August 1, 2016 (Vol. 36, No. 14)
URL:
http://www.nap.edu
Rating:
Strong Points: Large collection of freely downloadable books
Weak Points: None
Summary:
In case you didn’t already have enough things on your “to read” list, did you know that you can download and read thousands of full-text books online (6,649 of them, to be exact) from the National Academies Press website? That’s right—while site visitors can of course purchase the actual books, the majority of the collection can be read online, or a PDF version can be downloaded for free. The collection spans a large number of topics, so a convenient starting place is to browse the collections handpicked by National Academies Press staff. There are 31 collections in total, and they include vaccines, women’s adventures in science, climate change, and ethical foundations of science, among others. Alternatively, visitors can browse the book selection by topic, such as biology and life sciences, or space and aeronautics.
