…and that’s only the Wal-Mart cheapo-price:
Nanowires and Nanobelts
Regular bookstore price is in the $700’s. :eek:
Yes, I’m an undergrad. Yes, the professor is the author of the book.
Give me a break.
WHAT THE FUCK?!?! :eek: That is unbelievable! What, are the pages made from pure gold leaf or something? How on earth can a book cost that much? I have NEVER seen a new book that costs that much. Heck, I have bought rare antique books on eBay for less than that. Are your classmates in an uproar over the price?
This book: Handbook of Nanophase and Nanostructured Materials: Synthesis / Characterization / Materials Systems and Applications I / Materials Systems and Applications II, by the same author, costs $1,250!
WHAT THE HELL?
For that kind of price you think they’d at least have a description of the book.
[hijack] I’m really surprised considering the proliferation of file sharing on college campuses that students don’t scan and share .PDF files of these overpriced textbooks. (I obviously don’t condone or encourage those actions… just amazed that they’re not happening)[/hijack]
How is this NOT a conflict of interest for the professor/author/financial rapist? It just boggles the mind.
I’d ask the guy how he sleeps at night, beyond “on a pile of ill-gotten ducats.”
I think you may need to write a letter to the dean of your school and lodge a complaint. That’s ridiculous, and no student should be expected to pay that kind of money for a single book.
In the meantime, if you absolutely have to have the book, is there a way you could split the cost with another student?
In college, I had a professor who assigned his book for the class, but he assured us that he received no proceeds from the book sales, and that it was a university rule. So if that is the case here, I wonder where all that money is going!?!
You really should write a complaint letter, and get your classmates to co-sign it. Also, write a letter to the editor of the school newspaper.
Man, I thought I was getting fucked back in my college days, paying 80 bucks for a book.
This guy should be deeply ashamed of himself. And saying that’s what the publisher charges is not an excuse. I had a professor that gave us copies of pieces his book for his class, and we only had to pay the cost of the copying from the copy center. He knew that college students didn’t have money falling out of their asses.
Mr. Zhong Lin Wang, you are a fucking bastard.
I’ve asked the same thing about some of the money I’ve spent on college. By doing a little research, I learned that the parking fee was instituted about 30 years ago at $5 a semester. Proceeds were to go toward a parking garage. Now we pay $30 a sememster and we have no parking garage. The department which handles the permits sure has gotten bigger though. :mad:
I had an Architecture professor that did the same thing but with other authors books. Since he didn’t want to read the books in entirety he would pass out copies of the chapters and charge us $2-$3 for the copies.
Of course some publisher found out, threatened to sue for copyright laws, and that was that. He was a very popular teacher and was more pissed about the cost of books than the students.
looks at price
picks jaw back up off the floor
Good grief! At that price, it better come with a jumbo-sized bucket of Astrolube! :eek:
For the cost of that book, plus tax, I can take a 2-hour graduate level course (or 2-hour undergraduate course and have plenty of money left over for books and supplies).
<< Manual? We’ve just been pushing buttons until it works. >>
I’m sure someone has thought of it, but have you checked the library?
In my experience, when a text is required reading for a course, the professor is supposed to make a couple of copies available at the library “on reserve”. That way students who can’t afford the books, or just don’t want to buy them, can consult them at the library. Maybe you can ask your library if they have a copy?
Most of the time the textbook is only to back up the lecture material, or to do practice questions. I’ve often just photocopied the important bits from the library’s copy (I hope that’s legal or a whole lot of students are in trouble). Spending that much on a book that you’ll never use again is ridiculous!
There are also several used book websites out there, but a book like yours may be hard to find.
Sadly, I’m not terribly shocked. A little shocked, yes - but not terribly. Bleah.
Damn! I expected the $560.50 in the thread title to be for a summer’s worth of textbooks.
When I was training for my job, the woman giving us an orientation to the bookstore mentioned that the most expensive book the store carried about $400. The only reason I can think of for a book price like that is that the publisher is trying to recoup costs from a very narrow segment of buyers.
Seven hundred dollars for a book?!?!?!
And I thought I was getting reamed when I had to fork over a hundred for an textbook. I asked that prof about it, and he swore that he received only a tiny amount of money from the book sales. Still, I couldn’t help but notice the shiny new BMW he was driving…
My guess is that the publisher expects about two people to buy it, so needs to charge that to make a profit 
One of my lecturer’s books sells for about £150. I think that’s around $200, isn’t it? Maybe more?
I mean, fair enough, I’d only spend it on sweets, but still…
And of course, that book will not be used next semester, so your copy will have zero resale value.
Not to mention that only the newest edition will be used for next semester’s class, rendering the current edition “useless”…