Printing Quality of Feynman Lectures Millennium Edition

[smodak]

I know that the Millennium Edition of FLP is supposed to be the most up-to-date and corrected, however, I have read (in amazon) really less than ideal reviews on how glossy the pages are, how light the printed text are, and how the texts go inside the left margin making it very difficult to read. Could anyone comment on just how badly these books are actually printed? Is it really as bad as the amazon reviews portray it to be compared to, say, the Definitive Edition?

 

[codelieb]

I am looking at the books right now as I write this. The text does not go inside the left margin. The pages are not glossy. If you look more carefully at the Amazon reviews you will find several people who corroborate these claims.

BTW, did you know you can read the book for free online? See www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu .

There are also very good ePub and Kindle editions available now.

There are a lot of people who just like to malign Feynman and The Feynman Lectures on Physics.

 

[smodak]

Thanks. But these People are not really maligning Feynman and The Feynman Lectures on Physics. They are just saying that this specific edition is hard on the eyes. I think I will just buy the MIllennium Paperbacks since you are saying the edition is ok on the eyes.

 

[smodak]

I ordered the hardcover Millennium Edition from Amazon.

 

[smodak]

I received the hardcover books today (prime shipping). I also picked up the problem book. As a basis for comparison, I used the 1966 edition that I also own. I picked up the new set as FLP set are among some of my most favorite physics books and I wanted to own it in a relatively error free version. I read the FLP long ago and now wanted to read it again using the new edition.

Here is my assessment of the quality of printing of the new Millennium edition putting is side by side with the 1966 edition.
The binding is quite nice and the books are good looking. The pages are not glossy at all but the quality of paper is not great. The print however is not good at all. The letters are 'thin' and rickety and harder to read compared to the original red edition that has nice thick bold black letters printed. They are readable if direct light is shining on them, however, they do cause eye strain and require effort to read. All FLPs (old and new editions) have a lot of room on the right margin and this is nothing new. However, the left margin for the Millennium edition is too close to the spine making it awkward to read. The pictures are however, nicely done and so are the math, the formulas, and the equations. In short, the printing of the Millennium edition does not do justice to the excellent content. My advice for People who are contemplating purchasing the new millennium edition is to skip it and try to acquire one of the older versions in good condition and deal with the errata online. I have not decided yet whether to keep mine or send it back. I love FLP but the printing quality of the Millennium edition does leave a bad taste in mouth.

 

[vanhees71]

I'd send it back. It's inacceptable for books as expensive as physics textbooks are that they are in bad technical condition. It is a shame that this great books are reprinted in such bad condition. I own the old edition, which is very well readable.

 

[codelieb]

I personally do not agree with your assessment of the print quality of the New Millennium edition of FLP, and though I do not have a copy of the 1966 edition on hand with which to compare it, I do have a copy of the Commemorative Edition, which was printed from the same plates as the 1966 edition, by the same publisher. I measured the size of the inside margins in that edition and in the New Millennium edition: they are the same. Perhaps they appear wider in your 1966 edition because it is older, the spine is more relaxed and the pages lay flatter. I don't know. But in any case, I don't agree with you, and given the low return rates, it appears most people who buy the New Millennium Edition are satisfied with it.

With regard to your advice to "acquire one of the older versions in good condition and deal with the errata online": there have been ~1500 corrections made in the New Millennium edition, which would be a a lot of correcting for people to "deal with," not to mention the improvements made to the figures, the expansion and unification of the indexes, and the addition of a symbol table to all three volumes.

vanhees71: You seem overly ready to advise without having inspected these books yourself. How do you know you would agree with smodak?

 

[EdmundRonald]

Hello - my 1976 book set is getting hard to read with paper yellowing. Is the "commemorative" edition or some other printed on decent paper that stayed white? I'd like to purchase an edition printed from the same plates, not the new millenium.

Edmund

 

[MidgetDwarf]

I have the newest printing, purchased the same day they went on sale. I do not notice any printing issues. However, the previous editions, are printed using better materials. Nothing wrong with the current editions.