These take me back to my time volunteering in my middle school library. And great price! I've not seem them - as a set - lower than $75, so both an attractive set and a great price. I can't say I buy books for eye candy but, as my grandmother would often remind me, aesthetics were never my thing.
These are going to look great on my shelves (when I figure out where to put them). I like that they are books where I can pick one up and read it on a weekend. Hah, love the quip from your grandmother; my mom, sister, and wife tell me the same thing :p
Woah! I remember when I was a kid, my parents had a bunch of encyclopedia book series on nature and science and animals, I loved flipping through them! Great find, Fred👏👏👏 I mostly buy books because I will read them but normalize books as decorative pieces, I say, bonus if you read them AND they look great, why not ? Better buy cool and unique books just for the looks than some grocery store item everyone and their mom has...
Wow, it's great that you had those on hand as a kid! Yeah, I'm not into decorative pieces unless they are busts/statues of people/gods from antiquity, or elegant book sets. One day they'll all go into my future Victorian library - one day :)
For single books, I use the synopsis as my guide for buying or not as well. For box sets, well, if they are non-fiction and look good I make exceptions :)
Wow nice haul! Well deserved after that RWYO challenge :). Those science books from the 80s are so fun - that Human Body cover, lol. What a great price. I agree, just having them in a collection and flipping through them from time to time is really nice, even if they are a little outdated. I love the TIME-LIFE Nature Library series from the 60s and I've been slowly collecting them as well. As a fellow science nerd, I really enjoyed seeing your haul and thank you for showing us! And yes, I definitely buy books for eye candy, too and I can't wait for this RWYO challenge to be over for me in 2 weeks so I can start buying some again! :D :D
I looked up the Time-Life Nature Library series - there are like 25 books in that set. There's something about these books that, though they are older, have a certain charm to them. 2 weeks to go - woohoo! Good luck with the RWYO challenge Farrah :)
Nice! Hope you enjoy them! Were "grocery store encylopedias" a fad in 1970s/80s Canada? Supermarkets here offered programs that were supposed to hook compulsives into purchasing a complete set by offering a few volumes at a discount. As you can imagine, most families ended up with partial sets. 😜 But regardless, my parents actually splurged on a full set of science and technology encyclopedias for me. They weren't World Book, but they were something similar. LOVED those things! I'd probably still flip through them ocasionally if I hadn't read them to the point they fell apart YEARS ago. 😊 By the way, my recent science indulgence was a fairly updated, grad school level textbook about molecular signalling and allostery. I know it's not the stuff of casual reading, but it hews pretty close to my favored niche, and I spotted it at a price I "couldn't" resist. 😁
We never had grocery store encyclopedia's - all I remember were the tabloid magazines, and Archie comics. That is awesome that you had science texts as a kid. As an adult, I picked up the Time-Life _Mysteries of the Unknown_ series because of the nostalgic infomercials I watched as a kid. Isn't it great picking up a book related to a subject you enjoyed? I actually picked up newer versions of McMurry Chem and Organic Chem books because his textbooks made such an impression on me in University.
@ReadbyFred Yep, I understand. And that reminds me: I need to check to see if the Voet biochemistry text is still going, and if so, how much a post Bill Clinton administration edition might set me back. That book was like holy writ to me. Shoot, I STILL occasionally flip through my battered old 2nd Edition (published in 1995!) just for the heck of it. I know many would cite Leninger as THE biochemistry text, but I was all about Voet. Of course, as out of the loop as I am, there's probably some new gold standard that my aging carcass has never even heard of. 😜
I think the only cover buying I did was for Niven's Ringworld. A good old science book is titled The Science In Science Fiction by Peter Nicholls. It is well organized, illustrated, and everything explained in basic manner for the lay person on a variety of topics from propulsion, black holes, energy usage, UFO's, psychic powers, and all the why and why not behind them.
_The Science Behind Science Fiction_ sounds like an interesting read. I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to stuff like that, but I find the "what if it were true" fascinating.
@@ReadbyFred No no, the book itself is skeptical of those items like psychic powers and UFO's and such. If this book, The Science IN Science Fiction were turned into a text book and taught in say Junior High less con men would get away with BS in this world.
lol - Crystal, you seem to know me well :) Would you believe I also have a periodic table of the elements poster in my office, and in the barn? it's true. So long as I keep my hobbies in the barn and my corner of the basement (my office) my wife is okay with it :)
Nice deal for a set. Sad that already outdated and only 30ish years. Agreed about the Time Life series, older but still very interesting reads. Can’t say I have ever bought a book as eye candy 🍭
These take me back to my time volunteering in my middle school library. And great price! I've not seem them - as a set - lower than $75, so both an attractive set and a great price. I can't say I buy books for eye candy but, as my grandmother would often remind me, aesthetics were never my thing.
These are going to look great on my shelves (when I figure out where to put them). I like that they are books where I can pick one up and read it on a weekend. Hah, love the quip from your grandmother; my mom, sister, and wife tell me the same thing :p
Woah! I remember when I was a kid, my parents had a bunch of encyclopedia book series on nature and science and animals, I loved flipping through them! Great find, Fred👏👏👏
I mostly buy books because I will read them but normalize books as decorative pieces, I say, bonus if you read them AND they look great, why not ?
