Buying a big book

 

A days ago, in the course of reading about all the billions of bugs in my gut (to be reported on in due course), I was pointed at what turns out to be a standard text on cell biology, that is to say at reference 1.

Thinking that maybe a bit of basic tuition would be a good plan, I turned to Amazon, who offered me various versions of the book varying in price between £50 and £200, including paper back, hard back and loose leaf options. All too strong for my passing interest, so without looking more carefully, I turned to eBay, who could do me a pre-owned fourth edition for just under £5, including postage and packing, from the World of Books. Which was not bad for a book that weighed in at almost exactly seven pounds. Half a stone, in the anchor speak of an earlier post.

This morning, I thought to look at the publishing history. It seems fairly clear from reference 2, that this book has been a standard text for a while. The sort of text which must have occupied - and continue to occupy - an enormous number of people in the course of its forty year life. With the first author listed, Alberts, now being more than 80 years of age; a chap who had time to be a practising scientist as well as to collaborate on fifteen hundred page text books. For whom see reference 3.

The publisher is said to Garland Science, but asking Bing for them takes me to the unhelpful Routledge website at reference 4. Then going at it another way I get to Norton at reference 5, which seems to be the right place. Sixth edition now, seventh edition soon.

Next step: to see how many of the 1,500 pages of the fourth edition I get to look at, never mind read. I am hopeful that for my sort of general reader interest, being twenty years old will not matter, despite the pace of change - given that quite early on we are told that the basic machinery of the cell has been around for a very long time.

PS: the book came with a CD, described as an interactive version of the book. My laptop is old enough to have a CD reader, but to interact, I needed to loaded various chunks of software, including something from Netscape. Declined, so I shall have to settle for the print version.

References

Reference 1: Molecular Biology of the Cell - Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, Raff, Roberts and Walter - 2002. First published 1983, with this being the fourth edition. The current edition is the sixth edition, with the seventh waiting on the blocks. We have a cover design.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_Biology_of_the_Cell_(book).

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Alberts.

Reference 4: https://www.routledge.com/.

Reference 5: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780815344322.