Free MIT Engineering Text For Download

An anonymous reader writes " The (sci-tech) Library Question is reporting, "The third edition of A Heat Transfer Textbook, written by John H Lienhard V (MIT) and John H Lienhard IV (U Houston), has been made available on the web. The book is an introduction to heat transfer, geared towards engineering students. It may be downloaded free of charge. The authors explain: We are placing a mechanical engineering textbook into an electronic format for worldwide, no-charge distribution. The aim of this effort is to explore the possibilities of placing textbooks online -- effectively giving them away. Two potential benefits should accrue from doing this. First, in electronic format, textbooks can be continually corrected and updated, without the delays inherent in printed books (second and later editions are typically published on a five-year cycle). Second, free textbooks hold the potential for fundamentally altering the economics of higher education, particularly in those environments where money is scarce."

Comments

Why this won't be a likely medium anytime soon....

[digid]

Great ideas that lead to bigger and better things never get there when people are at risk of losing their big paychecks. Some guy is a millionaire because he owns a publishing company that can sell textbooks at $100+ a pop. He's not gonna sit there and watch his annual income go down the toilet. Same thing with the oil, alcohol, medical, computer industry etc...