Which is preferable regarding textbooks?

[Kreeshak]

Which is preferable?

1) Putting a lot of effort to grasp a scientific notation textbook that is bad written although extremely popular, complete and recommended?
2) Putting a lot of effort to find a hidden gem of a textbook that is well written, easy to go through, though it might be hard to find/not exist?

[icausewipes]

2)


........

[the game]

what context are we talking about

[Kreeshak]

what context are we talking about

university studying. assume science field.

[maezer]

Such a flawed premise. I can't conceive how or why #1 could ever take the same amount of effort as #2. #2 is most likely an impossible task as you are searching for something that possibly (probably) doesn't exist. Even if it does exist, reading/examining hundreds of text books to determine their quality is going to take significantly more effort than reading someone else's review of a product. Then assuming you do find it, you have to deal with actually getting this no-name book available to your students. And while most universities are capable of printing/binding their own text books, there are a host of other issues with negotiation of pricing and actually getting your printing press to have the time to print enough text for whatever class.

[Karaoke]

Which is preferable?

1) Putting a lot of effort to grasp a scientific notation textbook that is bad written although extremely popular, complete and recommended?
2) Putting a lot of effort to find a hidden gem of a textbook that is well written, easy to go through, though it might be hard to find/not exist?

3) Textbook #2 doesn't exist. Write textbook #2 and make tons of money.

You may respond, 'well there's no money in it'...that's EXACTLY the point.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

If you can't manage to figure out a university level textbook you probably shouldn't be entering whatever field you are studying in. Also, you'll likely have to do a lot of reading in any science related field...so you might as well get used to reading things that aren't necessarily user friendly.

[Mercadi]

The one that has exercise numbers corresponding to ones in teacher's text book.
You may get some super duper edition that no one else has, but good luck trying to complete your assignments.

[issmeihede]

The one that has exercise numbers corresponding to ones in teacher's text book.

[Cosmic Janitor]

The one that has exercise numbers corresponding to ones in teacher's text book.
You may get some super duper edition that no one else has, but good luck trying to complete your assignments.

This, especially if the teacher has written it him/herself. Otherwise the premise is kind of bogus. The first book is one that probably has it's merrit, otherwise it wouldn't be that popular. I've had examples of some old ass text books which are no longer printed though. Especially for electronics some of the old stuff was just ingenious, comprehensive yet compact, well explained, etc. For some books earlier editions may also contain relevant sections which were cut out in later editions (happens fairly often in engineering related books) because some other new topic is more important nowdays, even though the old stuff might be beneficial for general understanding. There are lots of cases, it really depends on the book/field.

What field/book are we talking about here exactly, OP?

[Independent voter]

College textbooks cost too much — and something needs to be done about it, according to a report from the advocacy group U.S. PIRG. The College Board estimates that the average student in this country spends around $1,200 a year on books and supplies. A single book can cost as much as $200.

Text books are a huge part of college expense in the US with each book going from $50 to $100 and sometimes more. Then there is the scam where the teacher writes a textbook and charges a ton of money for it, required of course.

Why note train students to learn like they'll do in the real world when they graduate, research on the Internet? Buy books off Amazon?

[Celista]

You get the textbook required for class.

You're welcome.

[Endus]

College textbooks cost too much — and something needs to be done about it, according to a report from the advocacy group U.S. PIRG. The College Board estimates that the average student in this country spends around $1,200 a year on books and supplies. A single book can cost as much as $200.

Text books are a huge part of college expense in the US with each book going from $50 to $100 and sometimes more. Then there is the scam where the teacher writes a textbook and charges a ton of money for it, required of course.

That's not a "scam". And that course isn't required, either. You're attending college voluntarily.

It's not like another textbook would be any cheaper. While I'm open to the possibility of scams occurring, if the prof wrote the best textbook on the market for the topic, there's no reason to not recommend it. Particularly since you can often get ahold of a copy through the school library for nothing, if money is really that tight.

As for why the prices are so high; you're getting a professor (or more than one) to write a relatively comprehensive textbook, and publish it, for what will inevitably be a relatively small market; they won't hit the NYT Bestseller List. So it's market value; cost of the professor's time, to produce, and the expected total sales, to make it worth the prof's time to write the thing in the first place. That's how market systems work.

Why note train students to learn like they'll do in the real world when they graduate, research on the Internet? Buy books off Amazon?

They do. My grad school textbooks for the last year didn't top $400, and at least half that was optional. The $200 textbook thing is primarily for undergrads, and mostly in their first and second years, where you need broad introductions to the topics, not the specialized research you get in academic journal articles and the like. The textbooks are a stepping stone to get them to that point.

[Garnier Fructis]

Either get books from the university library or buy cheap reprints of great texts from Dover.

Read the text you like that covers roughly the same material, take good notes and/or look at the professor's notes so that you can make up the difference between what's needed for the class and what you've got.

Homework problems are different? That's hardly even an issue. Just ask a friend if you can take a pic of the pages that have the assignment. I've gone the last 3 years without buying a single required text. Very few of the required textbooks are actually any good. They've all got roughly the same material, but most of the presentations are mediocre at best and it's almost criminal to pay market price for those.

Take Beachy and Blair's algebra text as an example. Covering polynomials before rings? Are you fucking kidding me? People pay money for this crap?

But in all seriousness, look at Dover Publications. Cost is really good. Can go from $5 to $30, but usually around $10 to $15.

[Kreeshak]

If you can't manage to figure out a university level textbook you probably shouldn't be entering whatever field you are studying in. Also, you'll likely have to do a lot of reading in any science related field...so you might as well get used to reading things that aren't necessarily user friendly.

Perhaps you haven't come across a really user friendly book. Especially in mathematics the notation used to scientifically describe something can be horrendous, while someone would have expressed the very same thing extremely simple. I am not arguing whatsoever. I respect your opinion else I wouldn't have asked in the first place. So far I've been skipping hard notations but perhaps it is time for me to stop.