A book is a collection of pages bound together with covers to create a text that communicates ideas and information. Books are usually written by one or more authors, and they can contain anything from poetry to scientific research papers, from fictional tales to cookbooks. They are often used for learning and teaching, but they can also serve as a source of entertainment. Books are highly portable and can be stored easily, making them convenient tools for reading and reference.
The history of the book is a field that encompasses the study of all aspects of books and their physical construction. It draws from disciplines such as textual scholarship, codicology, bibliography, palaeography, art history and sociology to demonstrate that the book as a medium is more than just an object. The book is an artefact of a particular time and place, a record of interactions between readers and words. Analysis of the individual parts of the book, as well as its contents, can reveal the purpose of the book, where it was kept, how it was used, and ideological and religious beliefs that were held by its makers and readers.
In the past, books were often hand-made from manuscripts, which were pieces of paper that were written by hand. These were then rolled up and stored in a tube, known as a scroll. A book is an industrial invention that was developed from the scroll by adding covers and a system of pagination to make it easier to read. The earliest books were hand-made and small, but they grew in size and scope over the centuries to become the books we know today.
Books have a very specific and distinctive value compared to other texts, such as the Internet or Wikipedia: a book has a boundedness that is tied with editorial intent. The author or editor decides what should be in the book and what should be left out. This is a major difference between a book and a random collection of documents or even the web, which has a largely chaotic structure that is impossible to control.
The popularity of the book has increased with developments such as digital printing technology, which allows the creation of books to be printed just one at a time on demand. This has also allowed writers to self-publish and even start their own publishing companies. This has created a number of different book formats, including ebooks and paperbacks. The Kindle and Amazon have been important contributors to this movement. In addition, people are able to easily read a variety of books online with the help of websites such as Wattpad and Kindle Unlimited. In the future, new technologies may allow books to be printed on demand even more quickly and cheaply. This could lead to an exponential growth in the number of books that are available. This is predicted to be a positive development for both the reader and the author.