This free online algebra textbook from 1895 explains concepts well and might make a good reference source. It doesn’t have a lot of the fluff and nonsense that many modern texts have. It dives right in and you’ll be learning before you even realize it.
Free Online Mathematics Textbooks
I was always fascinated by math. One of the few electives that I took in college was fourth semester Calculus. (Yes, I am a nerd. And, I’m darn proud of it.)
Anyway, learning mathematics is perhaps one of the many academic disciplines where the words an instructor uses to explain a concept can make all the difference whether or not you will grasp that concept. Since the Internet was not available when I was in college, I haunted used book and thrift stores for cast-off copies of calculus, statistics and other math textbooks that could provide me with one more explanation of more complicated concepts. Those extra textbooks saved my GPA more than a few times.
Today’s students have a tremendous advantage – the Internet. My pile of 10, 20, 30 and even 40-year old worn out textbooks seems pathetic when compared to the wealth of mathematics-related materials online. Even if your instructor insists on using his or her favorite, and oh-so-expensive, text, the resources listed here will provide you with additional explanations, sample problems and practice exercises.
Math Refresher
Returning students have always faced the challenge of dredging up long-unused mathematical concepts. Now, the online degree or returning student only has to look to the web to find a multitude of textbooks, study guides and tutorials. No longer will they have to waste precious time and money on taking courses a second time, they can study at their own pace or study specific concepts as they encounter them in other courses.
Open Textbook Revolution
Sadly, mathematics is one of those fields where the core material does not change all that often but the textbook companies still are continually releasing “new editions”. Would you believe that I found a pair of calculus textbooks from the same publisher but published decades apart that had virtually the same content? While I’m just a little speck in the whole that is the Internet, I hope my efforts in supporting the wonderful educators, who are fighting to end the madness that is textbook sales, will encourage them to offer more and more free, top-quality materials to math students.
Subcategories
List of Free Online Mathematics Textbooks
A First Book in Algebra
A Primer of Real Analysis
Written by Dan Sloughter, this analysis online textbook has no formal prerequisites but students will need a strong foundation in calculus and other mathematics topics.
A Treastise on the Theory of Invariants
Oliver E. Glenn, unknown but most likely early 1900s. From the preface, “The object of this book is, first, to present in a volume of medium size the fundamental principles and processes and a few of the multitudinous applications of invariant theory, with emphasis upon both the nonsymbolical and the symbolical method.” Please Note: 04/11/12 [...]
Abstract Algebra On Line
Online abstract algebra textbook based upon the earlier works of Abstract Algebra by John A. Beachy and William D. Blair and Abstract Algebra II by John A. Beachy. This new text, offered by John A. Beachy, Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences at Northern Illinois University, is offered for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level students. Chapter titles [...]
Abstract Algebra Online
Online abstract algebra textbook based upon the earlier works of Abstract Algebra by John A. Beachy and William D. Blair and Abstract Algebra II by John A. Beachy. This new text, offered by John A. Beachy, Professor Emeritus of Mathematical Sciences at Northern Illinois University, is offered for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level students.
Algorithmic Mathematics
Professors Leonard Soicher and Franco Vivaldi of the School of Mathematical Sciences at Queen Mary, University of London have written this web book for the corresponding course MAS202 Algorithmic Mathematics. Students should have some exposure to discrete mathematics but do not need computing experience. Students will be introduced to basic algorithms for computing exactly with [...]
An Elementary Treatise on Fourier’s Series and Spherical, Cylindrical, and Ellipsoidal Harmonics With Applications to Problems in Mathematical Physics
William Elwood Byerly, 1893. Another great vintage math textbook from Gutenberg. This math text is full of well-explained examples. Despite the age, this text uses plain language to explain terms and would probably make a great supplement to a more modern text on the same subject.
College Algebra
This open source pre-calculus textbook has nine chapters on college algebra.
Dave’s Short Course on Complex Numbers
David E. Joyce, Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Clark University has written this online complex numbers textbook for a general audience. It assumes a basic knowledge of ordinary real numbers and algebra. The text covers nine topics: Quadratic and cubic equations; fundamental theorem of algebra; the number i; the complex plane, addition and [...]
Elementary Number Theory
William Stein of the University of Washington is using his own textbook in his classroom. Chapter titles include: Prime Numbers, The Ring of Integers Modulo, Public-Key Cryptography, Quadratic Reciprocity, Continued Fractions and Elliptic Curves. Unlike a number of the other free online mathematics textbooks that I’ve found, this one contains an answer key for the [...]