Do you memorize author names on all your textbooks?

[dullard]

I seem to be in the minority. I can't remember the name of a person I met 5 minutes ago. Thus, I definately can't remember the name of an author of a textbook that I had 7 years ago and barely touched. But for some reason, everyone else around me seems to have all of the authors of every textbook they ever used memorized. It drives me nuts at times.

For example, just today a professor came to me and asked if I had Blanchard Preliminary Edition. How the heck am I to know that? What is the name of the book? What is the subject in the book? Ask me those and I could tell you right off the top of my head if I have it. But no, I have to spend 10 minutes looking at shelves of books, reading every author's name, just to see if I might have a copy. Turns out, yes I did have it (Differential Equations is the name of the book). Since I have only one Differential Equations book in the office at the time, I could have answered his question in 5 seconds instead.

It isn't just one incident though. Everytime I meet someone and discuss our backgrounds I'm asked similar questions. "Who was the author of your book in Psychology 101?" "Who wrote your organic chemistry textbook?" Etc.

So who else out there takes the time to memorize every author of every textbook?

 

[jlee]

haha..no.

 

[Zim Hosein]

No, I have more important things to do like remembering the textbook name instead.

 

[WhiteKnight]

Well, for me the textbooks I use are pretty much the bibles of particular areas, so for me the author name is practically synonymous with the subject.

 

[Tiamat]

only book i know is my thermo book (smith and vanness) and my transport book (geankoplis) Only because my professors constantly refer to the books by their author's name.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

Only one I recall to this day is Oppenheim for Signals & Systems. Yep, that's about it.

 

[tfinch2]

I can barely remember the actual name of the book.

 

[daniel1113]

No... but I usually recall the author's names just out of conditioning. If you had a textbook for a semester or two, I would think the author's name would come naturally.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: daniel1113
No... but I usually recall the author's names just out of conditioning. If you had a textbook for a semester or two, I would think the author's name would come naturally.

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

What kind of student are you? Shame on you...

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: daniel1113

Originally posted by: CadetLee

What kind of student are you? Shame on you...

3.9x?

 

[Alex]

lol nope i got better things to do!

 

[MrBond]

I think it's because a lot of books on the same subject have similar names. For example, my DiffEq book was titled "Differential Equations" but it was by a different author than the one you mentioned. My profs always refered to books by their authors for the most part.

The only real exception was the Reactor Design book we had. You ask any ChemE student to see their Reactor book, and chances are it'll be Fogler's.

 

[AStar617]

You and Rain Man would get along like peas and carrots.

 

[SludgeFactory]

hardly ever. If it's *the* definitive book on the subject, maybe.

 

[KoolDrew]

No

 

[Anubis]

the only time i remember teh name is when we use the book written by the prof teaching the class

other then that no

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
No

 

[clamum]

I only one I know was the book for my Java programming class, but the professor wrote the book. Other than that, I don't pay attention to the author's name.

 

[MacBaine]

Since I wrote most of the popular books in my subject area, yes I do.

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: MacBaine
Since I wrote most of the popular books in my subject area, yes I do.

Subject area = mansecks?

 

[rh71]

I was trying to help my brother in law sell his college textbooks... and everytime I put in the details, I had to repeatedly ask who the authors were. He had just told me 5 minutes prior. Why anyone would purposely remember that is beyond me, unless they're just showing off. I have a feeling, since you're a PHD, Dullard... that some people you associate with may be doing it for that reason.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: MrBond
I think it's because a lot of books on the same subject have similar names.

Yes, but you need to at least know the name of the book. For the more obscure books, the author alone won't do it. Sure I recognize Smith and Van Ness and Fogler from my ChemE classes. However, for the classes where there isn't a difinitive ONE author, and where none of the authors are particularly famous, then having just the author's name is useless. For the classes where there is a definitive ONE author, then again you don't need to know the author's name since there really is just one that is used.

 

[Bassyhead]

i only remember the last names of the authors of the books i'm currently using

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: clamum

Originally posted by: MacBaine
Since I wrote most of the popular books in my subject area, yes I do.

Subject area = mansecks?

Hydro-magnetoidal frequency fluctuations in high-energy particle fields and the melting point of ham.