Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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General Biology
Paul Doerder; Ralph Gibson · WikiBooks · 2015
The word biology means, "the science of life", from the Greek bios, life, and logos, wordor knowledge. Therefore, Biology is the science of Living Things. That is why Biology issometimes known as Life Science.
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Anatomy and Physiology of Animals
Ruth Lawson · WikiBooks · 2015
Veterinary nurses need to have a firm grasp of the normal structure of an animal's body and how it functions before they can understand the effect diseases and injuries have and the best ways to treat them. This book describes the structure of the animal body and the way in which it works. Animals encountered in normal veterinary practice are used as examples where possible.
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Chemistry: Atoms First
Paul Flowers; Edward Neth; William Robinson · OpenStax · 2019
Chemistry: Atoms First 2e is a peer-reviewed, openly licensed introductory textbook produced through a collaborative publishing partnership between OpenStax and the University of Connecticut and UConn Undergraduate Student Government Association. This text is an atoms-first adaptation of OpenStax Chemistry 2e. The intention of “atoms-first” involves a few basic principles: first, it introduces atomic and molecular structure much earlier than the traditional approach, and it threads these themes through subsequent chapters. This approach may be chosen as a way to delay the introduction of material such as stoichiometry that students traditionally find abstract and difficult, thereby allowing students time to acclimate their study skills to chemistry. Additionally, it gives students a basis for understanding the application of quantitative principles to the chemistry that underlies the entire course. It also aims to center the study of chemistry on the atomic foundation that many will expand upon in a later course covering organic chemistry, easing that transition when the time arrives. The second edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Substantial improvements have been made in the figures, illustrations, and example exercises that support the text narrative.
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Cell and Molecular Biology: What We Know & How We Found Out
Gerald Bergtrom · University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee · 2020
CMB5e is the latest edition of an interactive Open Educational Resource (OER) electronic textbook (iText), available under a Creative Commons CC-BY license. Like earlier editions, CMB5e opens with a short history of the discipline and a discussion of scientific method. The book remains focused on the understanding of evolution that informs all of the life sciences and continues to provide experimental support for what we know about cell and molecular biology. Having a sense of how science is practiced and how investigators think about experimental results is essential to understanding the relationship of cell structure and function, not to mention the natural world around us. CMB5e is available in three versions (plus a sample chapter): In each chapter of the Basic CMB5e iText, an introduction includes learning objectives and context-embedded links to short explanatory voice-over PowerPoint recordings (VOPs) and other web-links of interest. QR codes allow the reader just-in-time access to the VOPs on smart phones or any camera-enabled portable device. The Annotated CMB5e adds pre-written, interactive context-embedded Challenge boxes to the Basic version of the book. These contain open-ended questions that expand on text readings. Any or all of them can be the basis of informal class and online discussion or as graded assignments. The Instructor’s CMB5e iText adds a series of 25 Words or Less essay questions that the author used as short (i.e., easy to grade!) writing assignments to strengthen student’s critical thinking and writing skills. A CMB5e Sample Chapter. The Art and Illustration Resource for Cell and Molecular Biology contains high resolution JPGs of figures in all CMB5 digital and print versions. JPGs are all public domain or CC-BY licensed (a source list is included).
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Psychology as a Biological Science
Robert Biswas-Diener; Ed Diener · Noba · 2020
This textbook provides standard introduction to psychology course content with a specific emphasis on biological aspects of psychology. This includes more content related to neuroscience methods, the brain and the nervous system. This book can be modified: feel free to add or remove modules to better suit your specific needs. Please note that the publisher requires you to login to access and download the PDF.
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Introduction to Human Osteology
Roberta Hall; Kenneth Beals; Holm Neumann; Georg Neumann · Grand Valley State University · 2010
This text was designed for use in the human osteology laboratory classroom. Bones are described to aid in identification of skeletonized remains in either an archaeological or forensic anthropology setting. Basic techniques for siding, aging, sexing, and stature estimation are described. Both images of bone and drawings are included which may be used for study purposes outside of the classroom. The text represents work that has been developed over more than 30 years by its various authors and is meant to present students with the basic analytical tools for the study of human osteology.
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Chemistry
Paul Flowers; Klaus Theopold; Richard Langley · OpenStax · 2019
Chemistry 2e is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the two-semester general chemistry course. The textbook provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of chemistry and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. The book also includes a number of innovative features, including interactive exercises and real-world applications, designed to enhance student learning. The second edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Substantial improvements have been made in the figures, illustrations, and example exercises that support the text narrative.
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Natural Resources Biometrics
Diane Kiernan · Open SUNY · 2014
Natural Resources Biometrics begins with a review of descriptive statistics, estimation, and hypothesis testing. The following chapters cover one- and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), including multiple comparison methods and interaction assessment, with a strong emphasis on application and interpretation. Simple and multiple linear regressions in a natural resource setting are covered in the next chapters, focusing on correlation, model fitting, residual analysis, and confidence and prediction intervals. The final chapters cover growth and yield models, volume and biomass equations, site index curves, competition indices, importance values, and measures of species diversity, association, and community similarity.
