to engineering.

Hope it's of interest to someone on the forum.

[Geaney]

Thanks David, what a great source or vintage reading. When I was a kid of around nine or ten, one of our aunts who had emigrated to the US would come and visit and bring copies of Popular Mechanics. My brothers and I would spend days devouring them with great enthusiasm. I just browsed some of them from the late fifties and early sixties - wonderful (nostalgic) stuff!

Cheers, John

[Yorkie]

Glad you enjoyed the trip down 'memory lane' John!

[Aerodyne]

Thanks for this info, David. I've added it to favourites. Too much to read, too little time - better that way than the other!
Tony

[Yorkie]

Thanks for this info, David. I've added it to favourites. Too much to read, too little time - better that way than the other!
Tony

Too true!

I think we've both reached an age at which - even if we keep our faculties - we've got more books than we'll ever read, more CD's than we'll ever play, and more gadgets than we'll ever master before they, and we, become hopelessly obsolete! One thing is certain - we'll never be at a loose end!

Wandering right off topic, I think it was Cowbit today Tony - did you get there, and if so, did you excersie enough willpower to come away empty-handed, or did nostalgia triumph over commonsense, and cause you to take home af 'basket case' or two!?

[Retired]

Hi,

Thank's David; I too have now bookmarked this excellent site and will have time in winter to explore it's contents.

I have three copies of Popular Mechanics dating back to 1949; I must have read these dozens of times over the many years I've owned them and I didn't realize Popular Mechanics was still available?

http://www.popularmechanics.com/

Kind regards, Col.

   

[Aerodyne]

Yes David, I got to Cowbit - just (long story). No, I bought nothing except a cup of tea! Enjoyed the half-day there though. The 'basket case' you refer to is me, I suspect!
Tony