This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

Who's up for a good old fashioned book burning?

2»

Comments

  • I wouldn't mind this so much as long as they reprint very popular and past popular old childrens books. I know that wouldn't happen though.
  • I know that wouldn't happen though.
    Case in point as to why: the steps for home chloroform synthesis in the aforementioned Golden Book.
  • Great, this lessens my chances even further of finding a mint copy ofThe Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.
    Collector's Item
    Copies of this book often sell for prices between $100 to over $700 (USD), or higher, depending on condition.
    The law won't affect this book.
  • Clearly we should invent robots, Pusher Robots and Shover Robots. They will Shove and Push children to protect them from the terrible secret of space!
    And by that I mean shove and push the children down the stairs and by all this I mean protect children from the terrible secret of life.
  • And by that I mean shove and push the children down the stairs and by all this I mean protect children from the terrible secret of life.
    I don't think you would've needed to add that.
  • Great, this lessens my chances even further of finding a mint copy ofThe Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.

    See it here.

    That's definitely the reason they want this enforced (read old how-to books sometime; you'll find that they are dangerous as HELL), but I've always thought that kids need a longer leash. The government doesn't exist to play mommy-daddy to the unwashed masses' unguided children.
    Here is a pdf of the book; which is good enough for me.
  • Great, this lessens my chances even further of finding a mint copy ofThe Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.

    See it here.

    That's definitely the reason they want this enforced (read old how-to books sometime; you'll find that they are dangerous as HELL), but I've always thought that kids need a longer leash. The government doesn't exist to play mommy-daddy to the unwashed masses' unguided children.
    Here is a pdf of the book; which is good enough for me.
    Oh joy! I remember asking my parents for chemistry sets and I would get lame and stupid useless things which contained maybe 3-4 chemicals. This'll be perfect for my ...needs.
  • There's a lead law somewhere. I'm pretty sure there are multiple lead laws covering a variety of products. I have no idea if there's ever been a toxin law for books, though.
    In 1985, a law came into effect that regulated teh pigments that books could be made with. That's why post-1985 books are okay to sell without worrying about certification or testing.

    Just to clarify, this law isn't specifically about books. It applies to all products intended primarily for children. Books are just one casualty.
  • edited March 2009
    People could save quite a few of these books by digitization. Oh wait, no, we can't do that, copyright won't let us.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • Great, this lessens my chances even further of finding a mint copy ofThe Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.

    See it here.

    That's definitely the reason they want this enforced (read old how-to books sometime; you'll find that they are dangerous as HELL), but I've always thought that kids need a longer leash. The government doesn't exist to play mommy-daddy to the unwashed masses' unguided children.
    Here is a pdf of the book; which is good enough for me.
    I feel stupid. I just tried the pdf that I downloaded and it was bad. It looks like it links to the site that was mentioned my WindUpBird. I have found a link to a mininova torrent here. I am at school and mininova is blocked so I can't see if there are any seeders. I will follow up on this when I get home tonight.
  • edited March 2009
    Google finds plenty of links that do work, without the need for a torrent.

    Of course, this brings up even more interesting questions about technology, of the kind Rym and Scott are wont to mention. This book is "obviously" too dangerous for children to see, so it was banned and everything was fine and dandy. Now it's on the Internet, and children are quite capable of using the Internet. What now? What about other "dangerous" media on the Internet?

    Do we force the Internet to adhere to the standards of the physical world, do we force the physical world to adhere to the standards of the Internet, or do we continue as we are now and leave a huge discrepancy between one and the other?
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • I feel stupid. I just tried the pdf that I downloaded and it was bad. It looks like it links to the site that was mentioned my WindUpBird. I have found a link to a mininova torrenthere. I am at school and mininova is blocked so I can't see if there are any seeders. I will follow up on this when I get home tonight.
    The PDF probably contains dangerous levels of lead. That's why you can't get a copy. ;)
  • edited March 2009
    And by that I mean shove and push the children down the stairs and by all this I mean protect children from the terrible secret of life.
    I don't think you would've needed to add that.
    But Space's terrible power prevents the point from being told! LIVE IS SPACE AND ALL IT'S TERRIBLE SECRETS.
    Post edited by Conan-San on
  • edited March 2009
    Maybe we should start an underground market in pre-1985 childrens books? Or perhaps a Library Army to preserve the books and acquire books before they are burned to catalog them? Row Row Fight The Powah?
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • Haven't these people read Fahrenheit 451?
  • Haven't these people readFahrenheit 451?
    That was written and published 50 years ago. We can't let that book be read by children due to high chance of toxicity, we must burn all copies of that book. We're safer that way.
  • That was written and published 50 years ago. We can't let that book be read by children due to high chance of toxicity, we must burn all copies of that book. We're safer that way.
    Just a note, I doubt a child who is in their teething years, would be reading F451 :-p

    (I know your joking) :-p
  • Haven't these people readFahrenheit 451?
    That was written and published 50 years ago. We can't let that book be read by children due to high chance of toxicity, we must burn all copies of that book. We're safer that way.
    After all, fire is bright and fire is clean.
  • Just a note, I doubt a child who is in their teething years, would be reading F451 :-p
    You're right, they would be eating it!
  • It's part of a balanced literary diet.
  • It's part of a balanced literary diet.
    The cuteness of that statement is painful! ^_^
  • I didn't see anything about this in the article, but does this mean that books that are currently being printed as new but were originally published pre-1985 are affected? If so, would they all be banned or would it just be the older copies?
  • I didn't see anything about this in the article, but does this mean that books that are currently being printed as new but were originally published pre-1985 are affected? If so, would they all be banned or would it just be the older copies?
    They're not worried about the content, they're worried about the safety standards (or lack thereof) that were in place pre-1985.
  • I didn't see anything about this in the article, but does this mean that books that are currently being printed as new but were originally published pre-1985 are affected? If so, would they all be banned or would it just be the older copies?
    They're not worried about the content, they're worried about the safety standards (or lack thereof) that were in place pre-1985.
    Ah, ok, I thought it was about both because of some of the quotes they used.
  • eah, it's because of the printing ink standards that were tightened in 1985. Re-prints are fine. It's that date of the actual printing, not the first publication.
  • Well, I think the idea of the law is not bad per se but it's "execution" is terrible. Making trading impossible and letting the free market have it's way with no more profitable products is terrible because those books have a huuge cultural value. In such a situation it's the governments duty to preserve a great part of the content and make it publicly available if post-1985 reprints aren't or will never be accessible.
    Just my two cents that I wanted to get rid off. And let me give you a somehow related quote I remembered from Civ4:
    "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."
    -Sir Francis Bacon
  • Haven't these people read Fahrenheit 451?
    Yes, and they seem to have liked it just a little to much for our own good.
Sign In or Register to comment.