OpenStax – openly licensed textbooks

For some of these though, I feel like it would be nice if an "order" was established between different books (or the lack thereof mentioned). At least, I do not immediately seem to spot a mention of this.

What I mean is that I assume College Physics comes before University Physics, but at what point are you ready to start Astronomy? Also, where does College Physics for AP Courses fit in? (that might be more obvious for Americans?) How about the Biology books, do I need them for Anatomy?

We have to keep in mind that not every professor is independently wealthy, in fact, most are not. If they can find success marketing their textbooks, they should. Where I draw the line is the insidious behavior of the publishers. Often the authors are as big a victims as the students.

So all I ask is that you "everything free" types keep in mind that people should be paid for their hard work. That it doesn't automatically mean someone else is being exploited and it certainly doesn't mean that the result can't still be open source. I am highly skeptical that anything high quality and worthwhile will come from uncompensated authors, editors, and publishers. Nothing ever works like that.

And yes, I was in higher ed as an undergrad and graduate student 2x and then as a professor for awhile. I have seen the best and worst of higher ed.

Writing a good book even in a field whose content doesn’t change much is hard. There’s a need for publishers but just not a need for one that charges hundreds of dollars for a textbook. It might not be economically feasible to have a publisher put out quality textbooks for less money but I can’t justify forcing my students to spend $200 to $300 per semester on a math textbook.