[AllenDowney]

I understand that "just write a book" might come off as glib, especially for profs who teach 3+ classes per semester. So I don't mean that everyone has to, or should, but

1. Writing 150 pages that are targeted for your class and your students is easier than writing "the bible" for your field.

2. The quality of the first draft might not be great, but if you are getting feedback and constantly improving, it's not long before you are better off than using one of the expensive tomes.

3. If you start with other free material, you can get off to a fast start (several people have now written books that started with my material, and then evolved beyond recognition).

[tedmiston]

This is too disaligned with the criteria that are important to having a successful career as a professor. The problem isn't doing the work, it's that it takes a lot of time and is generally not a priority for the university and department vs research.

I've had some professors create fully self-contained slide decks for their course with references. Other professors teaching the same course often shared slides. Occasionally a textbook emerges from this material, but not most of the time. I think this is an approximation of your idea and probably the closest we'll get in practice.

Edit: Okay, I see in another child comment that you are a CS professor — how do you make the time to do both?

[AllenDowney]

That's true. I have the good fortune to work at a college (Olin College) that recognizes that my work developing textbooks is aligned with the mission of the institution, and can have as much external impact as research. But you are right -- most places give professors zero credit for writing textbooks.

[no_wizard]

Hey man,

Just wanted to thank you for all the stuff you have given us. I have found your books to be both delightful and enlightening, and the fact you give them away is pretty astounding. I myself buy the printed copies just to support this work, however I know many many people not of means that I point your resources to with great success.

I don't know if you hear it a lot or not enough, but thank you, sincerely. Solid material you got here.

[fasquoika]

Seconded, I have Green Tea Press bookmarked and I've been meaning to read through The Little Book of Semaphores for a couple months now

[tedmiston]

We could use a few more schools that think like that!