Q&A: Peter Atkins on writing textbooks
The success of Peter Atkins’s classic textbook Physical Chemistry led him to trade research for full-time writing and
teaching in the 1980s. In the first of a series of five interviews with authors who each write science books for a different
audience, Atkins explains how the rewards for textbooks can be great, but the effort needed can affect your research.
What is the purpose of a textbook?
To inspire a mode of thought. Ideally, a book
then becomes a companion for life.
What is a good science textbook?
One that is considerate to the students — one
that tries to put itself in their position and to
explain and interpret what is going on. The
author has to imagine himself as a student,
and think and then write down what the
student might be puzzling over. It also needs
a logical flow.
Did your own teaching experiences
influence you?
Wholly. Being face-to-face with students
grappling with concepts is a real education.
They say “Yes, I understand”; but there’s
a dullness about their eyes. So you have
another go, and a light goes on. That’s the bit
you remember when you come to write.
How do textbooks come into being? Who
decides on the subject and scope?
You are constrained by the market. The
publisher is alert to what the market needs.
In my case, the publisher had received
a not-very-good proposal for a physical
chemistry book, and came to me and said,
can you do better? Sales reps are frequently
on the lookout for potential authors;
instructors often approach a publisher with
a proposal.
What makes you write?
It is an urge to communicate and share my
vision of the world. I’ve never taken a course
on writing. I have a lucid style, and I think I
can trace that to two things: one, I read a lot
of books at university; two, it is important to
have a deeper understanding than the level
one wishes to exposit, so that you have the
intellectual muscle and confidence.
What are the main challenges?
Getting the level right. Seeking that
balance between completeness and
succinctness so the text can be used over
a broad spectrum of classes and isn’t too
long. Major chemistry books have about
1,000 pages, and they grow. Not because of
factual content, but because more worked
examples are put in.
Your book is in its ninth edition — why so
many revisions?
Revisions have a rhythm that’s decided by
the market. Higher level texts are on a 4-year
cycle; lower level texts on a 3-year cycle. To
revise a book takes a year of rewriting and
a year of production. When I say rewrite, I
mean rewrite — not just tart up. To maintain
one’s premier position, one has to take
revision seriously.
Does the second-hand market reduce
sales?
Yes — it undermines income streams. In the
second year, purchases fall, and in the third
year there are none at all. If the second-hand
market could be eliminated, books would
last longer than 3 years and could be cheaper.
There is a way — to produce electronic books
[e-books] and kill them after a year.
How has the online shift affected
textbooks?
There are many advantages in the e-book
universe. The interactivity is compelling. You
have cheaper distribution. Publishers can set
the licence to expire to thwart the secondhand
market. But there are disadvantages.
You lose the serendipity of a real book
because browsing is difficult. In an e-book,
you’re out in a forest and don’t know where
the edge is, or even if there is an edge.
Is adding online content difficult?
To produce an e-book you have to be more
of an impresario than an author. You have
the pictures, the unfolding of different
depths of information. It’s an extraordinarily
demanding task.
Does this make it harder to find good
writers?
It is increasingly difficult for publishers
to get people to write textbooks. Heads of
department are adamant that their faculty
members focus on research, so publishers
are finding it difficult to commission people
of the quality they need. That becomes a
bigger problem when you’ve got the e-book
dimension added in.
What are the rewards for so much effort?
There are financial rewards. Beyond that,
there are real pleasures in knowing you
are helping to mould peoples’ attitudes. It’s
heart-warming that wherever you go in the
world, there’s a group of people who already
know you.
Is it true that authors can make millions
from textbooks?
The financial rewards can be considerable,
especially if they lead to other textbook
commissions. The largest potential market
is the freshman population in North
America, around 200,000 students, and
authors of textbooks for basic courses can
make serious amounts of money. More
specialist and graduate markets are much
smaller, in the thousands, so earnings are
proportionately less.
For those intent on writing a textbook,
what is your advice?
Of course, I’d like to be competition-free.
But when I’m gone, the prospective textbook
writer should realize that there are immense
rewards, not only intellectual. ■
Interview by Nicola Jones, a commissioning
editor for Nature’s Opinion section.
Peter Atkins’s PhysicalChemistrywas first
published in 1978 by Oxford University Press.
Peter Atkins sees textbooks as a way to capture a
mode of thinking.
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NATURE|Vol 463|4 February 2010OPINION
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