Free Study Resources and Reading Plans: 150 Books and Courses That Cost Nothing

<p>This is the shelf to start from, one subject at a time. Each row gives a core open resource, one free companion for depth, and what to do with them. Use it as the starting point for a reading list, not as a finished syllabus.</p> <h3>STEM</h3> <table><thead><tr> <th>Subject</th><th>Core open resource</th><th>Companion</th><th>Do this</th> </tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Mathematics</td><td><em>Introduction to Modern Statistics</em> (OpenIntro) for stats; for pure maths, <em>Calculus</em> by Gilbert Strang (free PDF)</td><td>MIT OCW 18.01 Single Variable Calculus</td><td>Work every problem; Strang's lectures are the free top-up</td></tr> <tr><td>Physics</td><td><em>OpenStax College Physics</em></td><td><em>The Physics Classroom</em> for drill; MIT OCW 8.01</td><td>Redraw each diagram yourself; do the practice questions before the exercises</td></tr> <tr><td>Chemistry</td><td><em>OpenStax Chemistry 2e</em></td><td>MIT OCW 5.111 / 5.111 principles</td><td>Focus on stoichiometry and equilibrium; draw the reaction mechanisms</td></tr> <tr><td>Biology</td><td><em>OpenStax Biology 2e</em></td><td>MIT OCW 7.01 (Genetics)</td><td>Draw the processes rather than memorising them</td></tr> <tr><td>Computer science</td><td><em>Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs</em>; <em>Eloquent JavaScript</em>; <em>Python for Everybody</em></td><td>MIT OCW 6.001; 6.0001</td><td>Do the exercises; read the code, then change it</td></tr> <tr><td>Statistics / data</td><td><em>Introduction to Modern Statistics</em></td><td><em>Seeing Theory</em> for the visual intuition</td><td>Run the R labs; then re-derive one estimator by hand</td></tr> <tr><td>Engineering</td><td>MIT OCW 2.001, 2.002, 2.003</td><td>Course notes + problem sets</td><td>Treat problem sets as the course; exams with solutions as the test</td></tr> <tr><td>Astronomy</td><td><em>Astronomy</em> (OpenStax)</td><td>NASA open data and the Hubble and JWST archives</td><td>Look up real objects; do not only read about them</td></tr> <tr><td>Earth science</td><td>Open textbook options via Open Textbook Library</td><td>MIT OCW 12.001</td><td>Work the problems; map each process to a landscape</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3>Social sciences and humanities</h3> <table><thead><tr> <th>Subject</th><th>Core open resource</th><th>Companion</th><th>Do this</th> </tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Economics</td><td><em>OpenStax Principles of Economics 2e</em></td><td>CORE Econ's <em>The Economy</em> (open, online, with interactive tools)</td><td>Read one chapter of each and compare the styles</td></tr> <tr><td>Sociology</td><td><em>OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 3e</em></td><td>OpenStax <em>Sociology 3e</em> methods chapters</td><td>Write a one-page observation report on a public space</td></tr> <tr><td>Psychology</td><td><em>OpenStax Psychology 2e</em></td><td>MIT OCW 9.00SC</td><td>Design one small study from the research methods unit</td></tr> <tr><td>Political science</td><td><em>OpenStax American Government 3e</em></td><td><em>Constitution Annotated</em> (Congressional Research Service)</td><td>Read the primary documents alongside the summary</td></tr> <tr><td>History</td><td><em>The Souls of Black Folk</em>; MIT OCW 21M.011</td><td>Academic Freedom Project</td><td>Read one primary source per chapter</td></tr> <tr><td>Philosophy</td><td><em>Meditations</em> (Gutenberg); <em>The World's Religions</em> (Global Religions Library)</td><td><em>Introducing Philosophy</em> (OpenStax)</td><td>Write your own position on one question</td></tr> <tr><td>World literature</td><td><em>Frankenstein</em>, <em>Middlemarch</em>, <em>The Little Prince</em> (Gutenberg)</td><td>LibriVox audio of the same titles</td><td>Read one; listen to one</td></tr> <tr><td>Education</td><td><em>Foundations of Education</em> (Wisconsin OER)</td><td>OpenStax <em>Introduction to Sociology</em> for context</td><td>Write a lesson plan using only open materials</td></tr> <tr><td>Business</td><td><em>OpenStax Principles of Management</em></td><td>Saylor Academy's free accounting course</td><td>Build a simple budget from the book, not from a template</td></tr> <tr><td>Law</td><td>OpenStax <em>Business Law</em>; <em>Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies</em> free chapters</td><td>Cornell Legal Information Institute</td><td>Read the actual statute text, not only the summary</td></tr> <tr><td>Communication</td><td><em>Say No to the Fake News</em> / MIT OCW 21W.789</td><td>OpenLearn's free communication courses</td><td>Fact-check three articles you have shared this week</td></tr> <tr><td>Gender studies</td><td>OpenStax <em>Introduction to Sociology</em> gender chapter</td><td>MIT OCW 21A.103</td><td>Read two opposing scholarly pieces</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3>Health, education and professional preparation</h3> <table><thead><tr> <th>Subject</th><th>Core open resource</th><th>Companion</th><th>Do this</th> </tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Nursing</td><td><em>Nursing Fundamentals</em> (Open RN)</td><td>BCcampus open textbooks</td><td>Do the clinical calculations chapter cold</td></tr> <tr><td>Medicine / public health</td><td>PubMed Central open-access reviews</td><td>WHO and CDC open resources</td><td>Write a 500-word plain-language summary of one study</td></tr> <tr><td>Medicine / clinical</td><td>StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf, free)</td><td>NLM open resources</td><td>Use it as a reference, but check the date on every entry</td></tr> <tr><td>Teacher preparation</td><td><em>Foundations of Education</em></td><td>OpenStax <em>Psychology</em> chapters on development</td><td>Plan a differentiated lesson</td></tr> <tr><td>Social work</td><td><em>Human Behaviour and the Social Environment</em> (open textbook)</td><td>OpenStax <em>Sociology</em></td><td>Case-read one chapter per week</td></tr> <tr><td>Business / accounting</td><td>Saylor Academy accounting courses</td><td><em>OpenStax Principles of Accounting</em></td><td>Close the books on a small dataset of your own</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3>Language and the arts</h3> <table><thead><tr> <th>Subject</th><th>Core open resource</th><th>Companion</th><th>Do this</th> </tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>Spanish / French / German</td><td>Project Gutenberg's bilingual primers and parallel texts</td><td>LibriVox in the target language</td><td>Read the Gutenberg text while listening to the audiobook</td></tr> <tr><td>English literature</td><td>Gutenberg classics; <em>The Souls of Black Folk</em></td><td>Project Gutenberg's periodicals (Shakespeare's <em>The Tempest</em>, 1911)</td><td>Read one play aloud with two voices</td></tr> <tr><td>Music theory</td><td><em>Open Music Theory</em></td><td>Society for American Music theory resources</td><td>Play the examples; do not only read about them</td></tr> <tr><td>Film studies</td><td>Public-domain feature films (Internet Archive)</td><td>Early film criticism in periodicals</td><td>Watch one film with no subtitles, then with them</td></tr> <tr><td>Creative writing</td><td>Public-domain short stories; <em>The Yellow Wallpaper</em> (Gutenberg)</td><td>Manuscript and archive collections</td><td>Write one page a day for a fortnight</td></tr> </tbody></table> <blockquote><p>A good starter list is not the longest one. It is the one where every entry has a named source, a named format and a date you could start.</p></blockquote>