Mathematics
Live chapters
Three strands from number and algebra through data handling — starting with quadratic equations.
Future of textbooks. Free to read. Open to improve.
High-quality learning materials for elementary school through university — on the web, at no cost.
- Free means the whole book, for everyone — read it all online without paywalls.
- Open means open source — anyone can fix a typo, add a chapter, or fork a book on GitHub.
The problem
Textbook fees hit families hard
In many countries, families pay hundreds of dollars per child each year for printed textbooks — on top of tuition, devices, and supplies. When money is tight, students share worn copies, skip buying books, or fall behind before the term begins.
That cost is not a small inconvenience. It is a barrier to showing up prepared. Open Free Books exists so every learner can start the year with complete materials, not a receipt.
The medium
Long live the web — not the PDF
Paper textbooks are fixed: one layout, one edition, no room to fix a typo until the next print run. Most “digital” versions are the same pages exported to PDF — still static, still hard to search, still impossible to embed a simulation or a live diagram.
HTML on the open web is different. Chapters can link to sources, resize for any screen, include interactive figures, and improve over time. The book becomes something you use — not something you only carry.
People & books
Replace textbooks, not teachers
A great teacher — whether in person or, someday, assisted by thoughtful tools — still sets pace, asks hard questions, and notices when a student is stuck. That relationship is not what we are trying to automate.
Textbooks are different. They are reference and structure: explanations, exercises, diagrams. Those can be free, forkable, and kept current on the web so teachers spend less time hunting permissions and more time teaching.
Agency
Do not outsource your learning
Finishing a chapter is not the same as understanding it. Skimming for answers, copying worked solutions, or rushing to the end leaves gaps that show up on the next test — and in the years after.
Read slowly. Try the problems before you peek at hints. Sit with confusion long enough to name what you do not get. The textbook is a guide; the thinking still has to be yours. That habit is what school is really training, whether the subject is algebra or history.
Planet
OFB are gentler on the Earth
Everybody learns the same basics. Everybody prompts AI the same thing. Core curriculum changes slowly. Newton’s laws, the structure of a cell, and how fractions work do not need a new AI run every September. Regenerating the same chapter thousands of times burns electricity in data centers — for text that could have been written once and shared openly.
One carefully reviewed book, published on the web for everyone, means less redundant compute, less e-waste from disposable PDFs, and fewer trucks moving heavy print runs. Students get stable material they can trust; the environment gets less waste from doing the same work over and over.
Craft
Carefully crafted by brilliant people on Earth
A textbook is not a bulk download. It is years of lectures distilled, diagrams redrawn until they click, exercises tested in real classrooms, and arguments tightened by reviewers who care about getting it right.
Open Free Books gathers that work from educators and researchers at institutions around the world — people who have already spent their careers making hard ideas legible. We publish their care openly so the next student inherits the best version, not a disposable draft.
Contributors and partners from leading universities include
People
Contributors
Open Free Books is written and maintained in the open. These are the people building and reviewing the textbooks.
Want to contribute? See the contributing guide or open a pull request on GitHub.
Support
GitHub Sponsors
Supporters who help keep Open Free Books free and open for learners everywhere.
Catalog
Browse by subject
Science
Coming soon
Physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science from introductory to advanced levels.
Humanities
Coming soon
History, literature, philosophy, and languages — readable, citable, and free to share.
Computing
Coming soon
Programming, computer science fundamentals, and practical skills for students and teachers.
Subject pages and full catalogs are on the roadmap. Contribute a book on GitHub.
Featured
Featured books
Quadratic equations
Featured chapter
Discriminant, nature of roots, and an interactive graph explorer — read in the browser.
Community contributions
Open source
Every book is a repository you can fork, translate, or adapt for your classroom.
Want to list a book? Open a pull request or start a discussion on GitHub.
For Every Learner
The next generation is our future.
Let's provide good, free education that anyone can read, share, and improve.