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Penrose book #3 on Amazon in Britain
[edit: as of 5PM GMT-8, Friday 6August, Penrose book had risen to THIRD on amazon.com best seller list
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...lers/ref=cs_nav_sn_4/202-5121337-2949434&tag=
It is topped only a diet book and the DaVinci Code]
[edit edit: However by Thursday 12 August, it was down to ***TWENTYSIX*** place on the list. It is still on amazon top hundred, in other words, but it only spent a few days near the top of the list]
A couple of days ago Peter Woit's blog said
"Road to Reality" was #17 on the best-seller list at
UK Amazon, so i decided to check today and
it was #14
and for comparison #10 was Michael Moore
"Dude, Give Me Back My Country!"
so it seemed like an honorable achievement of
Penrose to come within a few points of Michael Moore
and he was actually one better than
"Tears of the Giraffe" by a popular detective novelist.
Especially surprising because Penrose book is said to
actually have some mathematical substance---it is
not just metaphors and impressionistic fluff but it
actually tries to teach you the real-stuff, with the formulas.
You can use it when you don't have a textbook handy
for some things, we are told. so I am in a happy state of shock.
The book market at least in Britain is different from what I
thought.
Remember what Stephen Hawking said his editor advised him:
"each formula you include, you lose half your potential buyers"
so, we were taught to believe, including equations is how not to sell books.
funny thing about the price.
I was told the price was going to be $85 in the USA, but was
30 pounds in Britain. Now I see that Amazon is selling it for 21 pounds!
Isnt that less than $40? So why doesn't everyone in USA who wants the
book simply order it from Amazon UK? Even with postage and delay you probably get it cheaper and sooner.
[edit: as of 5PM GMT-8, Friday 6August, Penrose book had risen to THIRD on amazon.com best seller list
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...lers/ref=cs_nav_sn_4/202-5121337-2949434&tag=
It is topped only a diet book and the DaVinci Code]
[edit edit: However by Thursday 12 August, it was down to ***TWENTYSIX*** place on the list. It is still on amazon top hundred, in other words, but it only spent a few days near the top of the list]
A couple of days ago Peter Woit's blog said
"Road to Reality" was #17 on the best-seller list at
UK Amazon, so i decided to check today and
it was #14
and for comparison #10 was Michael Moore
"Dude, Give Me Back My Country!"
so it seemed like an honorable achievement of
Penrose to come within a few points of Michael Moore
and he was actually one better than
"Tears of the Giraffe" by a popular detective novelist.
Especially surprising because Penrose book is said to
actually have some mathematical substance---it is
not just metaphors and impressionistic fluff but it
actually tries to teach you the real-stuff, with the formulas.
You can use it when you don't have a textbook handy
for some things, we are told. so I am in a happy state of shock.
The book market at least in Britain is different from what I
thought.
Remember what Stephen Hawking said his editor advised him:
"each formula you include, you lose half your potential buyers"
so, we were taught to believe, including equations is how not to sell books.
funny thing about the price.
I was told the price was going to be $85 in the USA, but was
30 pounds in Britain. Now I see that Amazon is selling it for 21 pounds!
Isnt that less than $40? So why doesn't everyone in USA who wants the
book simply order it from Amazon UK? Even with postage and delay you probably get it cheaper and sooner.
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