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 < back to authors list Robert Christopherson:
Christopherson's text, Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography, which won a Texty in 1998, takes a unique approach to teaching physical geography: The content is organized in the same direction as the energy flow that occurs in nature. It is organized in systems, he said, so that it starts with the Sun and follows energy through space and atmosphere. This approach differentiaties Geosystems from other textbooks, which, he said, are more descriptive: "I think this approach makes more sense to students." His book is now in its 3rd edition. The fourth edition is due out in August 1999. Other things that make Geosystems different:
Christopherson said he uses the internet extensively while researching a book. He subscribes to $1,500 worth of journals, where he finds leads from articles and pursues them on the Internet. Thanks to the Internet, he said, "I'm now able to download fresh, up-to-date sensory information and print it in glossy color for use in my books. There are things you can track down on the Internet that aren't available elsewhere." He began pushing to include Canadian content in the first edition of Geosystems. The publisher wasn't convinced at first, so he wrote a supplement for Canada called Soils of Canada for the first edition. For the second edition he was able to write Canadian sections and include them in the book and by the third edition he had Canadian information throughout. He presents both metric SI and English in the book. "Our publisher is now thrilled with our performance in Canada," he said. "The book is doing very well there. Not only does it satisfy the Earth systems science from a holistic standpoint, makes North America a unit, and does all the altruistic things, but I also think its good for getting the book out to the marketplace. It has opened up markets in New Zealand, Australia and England." Christopherson has written two Geosystems books: Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography, a hardcover book designed for more thorough courses, and Elemental Geosystems: A Foundation in Physical Geography, a softcover book designed for introductory geography courses. He believes that his books' readability have made them popular at both four-year colleges and community colleges. "Readability is just so important in books," he said. "The softcover is supposed to be briefer and more introductory, and the hardcover is supposed to be a little more middle to upper market, but our books are being used all over the market in all places," he said. "We think that is attributable to the readability. We worked hard on the readability. When schools subject our books to readability indexes, Geosystems always comes out on top." He began his work on Geosystems while in graduate school at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1969. He did a three-unit independent study called "Life Geosystems." "I was going to come up with a new version of physical geography," he said. "So I came up with my own outline and rationalization. That's where Geosystems started." When he started teaching at American River College in 1970, where he is now a professor of geography, he started teaching his own outline. "I used the classroom as a crucible," he said. "There were some semesters where I would teach it differently in each of the four classes to see how it worked." It gradually expanded over the years, he said, and in 1987 the outline was 100 pages long. Sales rep Barbara Duffy from Merrill Publishing came by his office one day and "just said the right things. I talked to my wife and wrote a couple of sample chapters," he said. "I had my outline and chapters reviewed and signed a contract in 1987." He worked on the book for three years, but in 1990, when MacMillan purchased Merrill, everything was put on hold for eight months. "We weren't, sure if we would make the cut or not," he said. "Our reviews were strong, though, so we made it through this transition." For aspiring authors, Christopherson gives this advice: "You've got to communicate intensity. You can't just tape your lectures and then type them up and think you have a book. When you write a text you can't use hand gestures and eye contact. The hand gestures and eye contact have to be built into the words. The excitement, the enthusiasm all has to be built into the words. I think that's something that has to be infused in all our writing." He said a good textbook has energetic words and earnestness -- the text drives or pulls the reader through. "The author has to be a true believer in the process," he said. "His or her motives have to be clean and clear. That infests an honesty and quality in the words, so the energy's there. That has to catch the reader on the first page." He has given several presentations on academic writing. "There really isn't a book out there that talks about everything from how you do the outlining and setting up a style guide for your book, to the production of the manuscript," he said. He recommends Text and Academic Authors: "I just devour every newsletter." His presentations include guidance on:
"I cart the writing material in on a dolly and open up boxes and spread out a 16-foot table with all the different pieces," he said. "I even show them some of the old galley proofs-- the way they looked with the pink slips taped to the back before electronic publishing." Authors want to know how in the world he wrote his book and how they can get started, Christopherson said. "I find that potential authors haven't even thought about the ancillaries that go with the book, working on copy for the brochures and ads, helping with the copy in the sales manual for sales reps or marketing. So they need that bigger picture painted. It's not just plotting out the book. They ask all these questions and that allows me to give them the whole thing and hopefully not scare them about the amount of work that is really involved." Authors, he said, should begin a project by talking about it, outlining it, thinking about it and then doing it. "But then, you must sit down and write it," he said. "The first draft is the throw-up draft. Just get it out. Get to that blank screen and keep going. Get that first draft out and then you can sit back and manipulate it." Christopherson traveled with his wife, Bobbe, who is also production assistant for his texts, to the Text and Academic Authors convention in June 1998 to receive a Texty for Geosystems. Even with ten physical geography textbooks competing with his own, Christopherson has remained on top with the number one physical geography text in the United States and Canada for the last couple of years. The book also has a companion website (http://www.prenhall.com/christopherson) for both Geosystems texts. Of the 93 home pages that Simon and Schuster/Prentice Hall have activated, the Geosystems web site scores the third-highest number of hits -- the third busiest. "It differs from other websites in that it has interactivity," Christopherson said. "A student can type in a critical thinking analysis and e-mail it to his or her professor. It will prompt them on tests and grade their test taking." It also has destination links in each chapter that link to relevant information on the Internet. "It acts as a platform for students to plunge out into the Internet," he said. The 4th edition of Geosystems will integrate the home page. As for writing, Christopherson said, "Since elementary school I always wanted to write. In terms of physical geography and these topics, it's strange. My parents gave me a book called The World We Live In and if you look through there you see physical geography. Parents should be careful what they give their kids, in this case it influence me. I read those books and my World Book Encyclopedias every Saturday and every night." Christopherson puts all his research on two by three foot broad sheets which he spreads around his computer. "I compose off these broad sheets according to my outline," he said. "I really like seeing the whole source material compared to note cards." "Writing is so creative," he said. "Massaging the words must be like the feeling when you oil paint and you're moving the oil around and the paint around. It just amazes me that there's just an infinite way to arrange the concepts and words. And the writing itself, I just love it. It's creative and expressive and when the paragraphs hit just right they sing to you -- although you have to be careful about that, if one sings really loud that one no doubt will have to be cut." He said he still hasn't gotten over the unique feeling of sitting at the computer and composing: "I just love that for its own sake. I feel a student of it." He said he can write anytime, but can't write with his shoes on. "I have a really nice writing studio that gives me a long view over a lake," he said. "It's a beautiful physical setting." His hobby is geography -- he is thinking about it while traveling, taking photos, writing, teaching, so, he says, "the energy I feel when I talk about it or teach it is from this strange unity that has emerged in my life. Being a textbook author is a youthful process, for you forever get to be a student of your subject!" — reported by Kim Pawlak, 1998 |
