Manual for Civilization gathers books for future ages
Perhaps the most practically valuable project of The Long Now Foundation—not to discount its 10,000-year clock or its fantastic lecture series—is the library they’re putting together, dubbed in classic Brand-ian grandeur the Manual for Civilization. While they’re working to gather volumes onto the shelves at Long Now’s cafe-cum-community-space The Interval, we can all dig into the “key books” lists submitted by the organization’s global network of allies. Take a peek:
Brian Eno – A list of books on long-term thinking
Stewart Brand – Books selected from his personal libraries
Neal Stephenson – A selection of useful history books
Violet Blue – Books on human sexuality
Kevin Kelly – A huge list of appropriate technology and other books from his library
Danny Hillis – Selections from his home and work libraries
Ami Burnham – A collection of the best books on reproduction and birth
Alex Steffen – Books on Futurism
Bruce Sterling – Science Fiction
David Brin – Science Fiction
Maria Popova – “33 Books on How to Live”
Mark Pauline – Fiction, History, Mechanics reference
See this link for the initial announcement of the project, including all the lists noted above; and this link for the archives of posts on the project since then, which features coverage of similar projects by others, including a new book called The Knowledge: Rebuilding Our World From Scratch and Future Library, a hundred-year art project that’s starting now by planting the trees on which a hundred books will be printed in 2114, the books being written one per year between now and then (the first is by Margaret Atwood).