Witness History The ‘father of e-books’
13 snips
Nov 6, 2025 In this fascinating discussion, Greg Newby, longtime director of Project Gutenberg, recalls the inception of the digital reading era sparked by his friend Michael Hart, the 'father of e-books'. They delve into how Hart's bike ride and vision in 1971 led to creating the first e-book—the Declaration of Independence. Newby shares insights on the project's growth, reaching 70,000 free texts, and Hart's belief in a digital revolution that would transform how we access literature. Their passion for making reading widely available shines through.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Vision Of Portable Libraries
- Michael Hart envisioned carrying vast libraries on small devices and foresaw laptops and the internet's role in reading.
- His early vision connected computing power to universal access to literature decades ahead of mainstream adoption.
How The First E‑Book Was Born
- On 4 July 1971 Michael Hart typed the US Declaration of Independence into a university mainframe and emailed it to around 100 people.
- That late-night bike-run discovery became the first e-book and sparked Project Gutenberg.
Meeting That Built Project Gutenberg Team
- Greg Newby discovered an emailed Alice in Wonderland in the mid-1980s and later met Michael after spotting him in a newspaper in 1991.
- They became friends, volunteers, and Newby became Project Gutenberg's director in 2000.