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Mind, Body, World: Foundations of Cognitive Science
Michael Dawson · Athabasca University Press · 2013
Cognitive science arose in the 1950s when it became apparent that a number of disciplines, including psychology, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy, were fragmenting. Perhaps owing to the field's immediate origins in cybernetics, as well as to the foundational assumption that cognition is information processing, cognitive science initially seemed more unified than psychology. However, as a result of differing interpretations of the foundational assumption and dramatically divergent views of the meaning of the term information processing, three separate schools emerged: classical cognitive science, connectionist cognitive science, and embodied cognitive science. Examples, cases, and research findings taken from the wide range of phenomena studied by cognitive scientists effectively explain and explore the relationship among the three perspectives. Intended to introduce both graduate and senior undergraduate students to the foundations of cognitive science, Mind, Body, World addresses a number of questions currently being asked by those practicing in the field: What are the core assumptions of the three different schools? What are the relationships between these different sets of core assumptions? Is there only one cognitive science, or are there many different cognitive sciences? Giving the schools equal treatment and displaying a broad and deep understanding of the field, Dawson highlights the fundamental tensions and lines of fragmentation that exist among the schools and provides a refreshing and unifying framework for students of cognitive science.
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Anatomy and Physiology
J. Gordon Betts; Kelly Young; James Wise · OpenStax · 2021
Anatomy and Physiology 2e is developed to meet the scope and sequence for a two-semester human anatomy and physiology course for life science and allied health majors. The book is organized by body systems. The revision focuses on inclusive and equitable instruction and includes new student support. Illustrations have been extensively revised to be clearer and more inclusive. The web-based version of Anatomy and Physiology 2e also features links to surgical videos, histology, and interactive diagrams. Please learn more about the changes by previewing the preface.
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Concepts of Biology
Samantha Fowler; Rebecca Roush; James Wise · OpenStax · 2023
Concepts of Biology is designed for the typical introductory biology course for nonmajors, covering standard scope and sequence requirements. The text includes interesting applications and conveys the major themes of biology, with content that is meaningful and easy to understand. The book is designed to demonstrate biology concepts and to promote scientific literacy.
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The Adventure of Physics - Vol. VI: The Strand Model - A Speculation on Unification
Christoph Schiller · Motion Mountain · 2008
This book is written for anybody who is intensely curious about nature and motion. Have you ever asked: Why do people, animals, things, images and empty space move? The answer leads to many adventures, and this book presents one of the best of them: the search for a precise, unified and final description of all motion. The wish to describe all motion is a large endeavour. Fortunately, this large endeavour can be structured in the simple diagram shown in Figure 1. The final and unified descrip- tion of motion, the topic of this book, corresponds to the highest point in the diagram. Searching for this final and unified description is an old quest. In the following, I briefly summarize its history and then present an intriguing, though speculative solution to the riddle. The search for the final, unified description of motion is a story of many surprises. For example, twentieth-century research has shown that there is a smallest distance in nature. Research has also shown that matter cannot be distinguished from empty space at those small distances. A last surprise dates from this century: particles and space are best described as made of strands, instead of little spheres or points. The present text explains how to reach these unexpected conclusions. In particular, quantum field theory, the standard model of particle physics, general relativity and cosmology are shown to follow from strands. The three gauge interactions, the three particle generations and the three dimensions of space turn out to be due to strands. In fact, all the open questions of twentieth-century physics about the foundations of motion, all the millennium issues, can be solved with the help of strands. The strand model, as presented in this text, is an unexpected result from a threefold aim that I have pursued since 1990, in the five previous volumes of this series: to present the basics of motion in a way that is up to date, captivating and simple. In retrospect, the aim for maximum simplicity ha
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The Adventure of Physics - Vol. V: Motion Inside Matter - Pleasure, Technology, and Stars
Christoph Schiller · Motion Mountain · 1990
This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity about how bodies, images and empty space move leads to many adventures. This volume presents the best adventures about the motion inside people, inside animals, and inside any other type of matter – from the largest stars to the smallest nuclei. Motion inside bodies – dead or alive – is described by quantum theory. Quantum theory describes all motion with the quantum of action h, the smallest change observed in nature. Building on this basic idea, the text first shows how to describe life, death and pleasure. Then, the text explains the observations of chemistry, materials science, astrophysics and particle physics. In the structure of physics, these topics correspond to the three ‘quantum' points in Figure 1. The story of motion inside living and non-living matter, from the coldest gases to the hottest stars, is told here in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one sur- prise that makes the reader think. Also numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify thing
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The Adventure of Physics - Vol. IV: The Quantum of Change
Christoph Schiller · Motion Mountain · 1990
This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Have you ever asked: Why do people, animals, things, images and space move? The answer leads to many adventures; this volume presents those due to the discovery that there is a smallest change value in nature. This smallest change value, the quantum of action, leads to what is called quantum physics. In the structure of modern physics, quantum physics covers three points; this volume covers the introduction to the point in the lower right: the foundations of quantum theory. The present introduction to quantum physics arose from a threefold aim I have pursued since 1990: to present the basics of motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clarifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as changing the habits of thought produces fear, often hidden by anger. But by overcoming our fears we grow in strength. And we experience inte
