Trigonometric Delights (pdf)(press.princeton.edu)
press.princeton.edu
Trigonometric Delights (pdf)
http://press.princeton.edu/books/maor/
7 comments
I wonder if old school publishers will ever understand that stuff like this doesn't mean what they think it does...
"No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher, except for reading and browsing via the World Wide Web."
Because in order to read or browse this book you _have_ to download the PDF and store it somewhere... So you're automatically violating those terms...
Anyway, thanks for the post, this looks like an awesome book!
"No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher, except for reading and browsing via the World Wide Web."
Because in order to read or browse this book you _have_ to download the PDF and store it somewhere... So you're automatically violating those terms...
Anyway, thanks for the post, this looks like an awesome book!
Not to mention just reading it, your brain is an electro-chemical storage device! Last I heard they haven't been able to hook it up to the web just yet.
The preface's Problem 1 was a fun exercise proving a beautiful identity. Hint: Lbh arrq bayl bar gevt vqragvgl gb cebir vg, gur sbezhyn sbe fva(2k).
I read some of the chapter on the origin of cos and sine. It reads a bit like the telephone book, or possibly a dictionary. Either way, I am going to ignore the copyright, download it to my electric book, and read much of it.
On the contrary, I found the book engaging and interesting. Maor's passion for trigonometry shows through in his clever examples and humorous stories. (Read the prologue about Ahmes the Scribe)
I didn't say I didn't find it interesting. I said it reads like a telephone book. I actually liked that the information seemed to me to be compressed.
It makes for a kind of minimalist DRM. (I don't know for sure that the publisher meant it that way, though the way the copyright notice is written specifically to allow only reading "on the World Wide Web" suggests they could have an inkling.) There's no impediment to randomly browsing the full text online, but if you want to load it into an offline e-reader you have to deal with all the pieces somehow. Not that difficult, but it might be easier just to buy it.
Sure, overcoming this is a minor hurdle given a bit of effort, but you can say the same about cracking typical DRM. (I expect a lawyer could point out differences from the point of view of DMCA's anti-circumvention clause.)
Then again, the publisher may not have that much of a clue. There's no way to pay for a single-PDF version. And look at the links where the copyright notice punts you for information on Class Use [1] and other Permissions [2].
[1] http://press.princeton.edu/class_use/
[2] http://press.princeton.edu/permissions/