Better buy cool and unique books just for the looks than some grocery store item everyone and their mom has...
Wow, it's great that you had those on hand as a kid! Yeah, I'm not into decorative pieces unless they are busts/statues of people/gods from antiquity, or elegant book sets. One day they'll all go into my future Victorian library - one day :)
I took a Botany class in high school. I was astonished at just how fascinating plants were. Hope you have a great read with that one.
The plant kingdom is a fascinating subject! Thanks, I think I'm going to have fun reading all of these :)
Lovely set! Id do that too - maybe my time travel book can count as science 😊
From the sounds of it, Time _Time Travel and Other Mathematical Bewilderments_ from Martin Gardener sounds like it would be a great fit :)
The cover of a book attracts me. I then look at the description of the book on the back cover to determine whether I want to buy the book
For single books, I use the synopsis as my guide for buying or not as well. For box sets, well, if they are non-fiction and look good I make exceptions :)
Wow nice haul! Well deserved after that RWYO challenge :). Those science books from the 80s are so fun - that Human Body cover, lol. What a great price. I agree, just having them in a collection and flipping through them from time to time is really nice, even if they are a little outdated. I love the TIME-LIFE Nature Library series from the 60s and I've been slowly collecting them as well. As a fellow science nerd, I really enjoyed seeing your haul and thank you for showing us! And yes, I definitely buy books for eye candy, too and I can't wait for this RWYO challenge to be over for me in 2 weeks so I can start buying some again! :D :D
I looked up the Time-Life Nature Library series - there are like 25 books in that set. There's something about these books that, though they are older, have a certain charm to them. 2 weeks to go - woohoo! Good luck with the RWYO challenge Farrah :)
@@ReadbyFred Thank you! And yeah, my grandfather used to have them all so they feel very nostalgic to me :)
Nice! Hope you enjoy them! Were "grocery store encylopedias" a fad in 1970s/80s Canada? Supermarkets here offered programs that were supposed to hook compulsives into purchasing a complete set by offering a few volumes at a discount. As you can imagine, most families ended up with partial sets. 😜
But regardless, my parents actually splurged on a full set of science and technology encyclopedias for me. They weren't World Book, but they were something similar. LOVED those things! I'd probably still flip through them ocasionally if I hadn't read them to the point they fell apart YEARS ago. 😊
By the way, my recent science indulgence was a fairly updated, grad school level textbook about molecular signalling and allostery. I know it's not the stuff of casual reading, but it hews pretty close to my favored niche, and I spotted it at a price I "couldn't" resist. 😁
We never had grocery store encyclopedia's - all I remember were the tabloid magazines, and Archie comics. That is awesome that you had science texts as a kid. As an adult, I picked up the Time-Life _Mysteries of the Unknown_ series because of the nostalgic infomercials I watched as a kid.
Isn't it great picking up a book related to a subject you enjoyed? I actually picked up newer versions of McMurry Chem and Organic Chem books because his textbooks made such an impression on me in University.
@ReadbyFred Yep, I understand. And that reminds me: I need to check to see if the Voet biochemistry text is still going, and if so, how much a post Bill Clinton administration edition might set me back. That book was like holy writ to me. Shoot, I STILL occasionally flip through my battered old 2nd Edition (published in 1995!) just for the heck of it. I know many would cite Leninger as THE biochemistry text, but I was all about Voet. Of course, as out of the loop as I am, there's probably some new gold standard that my aging carcass has never even heard of. 😜
I think the only cover buying I did was for Niven's Ringworld.
A good old science book is titled The Science In Science Fiction by Peter Nicholls. It is well organized, illustrated, and everything explained in basic manner for the lay person on a variety of topics from propulsion, black holes, energy usage, UFO's, psychic powers, and all the why and why not behind them.
_The Science Behind Science Fiction_ sounds like an interesting read. I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to stuff like that, but I find the "what if it were true" fascinating.
@@ReadbyFred No no, the book itself is skeptical of those items like psychic powers and UFO's and such. If this book, The Science IN Science Fiction were turned into a text book and taught in say Junior High less con men would get away with BS in this world.
I am unfamiliar with Alexander von Humboldt, but Hermann von Helmholtz is a name I recognize. My science reading has mainly been physics related.
I wish I was so focused on one area of science. My science reading has been all over the map this year. :p
These books are so you. 😊
lol - Crystal, you seem to know me well :) Would you believe I also have a periodic table of the elements poster in my office, and in the barn? it's true. So long as I keep my hobbies in the barn and my corner of the basement (my office) my wife is okay with it :)
Nice deal for a set. Sad that already outdated and only 30ish years. Agreed about the Time Life series, older but still very interesting reads. Can’t say I have ever bought a book as eye candy 🍭
I do hope one day to have a nice victorian-esque library. These books will definitely add to the character of that :)
@@ReadbyFred sounds like a lovely cozy library. My books are all over between 4 rooms and various themes - one day I may even get them organized🤣🤣🤣