u/LurkerReborn

I recently started reading a lot of books on spaceflight, the Apollo programme specifically. I am a broke student in Europe so most of the time I try to look for secondhand books but man, some are quite expensive!

For example, some books I got cheaply secondhand.

• Moondust by Andrew Smith: ~1 euro
• Journey Beyond Selene by Jeffrey Kluger: ~2 euros

Lowest prices of some books I am trying to get secondhand.

• Apollo Guidance Computer: >= 40 euros
• How Apollo flew to the moon: >= 30 euros

(40 euros is a week of groceries for me)

I noticed that books covering the "technical" side more tend to be pricier but it doesn't make a lot of sense. They are still quite pricey even secondhand. I understand that out-of-print books that are collected by enthusiasts will have higher prices.

Is it the same in the US? Are the books I listed just more in-demand?

P.S - I know I can find digital copies but my attention issues restrict me to physical books.

It is generally accepted nowadays that being curious is a great personality trait and remaining curious as you grow older is important.

Here, by curiosity, I mean in a more material sense and not being curious about people’s lives. Things like why do apples fall and questioning assumptions that are taken for granted.

Whether people actually remain curious, of course, is a different matter.

Growing up in an authoritarian society myself, I know that this is not the default state of things.

The world used to be a way more religious place before modern times. Zealots in my experience do not appreciate questions a lot. Have we always valued being curious? Would a medieval person have been discouraged(or even worse) for questioning why certain things happen?