Almost every facet of our modern-day existence can be traced to an invention of Tesla’s.  Whenever you turn on a light or listen to the radio you pay homage to Tesla’s genius.  The world is run on his alternating current electrical distribution, we detect submarines with his radar, and we diagnose illnesses with his x-ray.  I spent this entire weekend working on a project for this year’s National History Day competition.  The theme was “The Individual in History” and I chose to make a website on Tesla.  Check out the work in progress here.  Tell me what you think!

Learn more about the “Wizard”:

Check out this free e-book by Tesla on Gutenberg!

I recently attended a Special Eagle Court of Honor Ceremony where we recognized our troop’s 201st and 202nd Eagle Scouts.  Aside from being a great event, the program listed some famous Eagle Scouts and I was intrigued to discover that Mike Rowe, Host of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” show, is an Eagle Scout.  While researching the validity of the program’s listing of Eagle Scouts (I did find one mistake; Bill Gates is not an Eagle but his father was), I not only confirmed that Mike Rowe is indeed an Eagle, but I also found that he provides some interesting advice and perspective about Eagle Scouts.  Needless to say, I found it illuminating and it really motivated me to get off my butt and get serious about making it happen.  His comments can be found on his web site here.

As Mike so bluntly puts it, “NOT getting your Eagle will be one of the easiest things you’ve ever done.”

Many of the books on the required reading lists for high schools and colleges are classics.  Huck Finn, Oliver Twist, etc.  These are also some of the books that you should be familiar with and able to talk about in a conversation.  It expands your knowledge and helps you understand others.  Now, if these books are classics that everyone should read, why do you have to walk into a bookstore and pay $10 or go to the nearest library every time you want to read one?  I don’t know.  What I do know is quite simple.  Most of these books were either written and published before modern copyrighting or published under a long-expired copyright.  This means that they are technically free for distribution to the public (public domain).  Anyone can read them, use them, and cite them without any problems.  Most people just don’t know that.  They end up paying $15 for a book that should be free.

When I learned this, I set out to find the best place to get free public domain books.  The answer: Project Gutenberg.  Project Gutenberg has been collecting books from the public domain for years and their database is one of the best.  They have almost every book in the public domain in a variety of formats.  I usually download and save the .txt file and use and program like eTextReader to read it in a book format.  It’s the easiest way and it has changed the way I read and learn.

For more information on public domain books, visit http://thebookrook.com/public-domain-books/18-books-in-the-public-domain

The purpose of this blog is to provide a means of documenting further commentary about books and other topics I find interesting.  While I am interested in reading everyone’s comments,  I also request your assistance in upholding standards that will encourage rather than discourage participation:

• Tell me what you think.  Every post is open for comments and I am interested in your thoughts and ideas.
• Please keep the discussion clean.  Anything inappropriate will be deleted.
• No personal attacks or flaming!  It’s perfectly okay to disagree with someone but please do it in a respectful and courteous manner – again, my aim is to promote further discussion and participation.

Thank you, Humer