The Birth of a Textbook - Comments

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the experiences and challenges related to the publishing process of a new textbook, including insights into typesetting, author experiences, and the availability of solution manuals. Participants share personal anecdotes and opinions regarding the quality of textbook production and the evolution of typesetting technology.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express concerns about the publishing process, citing experiences where LaTeX documents were poorly converted to other formats, leading to readability issues.
  • Others, including the author, report a smooth publishing experience, with effective support from the publisher regarding LaTeX formatting.
  • There is a discussion about the historical challenges of typesetting in academic publishing, with references to past practices that were cumbersome compared to modern methods.
  • Several participants inquire about the availability of a solutions manual, with some suggesting it should be accessible to self-learners, while others note that it is typically reserved for teachers who adopt the textbook.
  • One participant mentions the economic rationale behind limiting access to solution manuals, indicating a divide in opinions among educators on this issue.
  • Another participant expresses curiosity about the time and effort involved in writing a textbook and how errors are managed during the publishing process.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the quality of the publishing process, with some sharing negative experiences while others report positive outcomes. The discussion on the accessibility of solution manuals also reveals differing views on their intended audience.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various personal experiences and historical contexts regarding typesetting and publishing, indicating that practices may vary significantly among publishers and over time.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in the textbook publishing process, typesetting technology, and the experiences of authors in academia may find this discussion insightful.

  • #61
Orodruin said:
Indeed. I am pretty sure the printed version looks much better, at least my print-ready pdf does, and that this is auto-generated. Solely based on the number of equations, this is about one third of the first chapter.

@Greg Bernhardt has seen the copies used for prizes in the photo and haiku/limerick contests and should be able to confirm. I am hoping my author copies have arrived when I get back to work after the holidays on Monday.
Well, I never understood, why the publishers offer technical books in epub formats with the formulae put in the lowest possible resolution. It discredits the entire book, if you ask me. Why don't they use pdf, which gives everything in very good quality (provided it's typeset correctly with real vector fonts rather than also using png or even worse jpg for formulae). Some textbooks by Springer are offered in pdf and epub. You can see the nonsense of epub by simple comparison of both formats. Never ever buy a textbook in epub format! I prefer to have both, a paper copy and the ebook as pdf. Sometimes you get this ideal combination, i.e., buying the paper copy you get the pdf ebook for free too.
 
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  • #62
Orodruin said:
It would have been more appropriate for a book on quantum mechanics. Or not. We won’t know until Greg reviews a QM book.
Well, quantum physicists are known to be notorious cat tormentors, confining the poor animals in boxes and prepare a state, where the cat is in superposition of dead and alive. Even worse are experimenters, who tend to really open the box to check whether the cat is alive or dead, causing an instantaneous collapse of the poor creature (at least if they believe in naive interpretations of QT contradicting its very foundations ;-)).
 
  • #63
Orodruin said:
We won’t know until Greg reviews a QM book.
Let me know when your book on QM is published :smile:
 
  • #64
Congratulations @Orodruin! I really appreciate and have a big estimate for this user, who is always helping in the community. It is also amazing to read the testimony of how it is tu publish a book. Congratulations again, and thanks for sharing!
 
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  • #65
I had now 1.5 days to "diagonal read" through @Orodruin 's book. It's just marvelous! That's the kind of book, I missed in the early semesters to learn the math necessary for physics (most importantly vector calculus, i.e., div, grad, rot and Gauss's and Stokes's integral theorems) before the math lectures provided us with this material. It's written in a very clear and concise way, emphasizing the fundamental ideas and also the calculational techniques needed by any physicist from the very beginning. When I've read a bit more systematically through some chapters, I'll write a more complete review at Amazon (of course with 5 stars :-)))! It's just great!
 
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  • #66
Is there a 'look inside' or sample chapter(s) available anywhere now/

p.s. never Mind. I see amazon has the look inside available now.
 
  • #67
vanhees71 said:
It's just great!
Happy you like it. It means a lot.

smodak said:
Is there a 'look inside' or sample chapter(s) available anywhere now/

p.s. never Mind. I see amazon has the look inside available now.
The look inside on amazon is the kindle version, which I believe is auto generated from the pdf. This does not always work out very well. The actual text is much better typeset.
 
  • #68
Yes, the typeset of the printed book is fine. I wonder, why they don't provide a pdf version as "e-book". Springer offers pdf's and sometimes epub or kindle or whatever, and it's horrible.
 
  • #69
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  • #70
Orodruin said:
I wish we had more books to give away!
Time to start your next book :smile:
 
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  • #71
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  • #72
I'm about to start writing a textbook myself, and I found this very helpful, so thank you for taking the time to write this Orodruin!

Btw, how close was the book to what you had originally planned? Do you wish you could have spent more time on it, or is it pretty close to what you wanted?
 
  • #73
qspeechc said:
I'm about to start writing a textbook myself, and I found this very helpful, so thank you for taking the time to write this Orodruin!
Just happy you liked it!

qspeechc said:
Btw, how close was the book to what you had originally planned?
The original plan I had for the text is outlined in the Insight and you can compare it with the final table of contents. I touched on this briefly in the Insight as well, but generally I wrote more or less what I wanted to write from the beginning with the exception that some application chapters had to go because I realized they would essentially be books on their own if I wrote what I wanted about those subjects. I also added the chapter on symmetries and group theories because I found that many of my students could use a short and quickly accessible introduction to the subject without taking a full group theory course. It also added the benefit of being able to develop some particular insights in later chapters.

qspeechc said:
Do you wish you could have spent more time on it, or is it pretty close to what you wanted?
I think it is pretty close to what I wanted. I am sure there are typos in some places, but at some time you reach a point when further proofreading will no longer give you enough return. I am rather happy with how it turned out.

You might also notice that you suffer from fatigue with respect to your text at many times. My suggestion is to take it easy for some time and think of other things, do not force it and your inspiration will likely return eventually. If you just force through it, you risk ending up with chapters that are cut short because you just wanted some text on that particular subject to be there.
 
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  • #74
I was looking to get the ebook version of this as I always enjoy reading Oroduin's insights on posts here on PF. However, the quality of the ebook is... not very good. I hope they fix it soon!
 
  • #75
Greg Bernhardt said:
Time to start your next book :smile:
Done! :wink:
(Edit: Fun fact. Since the solution chapters are much longer, the Amazon Look Inside preview contains the formulations of the first 109 problems ... no solutions though ...)
I also completed the other two tasks mentioned in the beginning of the Insight. :smile:
 
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