Michael Stern Hart (March 8, 1947-September 6, 2011)
To put it simply, there would be no electronic books if not for Michael Stern Hart. The American author founded Project Gutenberg in 1971 when he received a free printed copy of the Declaration of Independence while attending the University of Illinois. He was inspired by the free sharing of literature and so took it upon himself to begin typing various pieces of literature and making it available to all computer users. At first the websitecontained foundational texts such as the King James Bible, but after observing how popular some books were, like Alice in Wonderland, Hart began to add what he referred to as “light literature” to the collection.
The Project Gutenberg website now hosts over 36,000 free e-books to download. Thanks to Hart’s vision for the future, not only is it easier to find literature, but he made it extremely affordable for college students too.
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