Cost of textbooks

[Pete]

I'm well aware of the ridiculous cost of textbooks nowadays. But when I saw the cost of this particular text I hadda cringe. This one is really pathetic. See

 

Electromagnetic Fields - 2nd Ed., by Ronald K. Wangsness

 

http://www.scribblygumbooks.com.au/9780471811862.html

 

This particular book costs $253.95!!! Is that horrible or what? I saw this at the universities book store new for $123.10. Talk about your markup!

 

I'm having trouble locating this book for a decent price. Does anybody have any suggestions on where I can get a copy for a decent price?

 

Pete

[PhDP]

The Mathematical Theory of Selection, Recombination, and Mutation

R.Bürger

422 pages, Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches

 

250 $ !!!!!!!!!!!!

[ajb]

Unfortunately, very specialised books or books out of print can be hugely expensive.

 

Hitting the library is my suggestion. You may be able to get it on inter-library loan.

 

The other option is to find a similar book that sells at a better price.

[ecoli]

professor's are usually pretty specific about getting the right book though.

 

I also suggest everyone check out half.com

[ajb]

Any person teaching a course will be aware of the cost of the books and should not use one that is clearly out of the price range of most of the students.

 

With that in mind, Pete, why do you want this book specifically?

[ecoli]

Any person teaching a course will be aware of the cost of the books and should not use one that is clearly out of the price range of most of the students.

 

haha... I've only had a few profs who have realized this.

[insane_alien]

theres a good system in my uni. basically, you put a notice up in the students union building and flog your used books to the people moving up.

 

i've bought and sold most of my books this way although there are a number i went out and bought decent copies of because they were actually useful references rather than just looking at a couple of chapters and never picking it up again like a lot of the books i got.

 

Actually, this reminds me, i need to get a new book of steam tables. mine is already falling appart from over use.(well, that and my bag is not a hospitable environment for books)

[Mr Skeptic]

I've heard this year's organic chem book is $400. Good think I'm not taking that this year.

 

Anyhow, I decided to buy my textbooks online this year. I'll let you know how it turned out if anyone is interested.

[john5746]

I'm well aware of the ridiculous cost of textbooks nowadays. But when I saw the cost of this particular text I hadda cringe. This one is really pathetic. See

 

Electromagnetic Fields - 2nd Ed., by Ronald K. Wangsness

 

http://www.scribblygumbooks.com.au/9780471811862.html

 

This particular book costs $253.95!!! Is that horrible or what? I saw this at the universities book store new for $123.10. Talk about your markup!

 

I'm having trouble locating this book for a decent price. Does anybody have any suggestions on where I can get a copy for a decent price?

 

Pete

 

Electromagnetic Fields - 2nd Ed., by Ronald K. Wangsness

 

ISBN: 0471811866 Used for around $85.00

 

 

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=0471811866

 

 

I haven't used this service, so not sure how reliable...

[CharonY]

Well, there are different approaches to use textbooks in teaching, and I think the money side is often neglected. Most just grab a book that is somehow readable and then construct a lecture around it. Even better if it provides material and graphics for lecturers to use. But then those textbooks are still cheaper than advanced books. 200$ for 400 pages is nice, if you have to pay over two dollars per page for books with specialized topics.

[swansont]

Any person teaching a course will be aware of the cost of the books and should not use one that is clearly out of the price range of most of the students.

 

I think profs generally get their copy for free if they adopt it as the course textbook.

[insane_alien]

or they use their own book.

 

one of my lecturers did that, though to be fair, it was(and still is) an extremely useful book.

[CharonY]

I think profs generally get their copy for free if they adopt it as the course textbook.

 

Not all publishers do have such a program but most offer at the very least a discount.

[Mr Skeptic]

Some profs actually ask for custom textbooks with only the chapters they need. But they need at least ~ 100 students to do that.

[Gilded]

So you people pay crazy amounts of money for being able to study at an university and that doesn't even include the books? It's like a Crazy Express to Crazytown!

[the tree]

theres a good system in my uni. basically, you put a notice up in the students union building and flog your used books to the people moving up.

 

i've bought and sold most of my books this way although there are a number i went out and bought decent copies of because they were actually useful references rather than just looking at a couple of chapters and never picking it up again like a lot of the books i got.

Buying books from your peers or people are year above you is basically the best way that I've come across. It is always useful to know people who've been around a year longer than you generally speaking.

[insane_alien]

yeah, theres usually a few tips and hints passed along when exchanging books. the system works.

[Ophiolite]

The system I adopted four decades was not to drink. The money I didn't spend on alcohol funded my textbooks. (Today I still have my textbooks and a wine cellar.)

[ajb]

So you people pay crazy amounts of money for being able to study at an university and that doesn't even include the books? It's like a Crazy Express to Crazytown!

 

For undergrad text books are usually not included. However, there will often be copies in the library on short loan. Not enough for everyone in my experience.

 

A good lecturer will have made good notes themselves. That can sometimes be enough to get you through, but a few good text books always helps.

 

For postgrad work, either taught or research there are generally less of you and thus the library becomes a workable option. That said I have a few books of my own. But they did not cost anything like as much as the books quoted here.

[Dudde]

I've had a few professors use their own books, but they weren't very helpful

-I gotta be honest guys, I think I only bought 2 actual books in college...although, to be embarrassingly honest, I went to an art school after all my years of math and science! Not to bash the art school, I learned some sweet stuff, but the books were mostly for gen eds and stuff like that, and I passed those without effort.

[Pete]

Any person teaching a course will be aware of the cost of the books and should not use one that is clearly out of the price range of most of the students.

 

With that in mind, Pete, why do you want this book specifically?

The book is recommened/suplimental reading for the grad EM course at the school I'm going to. It seems like a real nice book though. One I'd want to have. The real problem is this semester where I have to get Butkov's "Mathematical Physics" text. That'll set me back a good $150.

 

Note: I looked at half.com and the book costs $176.77

 

Pete

Edited August 31, 2008 by Pete

[Mr Skeptic]

The book is recommened/suplimental reading for the grad EM course at the school I'm going to. It seems like a real nice book though. One I'd want to have. The real problem is this semester where I have to get Butkov's "Mathematical Physics" text. That'll set me back a good $150.

 

Note: I looked at half.com and the book costs $176.77

 

Pete

 

You can buy used ones for about $100 at amazon.com and bestwebbuys.com

http://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Physics-Eugene-Butkov/dp/0201007274

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/Mathematical_Physics-ISBN_0201007274.html?isrc=b-search

 

I just put the title + author in Google to find that. Still, it's nice that your college bookstore isn't ripping you off (if the $150 is for new books).

 

There's also an e-book.

[Pete]

There's also an e-book.

Is the E-book free?

[ajb]

I like Dover books, who publish paperback versions of classical text in mathematics and physics. You can also find many of their publications on Amazon.

 

UK website is also available.

[Comandante]

I could've gone through my degree fully without buying any books at all, if your Uni has access to databases like sciencedirect etc you can always reference material from there, for the more basic stuff get everything from the books in the library (if the lecture notes don't already do the job). Nevertheless, I bought textbooks for most units and all new too- still have them and often come in handy. Most expensive I had to pay was Advanced Inorganic Chemistry $180 by Cotton et al.