Why was the title of the first Harry Potter book changed from "Philosopher's Stone" to "Sorcerer's Stone" for American readers?

According to Wikipedia, it was believed that American children wouldn't want to read a book with such a big word in the title.

The word Sorcerer in the US means a Wizard, while my online dictinary says a Philosopher is a 'somebody who seeks to understand and explain the principles of existence and reality'.

Perhaps it is a Britisicim matter, where a word in the US means something different, or is written different than what it is in the British isles. ^_^ Like, sweater - jumper, sidewalk - pavement.

It may have been felt that more Americans -- adults as well as children -- are interested in sorcery than in philosophy. And I'm afraid that may be true.

Philosophy is as confusing and obscure to the average American as sorcery.

don't be offended, we are used to watered down left-overs in our librayies

fro example, stephen hawking endeavourd into makeing the simplest and most complete physicis book for the general public, and it was in english...even hawking comment that his publisure had it translated into "american"

most kids in the U.S. don't know what Philospher means and that they used a word that was like Phillosopher and they chose the socercors.

It's just another British- and American-English difference, same as the way the British say "flat" while the Americans say "apartment." To we Americans, philosopher means something like "thinker," while sorcerer is more in line with what the title of the book was meant to convey.

Because England thinks of America as its dumb, drunk second-cousin. It wants to improve us, but it talks down to us. Stupid island, looking smugly at us over its roast beef.

I think it may be because of the negative connotations of the Philosophers Stone. It is said to have the effect of a youth potion but the way to make it involves blood sacrifice.
Or it could be that Americans are considered too stupid to be able to read the entire word, or too dull witted to be interested in anything connected with thte word "philosophy".

There were many changes made to book #1 because it was believed that Americans were too dull to understand the cultural references. +5

I think it was because children in the US might not associate a Philosopher with magic, that the title would be misleading; so to obliterate any confusion, they changed the name to Sorceror.