Download the Universe was born out of a conversation in January 2012. A group of writers and scientists had gathered at a meeting called Science Online to talk about the startling growth of ebooks. It was clear that ebooks were becoming an extraordinary new medium, rivalling print books in the marketplace and offering opportunities that printed books could not. We saw great things in the future of science books. There was just one thing missing: a way for readers to find out about new ebooks about science. Book reviews were showing little interest; blogs offered scant, diffuse attention. We agreed that what was needed was a science ebook review. Here it is.
Our mission is to give readers a growing guide to the world of science ebooks. We review books about science that only exist in the digital world--Download the Universe doesn't include reviews of the automatic spin-offs of print books. But we define ebooks broadly. They may be self-published pdf manuscripts. They may be Kindle Singles about science. They can even be apps that have games embedded in them. We hope that we will eventually review new kinds of ebooks that we can't even imagine yet. And we hope that you will find Download the Universe a useful doorway into that future.
