From: fc03@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (Frederick W. Chapman)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: High Prices of Math Books. I am pissed.
Date: 6 Jan 93 05:02:18 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

In article <1993Jan5.203717.11913@Princeton.EDU>,
bathurst@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Bruce Bathurst) writes:

>Students need to own a library, not use a public one.  Let me remind
>my colleagues that at the schools where I've taught, libraries are
>nothing but desks for those fleeing amplified music, and every chair
>is taken.  Even if they changed their function and purchased hundreds
>of copies of the same texts, they would not be viable substitutes for
>a personal library.

I agree with Bart Goddard (not quoted here) and Bruce Bathurst...  Although
a good, public library facility is invaluable, it is a complement to rather
than a substitute for a personal library, which I have found to be
absolutely indispensable.  A personal library consists of a set of core
books that one consults on a day to day basis over a period of years.  A
personal library is tailored to the interests, needs, and tastes of the
scholar who owns it; a public library is not.

Ready references need to be onhand WHEN THE NEED ARISES.  What some might
consider merely a "convenience" really makes the difference between an
environment in which a scholar can flourish and one in which every step is
fraught with obstacles.  More concretely put, how fast do you think
scholarship will progress if one has to run down to the library (when it's
open, of course), consult a card catalog, hunt through shelves and shelves
of books, perhaps finding what one wants, perhaps not -- EVERY TIME A BASIC
QUESTION NEEDS TO BE ANSWERED???  I would be surprised if scholarship
progressed at all under such circumstances.

I can trace some key developments in my own research directly to ready
access to the information in my personal library, which is my greatest
day-to-day asset -- much more so than mathematical software, and even more
so than a resource that I cannot live without, *gasp* the Internet.
Without my own library, I believe that certain critical steps of progress
in my work simply never would have occurred.  I am greatful to have such a
resource, and am reminded that I really should take out some household
insurance.  :-)

To some extent it boils down to the time vs. money tradeoff.  Students with
tight budgets are often forced to rely on a library, but may be fortunate
enough to devote themselves to scholarship on a full-time basis.  As a
self-supporting research mathematician, I am in a different situation.
Working full-time allows me to acquire a library but means that I can
pursue scholarship only after spending 40 hours a week on something else.
All things considered, I am a lucky fellow; but blessed is the person who
has both free time AND a healthy income!

Fred Chapman
Counting my Blessings


P.S.  Of course, if, through some kind of unspeakable mutilation, my
Internet connection were to be severed, I might have a lot *more* free
time.  :-)

-- 

o ------------------------------------------------------------------------- o
|  Frederick W. Chapman, User Services, Computing Center, Lehigh University |
|    Campus Phone:  8-3218     Preferred E-mail Address:  fc03@Lehigh.Edu   | 
o ------------------------------------------------------------------------- o
|             Ecstasy is transitory, but a theorem is forever!              |
o ------------------------------------------------------------------------- o
Newsgroups: sci.math