Graham, L. et al
Dr. Ronald Weisner, a professor in Texas, has amazed researchers by creating a textbook that is 99.95% useless. Weighing in at 2.74 lbs, it contains just half a sentence useful to the nearly two thousand undergraduates who are forced to buy it each semester [1].
When asked how he managed to obtain such a low information density, Dr. Weisner explained that he took a regular textbook, carefully removed virtually all the useful information, then back-filled the pages with a 409-page math proof of the equation y = mx + b.
To date, it is the lowest known information density (0.05 words/inch) for both online and printed material, falling well below online recipes (2.1 w/in), Terms of Service agreements (1.4 w/in), and the FBI document [redacted] (0.9 w/in).
Students have complained that the textbook, which costs $300, is purely a cash grab for their professor.
“I’m offended that anyone could think this textbook, which was carefully curated from Wikipedia and my own musings, could be offered for less than $300,” said Dr. Weisner.
Dr. Weisner adds that despite their complaints, it’s unwise for students to purchase the textbooks second-hand from previous students, since each textbook comes with a unique course code students need to complete a single quiz worth 50% of their mark [1].
He added, “if you really think this textbook is so worthless, tell that to my summer home.”
There are no copies of the textbook at the library, but the school will buy back the textbook as a paperweight for $1.25 at the end of the semester.
