History and Philosophy

Michael Hart founded Project Gutenberg and invented eBooks in 1971. His idea was simple: use computers to make literature available to as many people as possible.

That idea continues today through a growing library of free eBooks and the volunteers who help create and share them.

What Michael envisioned in 1971 was eBooks for reading enjoyment. This was the innovation. His focus was not on the mechanics of presentation or analysis, nor was it on outcomes like literary analysis or hermeneutics. The eBook as Michael envisioned it would have a similar purpose to the printed book: enjoyable to read, and a source of enlightenment, education, and entertainment. It would all be free, for unlimited reuse and without limitation of purpose.

For the two decades from 1971-1991, Hart evangelized the idea of eBooks, and worked on the first 100 or so titles. These included historical documents - famously starting with the US Declaration of Independence. Also reference works, literary works, a few donated contemporary works, mathematical constants, and more. Subsequent years saw issuance of short videos and longer movies, graphical collections, sheet music, audio files, and eBooks in dozens of languages and formats.

Like the movable type printing press, the modern digital computer was a machine usable for many different purposes: all types of content, suitable for a wide range of interests. This inspired the vision and genius of Michael Hart.

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