[OS X TeX] [OT] cost of texts

[David Derbes]

In 1971 I took an advanced freshman physics course. The text was  
Edward Purcell's
brilliant Berkeley Series volume 2 on Electricity and Magnetism. It  
cost, and this is
not a typo, $6.95. Hard covers.

The last time I saw it listed new (second edition, now regrettably out  
of print) it was
on the order of $180.

That's a 2570% increase in just under forty years, 8% per annum.

Nice work if you can get it.

David Derbes
U of Chicago Laboratory Schools

On Oct 27, 2009, at 7:27 PM, Lee Witt wrote:

> The cost of texts is a major issue for students at my school. It is
> almost impossible for us to get used copies (I'm not sure why) so new
> editions mean students buy new. I hauled out one of my undergrad texts
> - for a 3 semester sequence for physics majors: I paid under $20 for
> it in 1975. It is distressing to see students paying more for a
> college algebra text than I paid for books in grad school.
> So, like others, I wonder about the reason(s) for the high cost of  
> texts.
>
> On 10/27/09, Herbert Schulz <herbs at wideopenwest.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Oct 27, 2009, at 5:51 PM, Alain Schremmer wrote:
>>
>>> ...
>>> Similarly, during the past thirty years, the profits of the
>>> "elementary textbooks" publishing industry have gone steadily up
>>> while the ranking of US students in TIMMS and later PISA have gone
>>> steadily down.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>> --schremmer
>>
>> Howdy,
>>
>> While I was still teaching (I've been retired since 2001 after too
>> many years teaching Physics at a local Community College) it seemed  
>> to
>> me that most of the expense was because they went over to fancy color
>> diagrams and kept on removing topics and doing a worse job of
>> explaining things. All flash, no content, just like I've, for the  
>> most
>> part, seen everywhere else.
>>
>> Good Luck,
>>
>> Herb Schulz
>> (herbs at wideopenwest dot com)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> -- 
> Sent from my mobile device
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