The Alumni book fair
The University of Queensland, where I study, holds a giant book fair every two years, run by the Alumni (the association of past graduates). They fill a giant hall with books in pretty much every conceivable subject, from quantum physics to croquet, from sci-fi to classical music scores. The best thing (for me, anyway!) is that they get rid of old library books, including text books and other relevant stuff! Everything is incredibly cheap too (e.g., textbooks $3-$4, fiction $1-$3) and usually in quite good condition. So, inevitably, there’s a queue up at least an hour beforehand, full of die hard book buyers with trolleys, backpacks, rations, portable chairs, etc…Once the doors open, it’s a bit like the Christmas sales, everyone running for the table they particularly want, and grabbing what they hope the best bargains are!
This year, I got there about 30 minutes early, and staked my claim near the front of the line. I had my battle plan all set out - straight to the physics table! Last time, a couple of people picked up really good physics books, and I was hoping that I might score this year! I also happened to know there were no physicists I knew ahead of me in the queue. (Yes, I know I’m making this out to be very serious, but it’s not - it’s quite good fun, actually!)
So the doors opened, and in we go. A couple of people were already at the science table, but more interested in the engineering stuff. I was scanning down the books, looking for something worthwhile or interesting - I picked up a book on special relativity, a book on optics by Young, and a John Gribbin popular science book. (All this took about 38 seconds…) Just as I was ready to swap sides of the table, my eyes settled on a set of old books tied together, and I lunged! It was my catch of the day - a complete set of the Feynman Lectures of Physics! These are a very famous set of “introductory” lectures notes written by Feynman, an equally famous physicist. Although they’re probably not the ideal text book for a first year course, once you know some physics they’re a great way to really appreciate and understand on a deeper level what you know. That said, they’re based on the course that Feynman taught to undergrads over two years, so they’re probably pretty decent. Anyway, they’re high on most physicist’s library lists, and typically cost about US$100 (A$130) - I got them for $6! Whee!
Other nice physics books included a couple of textbooks by Kittel (a big name in the “condensed matter” field, dealing with crystals, thermodynamics, etc) and the The Code Book by Simon Singh, a fascinating history of codes and cryptography from ancient to modern times. Other good finds were a variety of science fiction, especially Asimov, that I’ve been after, and a series by Stephen Donaldson which will probably be rather depressing to read (he’s horrible to his characters - loves tormenting them!), but good nonetheless.
All in all, I spent about $100, but got nearly three boxes of books, so I think I did okay! Should tide me over until 2007…
Sandra Says:
Aha, so it was your hand that reached out and snaffled the Feynman lectures while I was still trying to figure out what sort of prices were being charged - (s)he who hesitates is lost !!! Although, I must admit I already have volume 1 from many years ago when I attended Adelaide Uni - and have never read more than a few bits here and there, so I’m sure you’ll give them a much better home than I would have. I did manage to get Spivak’s Calculus and a few others which made my trip from the northside well worthwhile.
So, is the sale held at roughly the same time of year each time - I only found out about it by pure luck because I happened to read more of Thursday’s paper than the TV guide that week and saw an ad. I definitely don’t want to miss it next time it comes around, in 2007, I presume.
I think I’ll be there much earlier next year. I went on day two and you didn’t leave me much in the physics section, so I picked up five biographies, two religion and one linguistics book for a total of less than $20. Still very good value though.
Was that Kittel book THE Kittel book? Not as good as Ashcroft and Mermin, but I’d be happier buying that for a couple of dollars than the Feynman lectures.