Although some people, like myself, still only read books the old-fashioned way (either paperbacks or hardcovers), the ever-growing market for e-books cannot be ignored. Countless numbers of people love to read on their Nooks, Kindles, or other devices, which can store dozens of different books in an easy, manageable way. Despite the popularity of e-books, their prices still remain pretty similar to traditional, printed books. Most of the time, these e-books are even a lot less pricey than their paperback or hardcover counterparts. However, there some e-books out there that cost an almost unimaginable amount of money. Here are five of the most expensive e-books of all-time.
5. Intelligent Systems: Technology and Applications – $2,028
This six volume set focuses on the evolution of intelligent systems and artificial intelligent technologies and their ever-growing roles in different fields around the world, from medicine to manufacturing to finance. However, the book also looks at the consequences (both positive and negative) of these systems and what can go wrong when they are flawed. This e-book connects theory with more practical applications (robotic systems to speech and signal processing, database management, and manufacturing) and gives readers a very thorough overview of these new technological advancements through case study examples and different solutions for any issues that may arise now or in the future. Despite the overwhelming amount of detailed information that may be found within Intelligent Systems, however, I still don’t know if the price tag of over $2,000 is merited.
4. Compounds with 13 to 162 Carbon Atoms – $6,231.20
Compounds with 13 to 162 Carbon Atoms is no longer available as an e-book (although a hardcover edition is still out there, costing over $7,000), but the text focuses on chemical compounds and the different bits of information about them, from drawings of the chemical structure, to their molecular formulas, and their chemical names. At over $6,000, though, it’d make for quite the expensive textbook.
3. Nuclear Energy – $6,232
Similar to Compounds with 13 to 162 Carbon Atoms, Nuclear Energy is also no longer available in e-book form, and when it was, it was only slightly more expensive than Compounds. There’s not much detail that can be provided about the e-book (which is the third science book so far on this list) other than it focused on what its title would suggest: nuclear energy.
2. Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (14 Volume Set) – $11,850
Forget about the Rosetta Stone helper, his book isn’t just any kind of an encyclopedia – it’s a encyclopedia of languages. With all of the information and details that the book provides throughout all of its 11,000 pages (matching the cost of its of more than $11,000), using 7,500,000 words, the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics has been deemed as “the field’s standard reference work for a generation” and is the first linguistic encyclopedia to ever be available in an e-book edition.
1. International Encyclopedia of Social & Behavioral Sciences – $16,870
The fourth and final science book on this list is also and encyclopedia and is the most expensive e-book you can purchase today. Costing its buyer $16,870, the International Encyclopedia of Social & Behavioral Sciences is the “first attempt in a generation to map the social and behavioral sciences on a grand scale.” Furthermore, it’s the most ambitious book of its kind since the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences was published back in 1968.
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