If you are having such thoughts, think again, many textbook authors advise. For one thing, they say, writing a textbook takes years, not months. And for another, it probably will not help your career--in fact, in many cases, writing a text can actually hurt those on the tenure track.
Nonetheless, academic scientists keep on doing it. For some prolific professors, writing a text is simply the next step in the evolution of a terrific set of lecture notes. Others see text writing as a highly stimulating challenge of synthesizing material and conveying one's own fascination with a field. But for many, the impetus is intangible, just "something you have to do," says Daryl Eb-bing, a professor of chemistry at Wayne State University in Detroit and author of Introductory General Chemistry (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1992).
If a scientist survives the many drafts, reviews, galleys, and page proofs that constitute the ...
