Encyclopaedia Britannica to end print edition

After 244 years, Encyclopaedia Britannica is shelving its venerable printed edition in favor of its Web-based version, completing a digital transition and marking the end of one of longest chapters in publishing history. 

"We just decided that it was better for the brand to focus on what really the future is all about," said Jorge Cauz, 50, president of the Chicago-bsased company  since 2004. "Our database is very large now, much larger than can fit in the printed edition. Our print set version is an abridged version of what we have online."  

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... 3190.story

That was inevitable.

I have several complete sets from the earlier part of the last century.

There are a lot of things in there that are not in current editions.

I have several complete sets from the earlier part of the last century.

There are a lot of things in there that are not in current editions.

Mostly involving energetic chemical compounds, I take it.

Actually in the early editions, most involve mechanical ways to do things.

Actually in the early editions, most involve mechanical ways to do things.

Mom still has the 1956 edition World Book Encyclopedia that I grew up with. After more than 50 years, it is still useful as a reference.

A number of mine date 1911 to 1930 or so.

They have a lot of things that are different, and many things are treated in more detail because they were then more current.

Valuable reference works!

The 1911 edition has the most complete treatment of the most stuff of all their editions. The whole thing can be downloaded from the web, but the files are huge. I have the complete set of the 9th edition, from about 1890. Reading the articles on Astronomy and the other sciences, they knew many things then that most people now would think were discovered much more recently.

I envy you the 9th ed.!

What's really lost is the usefulness of the book-length entries, which are some of the gems of Britannica. "Looking things up" is fine, but reading a 200-page masterpiece of scholarship over a period of weeks (with half a dozen other volumes, including the Propaedia, lying open and bristling with bookmarks nearby) is just not going to happen through a web browser.

We grew up in the 1960s with the Encyclopedia Americana, and the 'rents also subscribed to the annual yearbooks. Then, in the cellar, we found a set from the 20s or 30s that had been left by the home's previous owner. Very cool stuff.

I envy you the 9th ed.!

You can download the entire 9th online, too. Like Physicist said, it's not the same as a hardbound copy, but better than nothing. The scanned online versions are difficult to read, because these books used a tiny typeface, and the scan resolution is just barely adequate. There are some OCRed versions available, easier to read but full of scanning errors.

Speaking of Britannica, has anyone here ever read "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World" by A.J. Jacobs? He may be first cousin to Obama pal Cass Sunstein, but the book is highly entertaining. So, by the way, are his other books.

Study hall for me was "read the encyclopedia" time.

Speaking of Britannica, has anyone here ever read "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World" by A.J. Jacobs? He may be first cousin to Obama pal Cass Sunstein, but the book is highly entertaining. So, by the way, are his other books.

I did. Good fun, and a quick read.

My parents have the 8th (1859), 11th (1911), and either the 12th or 13th (one of editions from the 1920s). They bought all three at auctions (general auctions, not book auctions), during the 70s and 80s for less than $20 total.

I actually used the 11th as a source in a high school paper or two.

I read through my high school's copy of Encyclopedia Britannica; I had plenty of time because I had volunteered to work there after school. These ads were classics among my particular members of Generation-X. They were narrated by none other than Stan Freberg and star his son Donovan. Us Canadian kids were fond of pointing out Donovan's resemblance to Moe Berg, lead singer and songwriter of the great Canadian alternative rock band The Pursuit of Happiness, and were disappointed Beavis and Butthead didn't do the same when they appeared on their show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZ7RTmby-Y&feature=related

...Canadian kids were fond of pointing out Donovan's resemblance to Moe Berg, lead singer and songwriter of the great Canadian alternative rock band The Pursuit of Happiness, ...

That did not go unnoticed in my little circle of friends. We may have been the only kids in the South who knew who TPOH were. Very good band.

Speaking of Britannica, has anyone here ever read "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World" by A.J. Jacobs? He may be first cousin to Obama pal Cass Sunstein, but the book is highly entertaining. So, by the way, are his other books.

The paragon is much more useful than the polymath, even though a little bit of the latter never hurt the former. My own opinion.

I read the book by the guy who read the OED. I don't have enough stamina for the Britannica.

I do have a set of the original Book of Knowledge, which was originally published as the Children's Britannica and based on the 1911 edition. At least edited at the same time. I read through it as a teenager, and it was challenging. From it I first learned that radioactive decay is a major source of the earth's internal heat.