
Technology Bookshelf - stojano
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Technology_(Bookshelf)
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minipci1321
Sorry for a long citation (this is from "Practical Mechanics for Boys"),
couldn't help myself:

"The American method of teaching the mechanical arts has some disadvantages,
as compared with the apprentice system followed in England, and very largely
on the continent.

It is too often the case that here a boy or a young man begins work in a
machine shop, not for the avowed purpose of learning the trade, but simply as
a helper, with no other object in view than to get his weekly wages.

Abroad, the plan is one which, for various reasons, could not be tolerated
here. There he is bound for a certain term of years, and with the prime object
of teaching him to become an artisan. More often than otherwise he pays for
this privilege, and he knows it is incumbent on him "to make good" right from
the start.

He labors under the disadvantage, however, that he has a certain tenure, and
in that course he is not pushed forward from one step to the next on account
of any merit of his own. His advancement is fixed by the time he has put in at
eachp. 2 part of the work, and thus no note is taken of his individuality.

Here the boy rises step after step by virtue of his own qualifications, and we
recognize that one boy has the capacity to learn faster than another. If he
can learn in one year what it requires three in another to acquire, in order
to do it as perfectly, it is an injury to the apt workman to be held back and
deterred from making his way upwardly.

It may be urged that the apprentice system instills thoroughness. This may be
true; but it also does another thing: It makes the man a mere machine. The
true workman is a thinker. He is ever on the alert to find easier, quicker and
more efficient means for doing certain work."

~~~
PoachedSausage
I'm not sure if the message has become garbled, but I can't seem to get the
conclusion there. That the American system instills more innovative thinking
at the expense of thoroughness?

The original English/European Guild/Apprentice system roughly went Apprentice
-> Journeyman -> Master. An Apprentice would learn from a Master and become
competent in basic techniques, no innovation was expected at that stage. A
Journeyman would travel around and work for different Masters, learning more
and different techniques and transferring them between Masters. Finally a
Journeyman would produce a "Masterpiece" to become a Master and setup shop
somewhere. Innovation was really only expected by Journeymen and Masters.

~~~
theoh
The idea of "making good" right from the start is the thoroughness part.
Whatever task the apprentice is set, they think of it as part of their career
path and do it absolutely to the best of their ability. That's the idea,
anyway. It's like the situation with sushi chefs: they spend years doing
little more than washing rice, but it supposedly instills an attitude that
even the most trivial task is beautiful and worthy of care -- because they
have had time to realise that while focusing on it.

That's just my interpretation. The experience I've had in various semi-
vocational educational contexts in the UK is that part of the message is that
preparatory/ancillary tasks are just as important as the skillful work.
Focusing on them is arguably the only way to acquire the attitude needed to do
the skilled work.

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claudiulodro
Love it! I thought this would be another collection of books about programming
languages and data structures and stuff. I was very pleasantly surprised!

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chasil
There is a much larger and more relevant collection at
[http://archive.org](http://archive.org)

My favorites:

[https://archive.org/details/pdfy-
MgN0H1joIoDVoIC7](https://archive.org/details/pdfy-MgN0H1joIoDVoIC7)

[https://archive.org/details/CProgrammingLanguage2ndEditionBy...](https://archive.org/details/CProgrammingLanguage2ndEditionByBrianW.KernighanDennisM.Ritchie)

[https://archive.org/details/cprogramminglang00kern](https://archive.org/details/cprogramminglang00kern)

~~~
aklemm
You might be missing the point.

~~~
chasil
Well, if you really want mechanical engineering texts, here's 11,803 results:

[https://archive.org/search.php?query=mechanical%20engineerin...](https://archive.org/search.php?query=mechanical%20engineering)

The Gutenberg collection is quite small.

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geraldbauer
Not on the same level - but may I highlight the Fun Press Bookshelf [1] (for
Free Functional Programmings Book) in TXT and the Yuki & Moto Bookshelf [2]
(for Free Ruby & Friends Programming Books) in TXT (using the Manuscripts
format) [3]. [1]: [http://funpress.github.io](http://funpress.github.io) [2]:
[http://yukimotopress.github.io](http://yukimotopress.github.io) [3]:
[http://manuscripts.github.io](http://manuscripts.github.io)

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jwq1
Are project Gutenberg books still relevant? I am not someone who knows a lot
about technology. Therefore, I am not sure how to gauge the relevance of these
50 to 100-year old texts.

~~~
dredmorbius
Yes.

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huherto
Note to self. Remember to bring this if you ever travel in time to the past.

