Natural Sciences Textbooks

General Microbiology - 1st Edition

Contributor: Bruslind

Publisher: Oregon State University

License: CC BY-NC

Welcome to the wonderful world of microbiology! Yay! So. What is microbiology? If we break the word down it translates to “the study of small life,” where the small life refers to microorganisms or microbes. But who are the microbes? And how small are they? Generally microbes can be divided in to two categories: the cellular microbes (or organisms) and the acellular microbes (or agents). In the cellular camp we have the bacteria, the archaea, the fungi, and the protists (a bit of a grab bag composed of algae, protozoa, slime molds, and water molds). Cellular microbes can be either unicellular, where one cell is the entire organism, or multicellular, where hundreds, thousands or even billions of cells can make up the entire organism. In the acellular camp we have the viruses and other infectious agents, such as prions and viroids. In this textbook the focus will be on the bacteria and archaea (traditionally known as the “prokaryotes,”) and the viruses and other acellular agents.

(3 reviews)

Biochemistry: Free For All

Contributors: Ahern, Rajagopal, and Tan

Publisher: Oregon State University

License: CC BY-NC

We are happy to welcome you to our second Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook, Biochemistry Free For All. Biochemistry is a relatively young science, but its rate of growth has been truly impressive. The rapid pace of discoveries, which shows no sign of slowing, is reflected in the steady increase in the size of biochemistry textbooks. Growing faster than the size of biochemistry books have been the skyrocketing costs of higher education and the even faster rising costs of college textbooks. These unfortunate realities have created a situation where the costs of going to college are beyond the means of increasing numbers of students.

(5 reviews)

Marine Law and Policy for Scientists and Managers - 1st Edition

Contributor: Campbell

Publisher: Oregon State University

License: CC BY-NC

This open educational resource is designed for use by undergraduate and graduate ocean science, natural resource, fisheries and wildlife, and environmental policy students enrolled in a ten-week academic quarter. The purpose of this project is to provide students and non-law professionals with a freely accessible, clearly written guide to support engaging and effective learning. As such, the book serves as a gateway and an invitation to become a well informed, committed and involved ocean citizen as well as to explore the field beyond our course study.

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(0 reviews)

Introduction to Climate Science - 1st Edition

Contributor: Schmittner

Publisher: Oregon State University

License: CC BY-NC-SA

This book describes how Earth's climate is changing, how it has been changing in the recent geological past and how it may change in the future. It covers the physical sciences that build the foundations of our current understanding of global climate change such as radiation, Earth's energy balance, the greenhouse effect and the carbon cycle. Both natural and human causes for climate change are discussed. Impacts of climate change on natural and human systems are summarized. Ethical and economical aspects of human-caused climate change and solutions are presented.

(2 reviews)

Entomology 311 Lab Manual - 1st Edition

Contributors: Scherr, Adams, and Bullock

Publisher: Oregon State University

License: CC BY-NC

Labs in this book supplement the information gained in lecture, as well as providing some perspective and experience with hands-on applications of ideas in pest management. The labs are presented in week-by-week order, so the pre-labs and reading for week 1 are labeled “Pre-Lab 1” and “Week 1 Reading”.

(2 reviews)

Chemical Biology & Biochemistry Laboratory Using Genetic Code Expansion Manual

Contributors: Mehl, van Zee, and Kean

Publisher: Oregon State University

License: CC BY-NC

Chemical Biology & Biochemistry Laboratory Using Genetic Code Expansion Manual

(2 reviews)

Explorations: An Open Invitation To Biological Anthropology

Contributors: Shook, Nelson, and Aguilera

Publisher: American Anthropological Association

License: CC BY-NC

Anthropology is the study of humanity, in all its biological and cultural aspects, past and present. It is a four-field discipline comprised of biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology. The focus of this book is biological anthropology, which explores who we are from biological, evolutionary, and adaptive perspectives.

(1 review)

CLUE: Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything

Contributors: Cooper and Klymkowsky

Publisher: Michael Klymkowsky, Melanie Cooper

License: CC BY-NC-SA

This text is intended to provide an in-depth introduction to the key ideas in chemistry. We have designed the book to show how these ideas are developed from simple to complex systems and how they relate to each other. We consider three ideas central to an understanding of chemistry: the structure of matter, the properties of matter, and the energy changes involved in the reorganization of matter; all are connected by the interactions or forces that cause matter to interact. We aim to provide compelling reasons why you will find yourself wanting to learn chemistry and to illustrate what you will be able to do with this knowledge once you have learned it.

(2 reviews)

Biotechnology Foundations - 2nd Edition

Contributor: O'Grady

Publisher: OpenStax CNX

License: CC BY

Given the broad definition of biotechnology applications and products, it is easy to see how there is enormous overlap within the fields of cellular biology, microbiology, chemistry, and biomedical engineering. It is the goal of this textbook to provide foundational knowledge to begin building your biotechnology toolkit and enter an exciting career of making a difference through biotechnology.

(1 review)

An EKG Interpretation Primer

Contributors: Christianson, Team, organization, and organization

Publisher: Nurses International Team

License: CC BY

This book teaches healthcare professionals the basics of EKG interpretation and is available as a Creative Commons resource.

(6 reviews)