The best beginner's math book was created by Euclid thousands of years ago. Why are children today learning from Kaplan & McGraw?
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Replying to @danlistensto
yes! I actually want to know. Though i'm pretty sure i know what the answer is
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Replying to @_molten_steel_
its copyright shit. Elements is public domain and a bazillion used and library copies are available (and full text on the internet too) so textbook co. can't make any money selling it. they have coerced schools to mandate their copyrighted text-books. it's a tax on students.
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Replying to @danlistensto @_molten_steel_
similarly, these companies release new editions each year with trivial changes to make older used copies incompatible with the class-work. stuff like changing the numbering in problem sets, or changing the order of the chapters.
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Replying to @danlistensto
I'm actually not sure how that works. The teachers can just keep using the old problem sets, right?
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Replying to @_molten_steel_
school district (or department head in a college) makes policy saying class must be taught using this year's edition of textbook. teacher assigns homework with that edition. the problem set numbers don't match last years edition. student with used book can't complete the HW.
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More recently the textbook companies build stupid subscription web sites that offer slight labor savings to instructors who natch are not the ones paying for it
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