Open Text Book

‘How to Think Like a Computer Scientist’

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist is available in 4 versions, each based on a different programming language:

• A Python version by Allen B. Downey, Jeff Elkner and Chris Meyers;
• A Java version by Allen B. Downey;
• A Logo version by Allen B. Downey and Guido Gay;
• A C++ version by Allen B. Downey.

2008-07-07: updated links!

5 Comments October 1, 2007

‘Stratospheric Ozone – An Electronic Textbook’

Stratospheric Ozone – An Electronic Textbook is from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch. As it is produced by a US government department, is in the public domain.

Leave a Comment September 6, 2007

‘Wireless Networking in the Developing World’ and ‘How to Accelerate Your Internet’

Here are two interesting open textbooks with practical instructions about communications technologies:

• Wireless Networking in the Developing World. Creative Commons – Attribution ShareAlike (BY-SA)
• How to Accelerate Your Internet. Creative Commons – Attribution ShareAlike (BY-SA)

3 Comments August 22, 2007

Geology

Here are a couple of textbooks in the public domain, made available by the U.S. Geological Survey:

• Study Guide for a Beginning Course in Ground-Water Hydrology by O. Lehn Franke, Thomas E. Reilly, Ralph J. Haefner and Dale L. Simmons
• This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics by Jacquelyne Kious and Robert I. Tilling

1 Comment August 6, 2007

Econometrics

Michael Creel at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona wrote Econometrics in 2005. The book and its source are available under either the a General Public License (GPL), or under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license (CC-BY-SA).

4 Comments July 25, 2007

‘A Text-Book of the History of Painting’

John Charles Van Dyke’s A Text-Book of the History of Painting was originally published in 1909, meaning that it has now passed into the public domain in many jurisdictions. It is available from Project Gutenberg under the Project Gutenberg License, which is not fully open as it restricts commercial use. However, if all mentions of Project Gutenberg are removed, along with the header, footer and license, then what remains is in the public domain – and is therefore open.

The book is rich with images and though parts of its commentary seem dated, it would be interesting to hear the opinion of someone who is knowledgeable about the subject!

4 Comments July 17, 2007

Some philosophy books

Here are a few from the Philosophy department at Lander University:

• Introduction to Ethical Studies by Lee Archie and John G. Archie. GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)
• Reading for Philosophical Inquiry by Lee Archie and John G. Archie. GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)
• Readings in Eastern Philosophy by Lee Archie and John G. Archie. GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)
• Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha edited by Lee Archie, John G. Archie, Jeffrey Baggett and Bill Poston. GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)
• Readings in the History of Aesthetics by Lee Archie and John G. Archie. GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)

Leave a Comment July 6, 2007

Linguistics

One from Mike Gasser, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Cognitive Science at Indiana University:

• How language works – the cognitive science of linguistics. GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)

Leave a Comment July 3, 2007

Electronics textbooks and Q&A sheets

These are both from Tony R. Kuphaldt, industrial electronics instructor at Bellingham Technical College, Washington:

• Lessons In Electric Circuits. A series of textbooks about electricity and electronics. Available under a Design Science License (DSL).
• Socratic Electronics. A large number of question and answer sheets about electronics. Available under a Creative Commons – Attribution license (BY)

Leave a Comment June 26, 2007

A few open physics textbooks

Here they are…

• The Light and Matter series of physics textbooks by Ben Crowell (Fullerton College, CA) is used by a number of American schools, colleges and universities. Available under Creative Commons – Attribution ShareAlike (BY-SA). Ben also runs The Assayer – a listing of free books with user reviews.
• Calculus-Based Physics by Jeffrey W. Schnick (Saint Anselm College). Creative Commons – Attribution ShareAlike (BY-SA).
• A Radically Modern Approach to Freshman Physics by David J. Raymond (New Mexico Tech). GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).

4 Comments June 24, 2007