Do they serve a purpose?
if so,what?

Toilet paper

No not in this game as of yet.

Tin cans, scrap metal, pilot lights, sensor modules, conductors, fission batteries and scrap electronics do but only in a very minor capicity.

Not sure why they are Burned and Scorched in this game, at least in all areas. Torn and Faded and Falling Apart I would understand.

Well, you can collect and sell them if you're desperate!

Maybe because people find the books along the edges of fire/burnt areas and then carry them back home to read/use as toilet paper/fire starters/whatever?

Toilet paper, just like Pre-War money.

Which makes no sense, you think that pre-war money would be at least worth something at the casinos. A cap or two at the very minimum.

I've never understood why the burned and scorched variants appear in alot of places. I mean, the Vegas area of the Mojave was virtually untouched by the bombs, and yet they are burned?

Intolerance of the fine arts? A return to the Dark Ages? Books were made from that kind of paper magicians use that burns up in a POOF! of smoke? Laziness? I mean all they had to do was rename them in the geck to "moldy book" or some such.

-Gunny out.

Maybe they're eggs from a chameleon wannamingo ( I hope. )
I don't think it really was a priority, junk and misc scattered around was just treated as a memory eater I guess.
It can be seen outside of Goodsprings / Primm, once past those stages misc drops off untill scrap collections like Repconn.
The other oddity is they left the clothing vs DT or other bonus vs weight ratio from FO3.

that's the culprit right there...

It's obviously a Fahrenheit 451 reference.


Or not.