Page "Encyclopædia Britannica" Paragraph 17

The Britannica has a reputation for summarising knowledge.

To further their education, some people have devoted themselves to reading the entire Britannica, taking anywhere from three to 22 years to do so.

When Fat ' h Ali became the Shah of Persia in 1797, he was given a set of the Britannica's 3rd edition, which he read completely ; after this feat, he extended his royal title to include " Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopædia Britannica ".

Writer George Bernard Shaw claimed to have read the complete 9th edition — except for the science articles — and Richard Evelyn Byrd took the Britannica as reading material for his five-month stay at the South Pole in 1934, while Philip Beaver read it during a sailing expedition.

More recently, A. J.

Jacobs, an editor at Esquire magazine, read the entire 2002 version of the 15th edition, describing his experiences in the well-received 2004 book, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World.

Only two people are known to have read two independent editions: the author C. S. Forester and Amos Urban Shirk, an American businessman, who read the 11th and 14th editions, devoting roughly three hours per night for four and a half years to read the 11th.

Several editors-in-chief of the Britannica are likely to have read their editions completely, such as William Smellie ( 1st edition ), William Robertson Smith ( 9th edition ), and Walter Yust ( 14th edition ).