[layer8]

It’s too easy to just look up the solution instead of being forced to think hard about the problem. This is training for when you’ll later encounter problems outside of textbooks where you’ll have no choice but to solve them on your own. And you’re supposed to have teaching assistants or similar available when you really remain stuck.

[Herbstluft]

I care not for this explanation and opinion. If someone is unable to work on practice problems without just looking up the solutions that is really their problem, not mine.

> And you’re supposed to have teaching assistants or similar available when you really remain stuck.

That just translates to giving the middle finger to self learners.

I have not yet seen a decent explanation for withholding sample solutions/explanations. It usually just boils down to "I want this to be only for university professors to give homework from and I am of the opinion that university students lack the minimal discipline to work on problems in their own"

[harry8]

Yeah sorry that's just total and utter BS. No sale.

I am an adult. >99% of students of university subjects are adults. Even assuming your premise totally, anyone so incredibly stupid they can't have it explained in the text when is the right time to use the solutions is too stupid to learn from the text. Axler puts them on a website that is less than 30 seconds away.

"No choice..." Describes what proportion of texbook sales?

[layer8]

“No choice” was when I was in university. Text books didn’t have web sites then. To be honest I have no idea how frequent they are now. In any case, solutions not being available to students was a normal and expected situation back then, and it helped me develop grit for solving problems, because I’m otherwise quite lazy.

[harry8]

"No choice" here means you didn't choose the textbook, you (or your benefactor) simply paid for it.

I don't think "normal" is any excuse for any behavior. At one time, not so long ago, <insert evil thing here> was normal.

If you need information withheld from you to learn because of laziness, fine, sorry you have that problem, good luck solving it. It should not become the problem of anyone else nor be considered acceptable to impose a solution for you on them at their expense. That's just rotten.

Any textbook that is incomplete to learn from independently, without a "professor" reading a slide deck, without TA's and a yearly bill of over $10k over and above the textbook is not worthy of the name textbook and should be treated by every educated person with contempt. Same companies rent-seeking that do academic journals right. Hate isn't too strong a word for them if we care about education over rent-seeking.

4th edition usually means 3rd time the publisher re-ordered the exercises so the numbers don't match to kill the 2nd hand market. The whole thing blows goats.