Online Courses from MIT

In a recent post, I discussed the open courses offered by Yale University. I've since discovered that MIT also offers free courses online, and that they offer a greater variety, over 2000 to be exact. MIT offers free graduate courses as well. Many of the courses on offer are technologically oriented, including advanced mathematics courses like algebraic topology, quantum computation, and assorted courses in statistics. The engineering courses include airline schedule planning, sustainable energy, and space systems engineering. Before I found this website, I thought that MIT only offered courses in science and technology, but there are many courses in other areas, including a variety of courses in micro- and macroeconomics. The foreign language courses include four levels of Chinese, along with Japanese, Spanish, French, and German. If you look at the history department, you'll find a course in "How to Stage a Revolution." Of course, there's the question of how an independent student can get college credit for this knowledge, as CLEP doesn't offer an exam in algebraic topology. One idea might be to find a university that will let you "challenge" the course, in which you take the final exam and give you the credit if you pass. At any rate, the MIT Open Courses are an excellent resource for those who are studying independently at home, and give free access to knowledge that only students with the best academic performance get access to normally.

College Blog Directory

Free textbooks

Here is a list of college textbooks which can be read online for free. I will be adding to this list as I find more of them.

Accounting

Principles of Accounting - This textbook offers an in-depth introduction to accounting and can be good preparation for the CLEP or DSST exams in accounting.

Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology

Art History

SmartHistory - Free online art history textbook.

Astronomy

General Astronomy - Wikibooks offers an online introduction to astronomy.

Biology

Biochemistry textbook

This Online Biology Book offers a good introduction to many areas of biology, including cell biology, anatomy, and eveolution.

An Ecology textbook is offered at this website.

Creation Science - Creationists might be interested in this online book which refutes the evolutionists' arguments in numerous areas of science.

Fundamentals of Microbiology - Introductory microbiology textbook from Washington State.

Human Genetics

Chemistry

Chem1 Virtual Textbook - This textbook covers the first two semesters of college-level chemistry.

Chemistry Books Online - General, Organic, and Biochemistry

Computers

Blender - User Manual and free download for Blender, an open-source computer animation software.

Computer Animation

Introduction

How to Design Programs: An Introduction to Computing and Programming.

Introduction to Computer Science

Java

Dick Baldwin's website offers a large assortment of instruction in various programming languages, including Java.

Fundamentals of Java - This online book presents Java programming in a simplified manner.

Introduction to Computer Science Using Java

Introduction to Programming in Java: An Interdisciplinary Approach - Free online textbook from Princeton.

Java programming is also offered in this online textbook.

Python

Invent Your Own Computer Games With Python might be of interest to people who want to become game designers.

Economics

About.com offers online textbooks in Macroeconomics and Microeconomics.

CyberEconomics - Introductory economics textbook.

Online Economics Textbooks - Extensive collection of economics textbooks for all levels.

English Composition

English Composition 1 Hypertextbook

English Literature

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature

The Harvard Classics - 50 volumes of literature from all historical eras. This page also contains The Harvard Shelf of Fiction, which consists of 20 volumes of classic fiction.

Luminarium: An Anthology of English Literature - This free online textbook features extensive information on British authors from the 14th century to the 19th century.

Ethics

Online Ethics Textbook

History

Academic American History

Europe in Retrospect - Modern European history.

History of Western Art and Civilization

U.S. History from precolonization to the present.

World History from prehistory to the 20th century.

Languages

Digital Dialects - This site offers free lessons in over 50 languages, some of which I'd never heard of until I saw this site. Oroma?

French

Grimoire - French literature for intermediate and advanced students.

Liberte - Beginners' French textbook in PDF fromat.

Latin

Latin from Wikibooks.

Spanish

Spanish 1050 - Intermediate Spanish.

Spanish from Wikibooks.

Mathematics

A First Analysis Course

An introduction to Statistics can be found at this website.

An Online Calculus book is offered here in PDF format.

College Algebra in PDF format.

Electronic Statistics Textbook - This is a free online version of Statistics: Methods and Applications, which sells for $80 new at Amazon.

Elementary Calculus: An Infinitesimal Approach

Multivariable Calculus in PDF format.

Statistics: Problems and Exercises

Music

Introduction to Music Theory

Understanding Basic Music Theory - A continuation of the introduction course.

Philosophy

Introduction to Philosophy

Physics

Essential Physics 1 is available for free online in PDF format.

Light and Matter offers an assortment of free physics textbooks online, both for non-physics majors and engineering students.

Psychology

Psychology: An Introduction


Public Speaking

Open Knowledge Guide to Public Speaking

Religion

Exploring Religions - Information about the major world religions.

Philosophy of Religion

Sacred Texts offers extensive information on many world religions, along with parapsychology, the supernatural, prophets, and related subjects.

Sociology

Introduction to Sociology from Wikibooks.

Technical Writing

Online Technical Writing Textbook


Over 3 Million Full-Text Copyrighted Books, Journals and Articles