Here is a compiled list of the best selling dissertations in 2002. Of Note an NSU dissertation is #9. http://eepi.ubib.eur.nl/iliit/archives/000341.html John
An NSU Dissertation was # 4 in 1996 In 1996, a dissertation writen by a Nova Southeastern University PhD was #4 best seller. The best selling dissertations from UMI in 1996 are listed here. Ike
I would guess that the numbers are small. I was on some comparable list long ago, and the number of dissertations actually sold was 14. On another hand, I suspect the best-selling dissertation ever might well be "Women Who Run with the Wolves," -- a #1 New York Times bestseller -- which was Clarissa Pinkola Estes' doctoral dissertation at what is now Union Institute and University. John F. Kennedy's undergraduate thesis at Harvard also became a bestseller: "Why England Slept." John Bear Author, "The #1 New York Times Bestseller" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_sf_b_as/102-1852312-1612169)
After looking at that list, I'm really surprised at the brevity of most of those dissertations. Although there are a couple of 300-400 page dissertations, the majority appear to be in the 110-150 page range. Cy
Brevity is the soul of wit. Less is more. Nix the prolixity. Though ... wasn't schlock psychology 'guru' Dr. Phil's thesis < 100 pgs? Pete
Probably an urban legend, but the story was told in an undergraduate physics class of the man who invented nylon or rayon or some such thing, whose dissertation was two 'words' -- the formula, and the patent number -- and then an appendix with lots of back-up information.
