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I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

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Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#91

Post by didgetmaster »

I inherited the set of WB Encyclopedias my parents bought for our family when I was a kid. We could not sell them in the yard sale and the library didn't want them as a donation.

I decided to keep them as a 'decoration' for my new office. There is some nostalgia for me and I will probably crack one open now and then.

I think it is naïve to believe that just because the Internet is full of disinformation that alters regularly at the speed of light; that a print version will protect you from that. While the older versions are less likely to be infiltrated; the biases have existed long enough that plenty of propaganda has made it into print.

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#92

Post by cubefox »

I probably would have appreciated such an encyclopedia as a kid. I actually got a "computer encyclopedia" (a single heavy book with way over a thousand pages) as a birthday present once, and I simply read through it from start to finish, brute force style, skipping only the most boring articles. My attention span was almost unlimited back then.

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#93

Post by [deleted] »

bigbillheck wrote: post #76
jasode wrote: post #25

>Later, I introduced the encyclopedia to my kids. They had never used a print encyclopedia, and they looked at me like I was an alien, almost as if I were speaking a different language (such a trite expression, but man, is it accurate). I had hoped they could use the encyclopedia as an old-fashioned reference, but so far, they have completely and utterly rejected it, not even expressing interest or opening it once. T…

> The kids' reaction makes perfect sense to me and I grew up with an encyclopedia set in the house. Same, and same, and I don't know why the author ever expected anything else. You can't give them a hoop&stick and then complain when they'd rather play with, I don't know, I'm old and childless, some modern toy.

[deleted]

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#94

Post by mayormcmatt »

My parents bought a set of World Book when my sister and I were in elementary school. It might be the most important purchase they ever made for our education, as it not only helped with our information gathering for reports and whatnot, but was entertainment for us when bored. We loved just hopping into a random page and reading about whatever that thing was. It made me the info-junkie I am today, I think.

This has got me thinking about buying a set for my friends with kids (I'll check with them first and see if they have the shelf real estate).

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#95

Post by cxr »

bigbillheck wrote: post #76
jasode wrote: post #25

>Later, I introduced the encyclopedia to my kids. They had never used a print encyclopedia, and they looked at me like I was an alien, almost as if I were speaking a different language (such a trite expression, but man, is it accurate). I had hoped they could use the encyclopedia as an old-fashioned reference, but so far, they have completely and utterly rejected it, not even expressing interest or opening it once. T…

> The kids' reaction makes perfect sense to me and I grew up with an encyclopedia set in the house. Same, and same, and I don't know why the author ever expected anything else. You can't give them a hoop&stick and then complain when they'd rather play with, I don't know, I'm old and childless, some modern toy.

> I'm [...] childless

So it wouldn't be too presumptuous to treat the chances as being very high that you've never given a child the gift of a very large cardboard box.

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#96

Post by jamesash »

mayormcmatt wrote: post #94

My parents bought a set of World Book when my sister and I were in elementary school. It might be the most important purchase they ever made for our education, as it not only helped with our information gathering for reports and whatnot, but was entertainment for us when bored. We loved just hopping into a random page and reading about whatever that thing was. It made me the info-junkie I am today, I think. This has…

Bought a World Book set at last year's Berkshire Hathaway meeting, for something like $650 including shipping. Awesome deal.

My kids (10, 8) earn "check marks" for each 20 minute chunk of time they spend reading it, which they can trade in for various goodies. Usually before they go to sleep

Edit: Also, they have used it for school projects. 2nd grader had projects on Poland, Neil Armstrong, and pygmy rattlesnakes this year. Very handy as an introduction to a wide variety of topics.

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#97

Post by pizzafeelsright »

F00Fbug wrote: post #42

My parents had Encyclopedia Britannica and I'm convinced that was a huge benefit to me that I'm still realizing today. I was born in 1965 and can remember even in elementary school any time I had a question my parents couldn't answer we'd look it up in the EB. Pretty soon I was habituated to just go there on my own and look up anything. When bored I'd pull out a random volume and just flip through it looking for anyt…

Younger but very similar. Read A to S. I started T and went to college.

I think it cost about $2.5k.

What's odd is my parents never read it as they were illiterate.

I found most of the topics were very short. Going in depth was limited to the library books. Picking six books only to find them referencing themselves was annoying. Six books with 130% total page content between them.

I did learn how to read, skim, absorb content. I also discovered most people simply repeat information instead of using or validating.

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#98

Post by mayormcmatt »

cubefox wrote: post #92

I probably would have appreciated such an encyclopedia as a kid. I actually got a "computer encyclopedia" (a single heavy book with way over a thousand pages) as a birthday present once, and I simply read through it from start to finish, brute force style, skipping only the most boring articles. My attention span was almost unlimited back then.

When MS Encarta came out in 1993 our household got it, too. I did the same thing on our 486 beige box: just hit the arrow button on articles, reading through as many as I could.

With my Reddit habit probably soon coming to an end, it might be a good time to readjust my attention span, haha.

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#99

Post by mayormcmatt »

jamesash wrote: post #96
mayormcmatt wrote: post #94

My parents bought a set of World Book when my sister and I were in elementary school. It might be the most important purchase they ever made for our education, as it not only helped with our information gathering for reports and whatnot, but was entertainment for us when bored. We loved just hopping into a random page and reading about whatever that thing was. It made me the info-junkie I am today, I think. This has…

Bought a World Book set at last year's Berkshire Hathaway meeting, for something like $650 including shipping. Awesome deal. My kids (10, 8) earn "check marks" for each 20 minute chunk of time they spend reading it, which they can trade in for various goodies. Usually before they go to sleep Edit: Also, they have used it for school projects. 2nd grader had projects on Poland, Neil Armstrong, and pygmy rattlesnakes th…

Whoa, that's really affordable! Thanks for the tip.

Re: I bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print

#100

Post by actionfromafar »

time0ut wrote: post #77
jasode wrote: post #25

>Later, I introduced the encyclopedia to my kids. They had never used a print encyclopedia, and they looked at me like I was an alien, almost as if I were speaking a different language (such a trite expression, but man, is it accurate). I had hoped they could use the encyclopedia as an old-fashioned reference, but so far, they have completely and utterly rejected it, not even expressing interest or opening it once. T…

This takes me back. We had most of a set when I was a kid. I remember many times reading science articles over and over while eating cereal at the kitchen table. I guess not a lot has changed except I read wikipedia (or, let’s be honest, HN) instead. My oldest child is a voracious reader, but she mostly reads fiction/fantasy. I got her a Neil deGrasse Tyson book that she liked. This article reminds me that I need to…

I read all the scientific articles over-and-over and dipped into the other articles over time. Eventually I think I read much more than half of the full set. Not a bad thing. If we'd had smartphones back then I'm not sure I'd learnt anything useful.
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