CRC Press

From Free net encyclopedia

The CRC Press, LLC is a publishing group which specializes in producing technical books in a wide range of subjects. While many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics, their scope also includes books on business and information technology. CRC Press is now a subsidiary of the Taylor and Francis Group.

[edit]

History

The CRC Press was originally founded as the Chemical Rubber Company (CRC), which supplied laboratory equipment to chemists. In 1913 the CRC offered a short manual called the Rubber Handbook as an incentive to purchase one of their products. Since then the Rubber Handbook has evolved into the CRC's flagship book, the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. In 1973, in light of the success of its publishing ventures, the company changed its name to CRC Press, LLC, and exited the manufacturing business.

The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, widely regarded as an important resource for research scientists, is in its 86th edition as of 2006. It is sometimes nicknamed the 'Rubber Bible'.

[edit]

MathWorld controversy

Around 1997, CRC entered into a publishing agreement with Eric W. Weisstein, creator of the popular MathWorld online mathematics reference work. CRC produced a print and CD-ROM version of the website, retitled the CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics. For a short time thereafter, Weisstein's free online version became only partially accessible to the public, though all access restrictions were lifted in 1999 after Weisstein joined Wolfram Research, Inc. (WRI) and moved the site to its web servers.

In 2000, CRC sued WRI, WRI president Stephen Wolfram, and author Eric Weisstein for what they considered a breach of contract: that the MathWorld content was to remain in print only. The site was taken down by a court injunction. The case was later settled out of court, with WRI paying an unspecified amount and complying with other stipulations. Among these stipulations is the inclusion of a copyright notice at the bottom of the website and broad rights for the CRC Press to produce MathWorld in printed book form. The site then became once again available free to the public.

This case made a wave of headlines in online publishing circles. Some people accused CRC of corporate greed, and demanded a free online encyclopedia.

[edit]