29 Free Earth Science Textbooks

An Introduction To Geology

An online introduction to geology textbook that covers the fundamentals of geology and introduces you to the concepts behind scientific thought.

An Introduction To The Rock-Forming Minerals

Published by the mineralogical society of Great Britain and Ireland this undergraduate – Masters textbook introduces students to the most commonly occurring minerals and their chemical properties related to mineralogy.

Data Fitting With Nonstationary Statistics

A textbook on data fitting with irregular sampling in the context of geophysics.

Digital Encyclopedia Of Ancient Life

Online book on the paleontology and the history of the Earth.

Earth and Space Systems

A downloadable, open source textbook for high school Earth Science teachers. Aligned to the sequence of the California High School 4 course model.

Earth Soundings Analysis

An online textbook on earth-imaging seismology and its relation to computational geology.

Fundamentals Of Geology

An online introduction to geology textbook, that covers rock formation, plate tectonics, volcanism, mass movements and more.

Fundamentals Of Geophysical Data Processing

An online textbook from 1985 on Toeplitz matrices, Z-transforms, least squares fitting and other types of data processing.

Gemology

An online introduction to gemology, focusing on understanding the mineral properties behind gemstones.

Geographic Information System Basics

An online textbook acting as an introduction to GIS, data models and data management.

Geology

An online introductory textbook to geology.

Geophysical Image Estimation By Example

A textbook on the estimation and construction of geophysical images.

Geothermal Energy - Clean Power From The Earth's Heat

A short USGS circular on geothermal energy, how it’s produced, its development and its future.

Guide For The Microscopical Identification Of Ore And Gangue Minerals

Open access book on identifying gangue minerals with reflect light microscopy. Featuring 600 colored photomicrographs of 130 gangue and ore minerals.

Imaging The Earth's Interior

An online textbook from 1985 on techniques revolving around interpreting and using seismic reflection patterns.

Introduction To Fluid Motions And Sediment Transport

An online textbook on fluid dynamics and their relation to sedimentation and sediment transport/erosion.

Introduction To Oceanography

An online introductory textbook on oceanography.

Introduction To Petrology

An entire free, well-made, introduction to petrology book.

Introduction To Structural Geology

An online introductory textbook on structural geology.

Inverse Problems In Geophysics

A textbook on how to reconstruct models from a set of geophysical measurements.

Living With Earthquakes In The Pacific Northwest

An online textbook on seismology in a human context by describing the threat posed by the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which runs across western North America.

Physical Geology - 2nd Edition

An introductory textbook, on the physical processes that shape the geology of the earth. Includes a special chapter on the geological history of western Canada.

Physical Geology - U. Of Saskatchewan Edition

An online comprehensive introduction to the physical aspects of geology.

Planetary Science Online

Online book on planetary science by Eric H Christiansen at Brigham Young University.

Reviews In Engineering Society

The GSA has made their 22-volume Reviews in Engineering Geology series available for free online until June.

Teaching About Evolution And The Nature Of Science

An online textbook for teachers who would like to learn how to teach evolution to students from K-12 and some of the challenges they can overcome.

The Dynamic Earth

An online textbook on plate tectonic theory and the concepts driving earthquakes, thermal plumes and the development of the theory of plate tectonics.

The Sea Floor

SpringerLink has offered this introduction to marine geology and marine geophysics for free during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Volcanology And Geothermal Energy

An online textbook on advances in volcanology and how they can be applied to geothermal systems.