What's the worst part of being a college student? The horrible food, the long nights in the library? How about high-priced books?
Nature, the people behind Scientific American, and you guessed it, Nature, are now offering Principles of Biology, a low-cost, college-level, interactive web-based textbook. Building on the success of their free life-sciences learning community Scitable, the new textbook offers a variety of interactive features, such as quizzes, an online gradebook for professors, and more.
California State University has announced a three-year deal with Nature, where students on the Los Angeles, North Ridge, and Chico campuses will each have varying payment and licensing models, but 49 bucks gets any student a full edition starting September 1st. What's most notable is that this textbook will be continually updated with up-to-date content from Nature's editing team at no additional cost.
Furthermore, professors can edit the content, which includes 175 "interactive lessons," access to a database of research papers, and assessments for students. It can all be used on any device from a slate to a computer and even printed if you prefer scribing your notes with pen and paper.
$50 for a lifetime of up-to-date vetted content is a bargain, if you ask us. Find out more about Principles of Biology.