I could now use the CPSE lab manual as a foundation and bring more of my own labs into the project. The insanity of the tight CPSE timeline was no more. I was getting better at MS Word: learning how to work around its quirks and learning how to create diagrams with its art tools. The 3rd edition (my 1st edition on the team) was published in 2004.
The Conceptual Physical Science textbook did very well in the marketplace. Fourth and 5th editions followed in 2008 and 2012.
Hewitt became a regular at NSTA conferences in this era, and I joined him every chance I got. Pearson would typically schedule a session for him to promote the school (Explorations) Conceptual Science textbooks. Hewitt had me describe the nature of the lab manual within his session. I brought photos, and I brought demonstrations. The conferences were always a good chance to hang out with the Hewitts and catch up with friends at Arbor Scientific, Pasco, and PhET. I actually worked the PhET booth for several hours when NSTA came to San Francisco.
Knowing that I was into travel and photography, Hewitt often asked me to get him a nice cover photo for the next edition of one of his textbooks. I did my best, but he's got a very discerning eye and my submissions never seemed to align with what he was looking for. Conceptual Chemistry author, John Suchocki, found a photo he liked in my archives: a rainbow arching over desert red rock formations near Canyonlands in Utah. He added a few water molecules to the scene, and that became the cover image of the 6th edition Conceptual Physical Science product line.
Because I was paid for use of the image, I now count myself as a professional photographer! [Not really.] But it has been a thrill to have my photo on the cover of my lab manual.
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