Popular Science Archive (Still) Available in Google Books

Lovers of ephemera, especially of the retrofuturistic kind, have been quick to inform me that Google Books has made the entire 137-year archive of Popular Science available to the public. It seems the tubes have been buzzing with news thanks to Boing Boing and an announcement over at PopSci.com.

It's a bit odd the news should be exploding now, since the archive, along with that of Popular Mechanics has been available since at least December 2008, when I wrote about it for the Roadside Resort. It seems the true intent of PopSci's announcement was not to announce the availability of the archive, but to let everyone know that the archive is now searchable on their own Web site, as well.

Still, it's great that those who didn't hear about it before can start enjoying it now, especially those terrific ads of days gone by.

Incidentally, some of you may also enjoy an article I wrote at the time, which uncovered PopSci and PopMech's strange obsession with the ginormous wheel.