Earlier (much earlier) when I was young and there was no such thing as Google and an internet with its instant answers to anything imaginable, knowledge, understanding and even trivia was sought and gained in the old fashioned way - one found a book and read about it. That was the easy part once you had found the actual book or reference material that you were looking for. The occasional interesting bit came along via a magazine or TV story which would prove to be interesting but these had to be happened upon and in those days there was no such thing as "on-demand" as we understand it today. Reference works and even encyclopedias were dated and sometimes limited in scope of what they could provide as far as real interesting type knowledge. The emphasis being that reading the encyclopedia was as about as exciting as reading the dictionary ( except for the great pictures - see A for airplanes ) and as a knowledge hungry, wanting to know-it-all 10 year old this resource just wasn't cutting it. Such was the way it was until in 1975 along came the Peoples Almanac written and compiled by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace. My parents had a copy of this treasure which I poured over and savored every list, top 10, who's who, sports greatest, academy award history, worst dictators, wonders of the world, highest mountains, hottest deserts and most gruesome deaths. It was a thinking persons refined depository of knowledge and the starting point of many, many streams of thought that a young mind could contemplate. I would read it for hours on end; just open it at random and start reading on any one of hundreds of subjects. It was a go-to reference for many questions that I may have had and the source for several papers written throughout school (pleading the 5th on plagiarism...). I was and still am so thankful for this diverse and authoritative book which filled in so many knowledge gaps for me back then.
I recently found the old tattered and worn copy of the Peoples Almanac on a dusty shelf in the basement and gladly brought it upstairs to peruse again its wonders and facts here some 40 years later. It always delivers and never fails to immediately grab my attention. It now has a prominent spot among my other books as my original go-to ready source of knowledge.
These days we are so accustomed to instant answers to just about anything our minds can wonder about. It has had a transformative effect upon our culture making us more and more demanding while not necessarily collectively smarter for the knowing. I still love the feel and smell of an old book such as this; taking my time to read what the page has to say sans pop up ads and browser lag. Its inherent and latent value open before you transcends time and rests in your hand as a talisman to take you off to other continents, people, cultures and achievements. All just enough for my mind to hold, then as now.
I recently found the old tattered and worn copy of the Peoples Almanac on a dusty shelf in the basement and gladly brought it upstairs to peruse again its wonders and facts here some 40 years later. It always delivers and never fails to immediately grab my attention. It now has a prominent spot among my other books as my original go-to ready source of knowledge.
These days we are so accustomed to instant answers to just about anything our minds can wonder about. It has had a transformative effect upon our culture making us more and more demanding while not necessarily collectively smarter for the knowing. I still love the feel and smell of an old book such as this; taking my time to read what the page has to say sans pop up ads and browser lag. Its inherent and latent value open before you transcends time and rests in your hand as a talisman to take you off to other continents, people, cultures and achievements. All just enough for my mind to hold, then as now.
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Many encyclopedia salespeople are out of work. Boxes of old encyclopedias can be found at rummage sales, second hand stores, and auction sales. I was going through my desk the other day and found my first dictionary, which I bought in 3rd grade for a price of $1.25. I considered throwing it away, but it still had my 3rd grade handwriting in it. This dictionary belongs to [my name] For the sake of nostalgia, I decided to keep it for awhile. I even knew some families who kept the entire set of encyclopedias in their bathroom library. Happy you kept that copy of The People's Almanac.
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