Natural Sciences Textbooks

Filters

The Adventure of Physics - Vol. I: Fall, Flow, and Heat

Contributor: Schiller

Publisher: Motion Mountain

License: CC BY-NC-ND

This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity about how people, animals, things, images and space move leads to many adventures. This volume presents the best of them in the domain of everyday life.

(3 reviews)

Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation

Contributors: Theis and Tomkin

Publisher: OpenStax CNX

License: CC BY

With “Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation”, first and second-year college students are introduced to this expanding new field, comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge – including engineering and the applied arts, natural and social sciences, and the humanities. As sustainability is a multi-disciplinary area of study, the text is the product of multiple authors drawn from the diverse faculty of the University of Illinois: each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the field.

(27 reviews)

World Regional Geography: People, Places and Globalization

Publisher: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

License: CC BY-NC-SA

World Regional Geography: People, Places and Globalization is designed for students to experience and study as much of the world as possible within a limited amount of time. It gives students the fundamental concepts and the latest data regarding world places in a concise, easy-to-read format.

(8 reviews)

College Physics

Contributors: Urone, Hinrichs, and Dirks

Publisher: OpenStax

License: CC BY

This introductory, algebra-based, two-semester college physics book is grounded with real-world examples, illustrations, and explanations to help students grasp key, fundamental physics concepts. This online, fully editable and customizable title includes learning objectives, concept questions, links to labs and simulations, and ample practice opportunities to solve traditional physics application problems.

(47 reviews)

Essentials of Geographic Information Systems

Contributors: Campbell and Shin

Publisher: Saylor Foundation

License: CC BY-NC-SA

Essentials of Geographic Information Systems integrates key concepts behind the technology with practical concerns and real-world applications. Recognizing that many potential GIS users are nonspecialists or may only need a few maps, this book is designed to be accessible, pragmatic, and concise. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems also illustrates how GIS is used to ask questions, inform choices, and guide policy. From the melting of the polar ice caps to privacy issues associated with mapping, this book provides a gentle, yet substantive, introduction to the use and application of digital maps, mapping, and GIS.

(15 reviews)

General Chemistry: Principles, Patterns, and Applications

Contributors: Averill and Eldredge

Publisher: Saylor Foundation

License: CC BY-NC-SA

The overall goal of the authors with General Chemistry: Principles, Patterns, and Applications was to produce a text that introduces the students to the relevance and excitement of chemistry.

(10 reviews)

The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

Contributors: Ball, Hill, and Scott

Publisher: Saylor Foundation

License: CC BY-NC-SA

The Basics of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry by David W. Ball, John W. Hill, and Rhonda J. Scott is for the one-semester General, Organic and Biological Chemistry course. The authors designed this textbook from the ground up to meet the needs of a one-semester course. It is 20 chapters in length and approximately 350-400 pages; just the right breadth and depth for instructors to teach and students to grasp.

(26 reviews)

Light and Matter

Contributor: Crowell

Publisher: Benjamin Crowell

License: CC BY-SA

This is an introductory text intended for a one-year introductory course of the type typically taken by biology majors, or for AP Physics B. Algebra and trig are used, and there are optional calculus-based sections.

(2 reviews)

Introduction to Physical Oceanography

Contributor: Stewart

License: CC BY-NC-SA

This textbook covers physical-oceanographic processes, theories, data, and measurements, targeted at upper-division undergraduates and graduate students in oceanography, meteorology, and ocean engineering. In addition to the classical topics, the author includes discussions of heat fluxes, the role of the ocean in climate, the deep circulation, equatorial processes including El Nino, data bases used by oceanographers, the role of satellites and data from space, ship-based measurements, and the importance of vorticity in understanding oceanic flows. Students should have studied differential equations and introductory college physics, although math is de-emphasized.

(4 reviews)

Introductory Chemistry

Contributor: Ball

Publisher: Saylor Foundation

License: CC BY-NC-SA

David W. Ball of Cleveland State University brings his new survey of general chemistry text, Introductory Chemistry, to the market with a fresh theme that will be sure to hold student interest: "Chemistry is Everywhere." Introductory Chemistry is intended for a one-semester introductory or preparatory chemistry course. Throughout the chapters, David presents two features that reinforce the theme of the textbook, that chemistry is everywhere.

(16 reviews)