If you don't want to get the book, you'll need to collect the software you need from other sources.
Get a mail reading software. Eudora works well and can be fetched from ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/eudora/eudoralight/mac/.
Get a Web browser. Netscape is the current best. Get it from http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp.
If you want to use the Shell, you need a telnet or rlogin program. NCSA telnet works well. Get it from http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Brochure/MacSoftDesc.html.
If you don't already have it, Stuffit Expander is a really useful tool: it automatically unpacks the files you download. Get it from: http://www.stuffit.com/cgi-bin/stuffit_loginpage.cgi?standardmacexp.