What is eO?
eO is an encyclopedia. Not a search engine, not an AI, not a platform. An encyclopedia — the old kind, that tries to contain knowledge rather than point at it.
The name
"eO" stands for "everything, orbiting." The lowercase e is small because we are humble. The uppercase O is a circle because everything comes around eventually.
The scope
Everything. Every concept, object, event, creature, place, feeling, word, number, and phenomenon that has ever been named. We plan to get there. We have one article right now. It is about light.
The format
Long-form articles written with care. No stubs. No auto-generated summaries. Every article is written by a human who actually thought about the subject for a while.
The model
Free to read, forever. No accounts required. No ads. No algorithmic recommendations. You find what you came to find, and you leave knowing something you didn't before.
Why?
Because the world has more information than ever, and it is harder than ever to find something worth knowing. We are trying to fix a small part of that.
1
Articles written
∞
Articles planned
0
Ads, ever
299,792,458 m/s
Speed of light
Frequently asked questions
Is this Wikipedia? +
No. Wikipedia is enormous, collaborative, and has been running since 2001. eO is small, in enclosed beta, and has one article. We have enormous respect for Wikipedia. We are not trying to replace it. We are trying to do something different: fewer articles, written more carefully, for a reader who wants to actually understand something rather than just confirm a fact.
Why only one article? +
Because we would rather have one good article than ten mediocre ones. The article about light took longer than expected. This is probably true of everything worth writing. We are making peace with that.
Can I contribute? +
Not yet. eO is in enclosed beta. We are thinking carefully about what contribution looks like here — how to maintain quality while opening up. When we have figured that out, we will say so. If you have strong feelings about this, we would genuinely like to hear them.
Why does it look like this? +
We wanted it to feel like a reference work rather than a content platform. The monospaced type, the heavy borders, the parchment tones — these are deliberate choices. A page of knowledge should feel weighty. It should feel like it was made by someone who cared about what they put on it.
What does "enclosed beta" mean? +
It means we are testing the site with a small group of people before opening it to the public. You are one of those people. Thank you for being here. Please tell us what is broken.
When will the next article be published? +
When it is ready. Candidates currently include Water, Time, Language, and Numbers. Each one contains depths we had not anticipated. We are in those depths now. We will surface eventually.
Roadmap
completed
Launch enclosed beta
Site is live. You are reading it.
completed
Publish first article
Light. It went well.
now ← you are here
Write second article
Probably Water. Research ongoing.
upcoming
Open contribution system
Carefully. With editorial review.
upcoming
Reach 10 articles
A milestone. A small one.
eventual
Everything
The original goal. Still the goal.
Team
ed
the editor
writes the articles
de
the designer
makes it look like this
re
the researcher
reads the sources