Cost of textbooks

[swansont]

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!

 

It's educational. Teaches you to learn to read the fine print for what's included in the price tag.

[Mr Skeptic]

Is the E-book free?

 

It is if you pirate it. Yar!

 

Actually, I don't know, but it should be much cheaper.

[ajb]

There is a list of free e-books on Alexandre Stefanov's hompage which is here.

 

 

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As a disclaimer I accept no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the e-books listed.

[Bignose]

It is simple supply and demand.

 

John Girsham's latest or Stephen King's latest sell more copies in just a few hours than the average science or engineering textbook will sell over the entire run.

 

I think the really amazing thing is that book publishers are even willing to keep publishing these books. Especially with all the electronic media available -- either a professor typing his own notes or available from the research journals -- one can make their own set of permanent and editable notes pretty quickly. The cost is high, but I liked to think of it as part of the investment. I kept all but two of my books, and I know that I've used them all in some way after the classes I used them for. Even if only because I knew where to look something up in one of them faster than in a different book.

[Entropy]

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.

 

It is also important to pick a book based on how the material is presented. Picking a book based on cost is a terrible way to approach a subject.

If I pick a book that is above the student's ability to understand, it will be completely worthless to them.

 

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

 

Correct. Often professors can get free books if they are interested in adopting it for a course. I've never had to send one back because I've decided not to use it.

[ajb]

If the books are out of the price range of the students then the content does not matter. I think overall there is some kind of balance that needs to be met here.

 

Apart from the first year courses, in my experience the lectures make notes from many books and thus attending the lectures and keeping notes is important.

[Entropy]

If the books are out of the price range of the students then the content does not matter. I think overall there is some kind of balance that needs to be met here.

 

The good thing about taking courses in America is the government does provide money for students to take courses. Generally the books to my courses run around $120 and lab manuals run about $130.

 

Apart from the first year courses, in my experience the lectures make notes from many books and thus attending the lectures and keeping notes is important.

 

My students do best when they attend lectures and read out of the book. Although, as a student, I generally did very little reading out of the book.

[ajb]

That is still quite a bit of money, something like £70. Most I ever spend on a book for undergrad was £40, ~$70. Even that sounded a lot to me.

[Entropy]

That is still quite a bit of money, something like £70. Most I ever spend on a book for undergrad was £40, ~$70. Even that sounded a lot to me.

 

They are expensive, unfortunately, I've been completely unable to find books that cover the material appropriately for a better price.

[ajb]

Another thing is that I have never found a single book on a subject that I can say is the perfect book. Generally, I need 2 or more on a subject in order to cover enough "angles" to find a point of view I can grasp. Then couple that with lots of work and asking questions to people more experienced that I.