Why not a new version of World of Carbon/Nitrogen?

I've been re-reading (after some 40 years!) Asimov's _The World of
Carbon_. It's a Collier paperback that I've had sitting around for
years (I originally read it in a library hb edition); now that I'm
retired it finally "came to the top of the stack".** I'm enjoying it
immensely, but wondering about updates to some of the information (and
some of the speculations!) in it. Somewhere back home in Alaska I also
have a hb of _the World of Nitrogen_, its companion volume. I suppose
Janet owns the copyright to these 2 books... or perhaps the publisher
does. It seems like a winner to reissue them with some updates. In
this epoch of declining scientific literacy, it would be nice to see an
intro to organic chemistry so accessible to the ordinary
person-in-the-street (esp. the _young_ person) widely available.

Failing that, the invite suggestions/nominations for current worthy
successor to the Good Doctor as a popularizer of science.

George, in sunny Yuma AZ for the winter

*"The Stack" includes, among many other things, a nearly complete
collection of the paperback anthologies of Dr. A's essays from F&SF.

In article <1105823068.213900.312300 DeleteThis @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
"alaskano" <pricerbumanto DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:

 > I've been re-reading (after some 40 years!) Asimov's _The World of
 > Carbon_. It's a Collier paperback that I've had sitting around for
 > years (I originally read it in a library hb edition); now that I'm
 > retired it finally "came to the top of the stack".** I'm enjoying it
 > immensely, but wondering about updates to some of the information (and
 > some of the speculations!) in it. Somewhere back home in Alaska I also
 > have a hb of _the World of Nitrogen_, its companion volume. I suppose
 > Janet owns the copyright to these 2 books... or perhaps the publisher
 > does. It seems like a winner to reissue them with some updates. In
 > this epoch of declining scientific literacy, it would be nice to see an
 > intro to organic chemistry so accessible to the ordinary
 > person-in-the-street (esp. the _young_ person) widely available.
 >
 > Failing that, the invite suggestions/nominations for current worthy
 > successor to the Good Doctor as a popularizer of science.
 >
 > George, in sunny Yuma AZ for the winter
 >
 > *"The Stack" includes, among many other things, a nearly complete
 > collection of the paperback anthologies of Dr. A's essays from F&SF.

The same could be said for most of the rest of Asimov's nonfiction books
that are out of print. For some subjects, such as history, there isn't
much need for updating. But for science, which is ever advancing,
updates would indeed be needed. Asimov updated some of his science books
with new information, but his general approach was to write an entirely
new book once the required revisions became extensive.

Although it would be a winner for readers to republish those books, it
probably won't be a winner for a publisher, and almost certainly not a
big winner. Not much of his nonfiction was a big financial boon for his
publishers; it has been his fiction which has generated most of the
money for them.

The publishing business, like the music business, tends to concentrate
on big sales numbers to generate big profits. The "product" tends to
have a short shelf life. However, in recent times we have seen changes
in the music business, where they are learning that those many items
that had been cleared off the shelves can add up to significant income,
as long as the distribution costs remain low. Perhaps that idea will
catch on in the book publishing industry too. I'm afraid that may be the
only hope for the fate of much of Asimov's out-of-print nonfiction.

--
Ed Seiler<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->