langreiter.com plain, simple: 2005-02-12-ast

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2005-02-12-ast

CREATED BY chris • LAST EDITED BY chris 7253 days AGO

Aaron Swartz reports from an encounter with Edward Tufte: "You need three things to publish a book, he explains: lots of money, a big garage, and a book designer. So he mortgaged his house at 18.9% interest (the loan officer said it was the second-most unusual loan he had granted after a circus who wanted to buy an elephant) and just threw money at it, going all out until he ran out of money. He printed 5000 copies and bought a small ad in Scientific America. When he got back from vacation he found his mailbox overflowing with orders. It’s since sold over a million copies."