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The Adventure of Physics - Vol. III: Light, Charges, and Brains
Christoph Schiller · Motion Mountain · 1990
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 adventures one encounters when exploring everything electric. The story ranges from the weighing of electric current to the use of magnetic fields to heal bone fractures and up to the understanding of the human brain. In the structure of physics, shown in Figure 1, motion due to electricity is the most fascinating aspect of the starting point at the bottom. Indeed, almost everything around us is due to electric processes. The present introduction to electricity, magnetism, light and the brain is the third of a six-volume overview of physics that arose from a threefold aim that I have pursued since 1990: to present motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clar- ifying things – and adhering only to the truth – requires courage, as
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The Adventure of Physics - Vol. II: Relativity
Christoph Schiller · Motion Mountain · 1990
This book is written for anybody who is curious about nature and motion. Curiosity about how people, animals, things, images and empty space move leads to many adven- tures. This volume presents the best of them in the domains of relativity and cosmology. In the study of motion – physics – special and general relativity form two important building blocks. Special relativity is the exploration of the energy speed limit c. General relativity is the exploration of the force limit c4/4G. The text shows that in both domains, all equations follow from these two limit values. This simple, intuitive and unusual way of learning relativity should reward the curiosity of every reader – whether student or professional. The present volume is the second of a six-volume overview of physics that arose from a threefold aim that I have pursued since 1990: to present motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' Clar- ifying things – and ad
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The Adventure of Physics - Vol. I: Fall, Flow, and Heat
Christoph Schiller · Motion Mountain · 1990
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. Carefully observing everyday motion allows us to deduce six essential statements: everyday motion is continuous, conserved, relative, reversible, mirror-invariant – and lazy. Yes, nature is indeed lazy: in every motion, it minimizes change. This text explores how these six results are deduced and how they fit with all those observations that seem to contradict them. In the structure of modern physics, shown in Figure 1, the results on everyday motion form the major part of the starting point at the bottom. The present volume is the first of a six-volume overview of physics. It resulted from a threefold aim I have pursued since 1990: to present motion in a way that is simple, up to date and captivating. In order to be simple, the text focuses on concepts, while keeping mathematics to the necessary minimum. Understanding the concepts of physics is given precedence over using formulae in calculations. The whole text is within the reach of an undergraduate. In order to be up to date, the text is enriched by the many gems – both theoretical and empirical – that are scattered throughout the scientific literature. In order to be captivating, the text tries to startle the reader as much as possible. Read- ing a book on general physics should be like going to a magic show. We watch, we are astonished, we do not believe our eyes, we think, and finally we understand the trick. When we look at nature, we often have the same experience. Indeed, every page presents at least one surprise or provocation for the reader to think about. Numerous interesting challenges are proposed. The motto of the text, die Menschen stärken, die Sachen klären, a famous statement by Hartmut von Hentig on pedagogy, translates as: ‘To fortify people, to clarify things.' C
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General Chemistry: Principles, Patterns, and Applications
Bruce Averill; Patricia Eldredge · Saylor Foundation · 2011
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. Although much of first-year chemistry is taught as a service course, Bruce and Patricia feel there is no reason that the intrinsic excitement and potential of chemistry cannot be the focal point of the text and the course. So, they emphasize the positive aspects of chemistry and its relationship to students' lives, which requires bringing in applications early and often. In addition, the authors feel that many first year chemistry students have an enthusiasm for biologically and medically relevant topics, so they use an integrated approach in their text that includes explicit discussions of biological and environmental applications of chemistry. Topics relevant to materials science are also introduced to meet the more specific needs of engineering students. To facilitate integration of such material, simple organic structures, nomenclature, and reactions are introduced very early in the text, and both organic and inorganic examples are used wherever possible. This approach emphasizes the distinctions between ionic and covalent bonding, thus enhancing the students' chance of success in the organic chemistry course that traditionally follows general chemistry. Finally, the authors made a conscious effort to treat material that has traditionally been relegated to boxes, and thus perhaps perceived as peripheral by the students, by incorporating it into the text to serve as a learning tool. To begin the discussion of chemistry rapidly, the traditional first chapter introducing units, significant figures, conversion factors, dimensional analysis, and so on, has been reorganized. The material has been placed in the chapters where the relevant concepts are first introduced, thus providing three advantages: Eliminates the tedium of the traditional approach, which introduces mathematical
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College Physics
Paul Urone; Roger Hinrichs; Kim Dirks · OpenStax · 2022
College Physics 2e introduces topics conceptually and progresses through clear explanations in the context of career-oriented, practical applications, and meets the scope and sequence of an algebra-based physics course. The narrative of physics and scientific discovery has been even further expanded to focus on including more diverse contributors to the field. Building on the success of the first edition the authors have increased focus on interdisciplinary connections, including enhancements to biological and medical applications. The problem solving approach has been revised to further unify conceptual, analytical, and calculation skills within the learning process, the authors have integrated a wide array of strategies and supports throughout the text for students. View the first edition of College Physics at OpenStax.
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Light and Matter
Benjamin Crowell · Benjamin Crowell · 2010
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.