A Challenge
Okay, so I'm studying for my midterm examination in my Science and Religion course, as I mentioned earlier. It's almost 15:20 PST, so starting at that point, I'm going to challenge myself to find E-Texts of the following books on the Internet and time myself. My hope is that I take twenty minutes or less.
The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius Found
Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton Found?
Summa Theologica by Saint Thomas Aquinas Found
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin Found
De Revolutionibus by Nicolas Copernicus Found
Starting... Now.
Okay, it took me about thirteen minutes to find them all. I absolutely love that you can find any classic on the Internet. How about we expand the search? How about we go for Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Great Expectations, The Gospel of Thomas, and The Federalist Papers?
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Found
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DefoeFound
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Found
The Gospel of Thomas Found
The Federalist Papers Found
Starting... Now.
That took me seven minutes. Seven minutes! All I used was Google and a 56k modem connection on my beat-up old HP Laptop. Amazing and outstanding. Once it would have cost an arm and a leg, hours of searching through libraries and book shops, to have all of these books. Particular books, like Boethius and "Thomas" (not a real gospel, folks), took hours or days to copy on papyrus or parchment. It's truly an amazing age we live in, folks.
Try it yourself. Pick five books, and not the ones listed above, and see how long it takes you to find them on the Internet. It'll have to be something that's at least a century old, although I might be able to find... Hmmm...
Trying one more:
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Bingo
It's an early twentieth century publication, so you might be able to find something as late as about 1930. I've just tried to find Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, and all I've found is notes. I think that anything still covered by a copyright won't be available unless you're really mercenary about it.
Anyway. Give it a try, and let me know how you do.
Starting... Now.
Okay, it took me about thirteen minutes to find them all. I absolutely love that you can find any classic on the Internet. How about we expand the search? How about we go for Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Great Expectations, The Gospel of Thomas, and The Federalist Papers?
Starting... Now.
That took me seven minutes. Seven minutes! All I used was Google and a 56k modem connection on my beat-up old HP Laptop. Amazing and outstanding. Once it would have cost an arm and a leg, hours of searching through libraries and book shops, to have all of these books. Particular books, like Boethius and "Thomas" (not a real gospel, folks), took hours or days to copy on papyrus or parchment. It's truly an amazing age we live in, folks.
Try it yourself. Pick five books, and not the ones listed above, and see how long it takes you to find them on the Internet. It'll have to be something that's at least a century old, although I might be able to find... Hmmm...
Trying one more:
It's an early twentieth century publication, so you might be able to find something as late as about 1930. I've just tried to find Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, and all I've found is notes. I think that anything still covered by a copyright won't be available unless you're really mercenary about it.
Anyway. Give it a try, and let me know how you do.
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