Michael S. Hart

Michael S. Hart, born on March eighth, nineteen forty-seven, was a pioneering American author and computer scientist whose innovative spirit led to the creation of the e-book. He is best known for founding Project Gutenberg in nineteen seventy-one, a groundbreaking initiative that made literary works freely accessible via the Internet.

Before the advent of the modern Internet, Hart was already publishing e-books through ARPANET, and later on Bulletin Board Systems and Gopher servers. His commitment to digitizing literature was driven by a desire to share knowledge and culture, focusing on works in the public domain and those with expired copyrights.

In the early days of Project Gutenberg, Hart personally typed most of the e-books in plain text format, laying the foundation for a vast digital library. As the project grew, he welcomed volunteers who contributed to expanding the collection, ensuring that countless literary treasures were preserved and made available to the public.