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Ask HN: Thoughts on buying a real set of Encyclopædia Britannica

3 points by matthewfelgate ↗ HN
I'm thinking of getting a second hand copy of the Encyclopædia Britannica (15th edition) to read in order to improve my broad knowledge.

Does this make sense in 2023?

6 comments

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TheNewAndy
I know one person who did something like this, and I don't think they ever actually followed through on doing the reading part. I don't think encyclopedias are even supposed to be read that way - so based on the sample size of 1, then I would say don't do it.
jaclaz
JFYI, the (particular) way the Britannica is (was) organized allows for reading it like a book.

There is a small "Micropaedia" where you look for a synthetic definition of something, that has references to one or more pages on the "Macropaedia" where the whatever you are looking for is talked about, but these are themed articles, they can be read as you would read an article on a newspaper or a chapter of a book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microp%C3%A6dia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macropaedia

jaclaz
If you have the space, yes, it makes sense (IMHO).

There is something in reading from a real book that (maybe it is just me) it is non-reproducible with online reading or e-books.

brudgers
Over the years, I have had two complete sets. Both were decades out of date.

Relocating claimed both of them. I gave one to my sister. The second to a neighbor.

The second one was from 1957. It had the fitted bookcase...did you know there were dedicated bookcases? Neither did I until I saw one.

No room in the bookcase for yearbooks, but the bookcase had a fitted slot for the Atlas. Yes, there are matching atlases.

Now in fairness it's been almost twenty years since I gave away the bookcase set to the neighbor. I didn't haven't replaced it because I am less interested in ancient and medieval western history. There's nothing else like an old set of Britannica for that.

So I say go for it. If nothing else, it will be a conversation starter. At best, you'll find yourself sitting on the floor with a pile of books. In the worst case, you're just renting them until you pass them on.

Good luck.

solardev
Why don't you spend a few hours in the library doing this first to see if you as actually like it? Seems like an impulse buy that you might regret otherwise..?
ahazred8ta
> Does this make sense?

Yes. Speaking as a person who has read the entire contents of a general encyclopedia, a science encyclopedia, and the 5 inch thick Webster's 3rd unabridged dictionary, definitely go for it. The mind, once stretched by new ideas, never returns to its original dimensions. - Emerson “Dimidium scientiae cui scit ubi sit scientia,” (Half of all knowledge is just knowing where to find knowledge)