tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post116058185666083675..comments2023-06-03T06:19:58.217-07:00Comments on Scratchpad: Was Einstein the only scientist?Madhur Tulsianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03109444438348291138noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-66373031326440469722007-04-25T16:03:00.000-07:002007-04-25T16:03:00.000-07:00Remind me to show you McIntyre & Moore books in So...Remind me to show you McIntyre & Moore books in Somerville, Massachusetts sometime. There's a slightly different selection of math books there. Indeed, from their stock, you might be forgiven for thinking that all of mathematics consists of linear programming, logic, and analysis...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1161752491366262442006-10-24T22:01:00.000-07:002006-10-24T22:01:00.000-07:00Popular books on chemistry are indeed rare - which...Popular books on chemistry are indeed rare - which just reminds me of the <A HREF="http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2006/10/04/cheer_up_you_chemists.php" REL="nofollow">debates on the position of chemistry among sciences</A> that I came across in chemistry blogs after the nobel...(You can see <A HREF="http://nayagam.wordpress.com/2006/10/05/nobel06/" REL="nofollow">this post</A> for further links)<BR/><BR/>And, about the rest(Genes/Relativity) apart from being real "cool" things(or should it be "because of being real "cool" things" ? ), they're widely misunderstood ...<BR/><BR/>Anyway, since you're looking at used books, I will putforth a hypothesis to explain the dominance of Einstein - <A HREF="http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/O/OrwellGeorge/essay/misc/bookshopmemories.html" REL="nofollow">To quote orwell,"it is always fairly easy to sell Dickens, just as it is always easy to sell Shakespeare. Dickens is one of those authors whom people are ‘always meaning to’ read, and, like the Bible, he is widely known at second hand."</A><BR/><BR/>I think, we can extend it to surmise that lots of people buy books on Einstein which end up unread in the used books stores.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24839581.post-1160767316352461822006-10-13T12:21:00.000-07:002006-10-13T12:21:00.000-07:00Interesting observations! Next question would be, ...Interesting observations! <BR/>Next question would be, so what does this tell you about the American culture/attitude when it comes to reading for knowledge/info/other reasons? Do books follow the same pattern as every other commodity in the American market - by popular demand?!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com