Tom Swift Library
Last Men would never read these ...
In these times, online learning is often a soulless process of pro forma exercises that serve only to incubate the next brood of bugmen. Sometimes gamified, always superficial, most of it is a paltry substitute for true learning. While university education usually conveys an ethos supporting that cloyingly progressive arc of history, much online learning goes one step further and conveys no meaning at all, replacing the comprehension of content with the pursuit of meaningless virtual rewards you’re supposed to chase like a rat in a Skinner box, culminating with a phony “certificate” ; an assortment of colorful pixels that you then post listlessly on your “LinkedIn”. Combined with a five-dollar bill, it might just get you one cup of coffee! If the technological overlords were to have their way in the world, the fate of man would be an endless parade of digital gold stars of dopaminergic reward, crushing down upon his face, forever. For this reason I founded the Tom Swift Academy.
The Tom Swift Academy now contains a wide variety of lessons covering topics ranging from integral calculus to binary numbers. How then, is it distinguishable from the seemingly infinite panopoly of internet-based academic supplements? Here at Tom Swift, we do not make the false distinction between science and the humanities. Every mathematical and scientific article is introduced with some story from our history describing how it came to be. For a civilization is comprised of both, and its nature guides the development of mathematics and science in many ways.
I have previously written of the importance of physical books in Great American Libraries. To this end I am now establishing a reading list, which could also serve as an effective nucleus for an independent library. Most of the works included are old enough to have entered the public domain, so the cost of obtaining them should be minimal. Nevetheless, these volumes will almost certainly be of interest to the students of Tom Swift Academy.
These books are those I believe to be most critical to establishing the next civilization. Some of them are renowned as great classics; others languish in relative obscurity. They have been compiled from a variety of academic domains, among them history, geopolitics, literature, science and mathematics. The scholarly burden has also been lightened with classic adventure stories. This collection includes works in multiple languages, careful study is advised before delving deeper into the depths. As this is to be a permanent institution within Tom Swift, review this section for updates!
Read on!
