Book recommended by Ray

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metabolizm

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In a recent interview, Ray talked about reading some general knowledge books when he was a kid. It was an encyclopaedia of some sort. He said that they used to be very good - free from errors and propaganda - but they eventually changed for the worse. Can anyone find this clip? I can’t remember what books Ray was talking about. I’d like to get a hold of them.
 

rr1

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Could it have been the encyclopedia britannica?

He mentioned these books here.

However I think you may struggle to find any older copies of these books. If you do, please let me know!
 
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metabolizm

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Could it have been the encyclopedia britannica?

He mentioned these books here.

However I think you may struggle to find any older copies of these books. If you do, please let me know!


thank you, I think it was the encyclopaedia britannica. I wonder what edition Ray would recommend. He did talk about that in an interview, but I still can’t find it.
 

AlbertScent5G

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I think he may have been referring to the Funk and Wagnall's encyclopedia series. Perhaps he was referring to 1950's editions?

Some of these books can be found in the internet archive, but many are from the 70's methinks.
 

DButter

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Starting at roughly 1:16:39 for a few minutes he talks about books and sources referencing Funk and Wagnall and older versions of the Britannica.
 
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metabolizm

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Starting at roughly 1:16:39 for a few minutes he talks about books and sources referencing Funk and Wagnall and older versions of the Britannica.


Perfect, thank you. It looks like the 14th edition of the EB - or the ones before it - will be best.
 

gaze

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his take on the 15th edition is interesting. They completely revamped the Britannica between the 14th and 15th edition, as it used to be constant revisions on the previous edition, but the 15h was a completely new re-write. I wonder what the malicious intent behind that was. or maybe they just thought simplifying it, or as ray says "dumbed down", would be a benefit
 
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metabolizm

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his take on the 15th edition is interesting. They completely revamped the Britannica between the 14th and 15th edition, as it used to be constant revisions on the previous edition, but the 15h was a completely new re-write. I wonder what the malicious intent behind that was. or maybe they just thought simplifying it, or as ray says "dumbed down", would be a benefit

Yeah, I’d love to hear more of Ray’s thoughts on this.

The benefit for us is that it’s relatively easy to obtain the 14th edition because everyone wants the newest one available.
 
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metabolizm

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his take on the 15th edition is interesting. They completely revamped the Britannica between the 14th and 15th edition, as it used to be constant revisions on the previous edition, but the 15h was a completely new re-write. I wonder what the malicious intent behind that was. or maybe they just thought simplifying it, or as ray says "dumbed down", would be a benefit

Ray confirmed to me that the 14th edition - even the later revisions - are relatively safe, but that the 15th was a major dumbing down.

Funnily enough, some consider the 14th edition to be a dumbing down of the 11th edition, which some say was the absolute gold standard. (The 14th was a re-writing of the 11th).

Anyway, the 14th definitely has Ray’s approval, and the 15th definitely doesn’t. I managed to get a copy of the former on eBay for a very good price indeed. The full set.
 

gaze

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Ray confirmed to me that the 14th edition - even the later revisions - are relatively safe, but that the 15th was a major dumbing down.

Funnily enough, some consider the 14th edition to be a dumbing down of the 11th edition, which some say was the absolute gold standard. (The 14th was a re-writing of the 11th).

Anyway, the 14th definitely has Ray’s approval, and the 15th definitely doesn’t. I managed to get a copy of the former on eBay for a very good price indeed. The full set.

I may get one myself. did you get it in the 350-400 dollar range? Recently i've been trying to learn more about various topics but reading on a computer screen is taking a toll on my eyes. I think it's a good addition to have just to get lost in it from time to time. I still read quite a bit daily on screens, but it's good to just give the eyes a break.
 
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metabolizm

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I may get one myself. did you get it in the 350-400 dollar range? Recently i've been trying to learn more about various topics but reading on a computer screen is taking a toll on my eyes. I think it's a good addition to have just to get lost in it from time to time. I still read quite a bit daily on screens, but it's good to just give the eyes a break.

That’s the main reason I got it. Also, it’s hard to find trustworthy sources online.

I’m in the UK, and I got the whole set for £25. They’re not hard to come by here. Most of the entries are really well written and detailed.
 

jdrop

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You can get the 11th and 12th (just a few updated extra books that goes with 11th) in DVD format for $8-$12 USD on ebay.
 

Missenger

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The 11th edition is good, I downloaded a copy from the internet archive years ago.
 

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