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Free Online Textbook for Sustainability

„Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation“ is a free, open-source textbook available for viewing online or as a download for use on e-readers or printing. First and second-year college students are introduced to this expanding new field, comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge – including engineering and the applied arts, natural and social sciences, and the humanities. As sustainability is a multi-disciplinary area of study, the text is the product of multiple authors drawn from the diverse faculty of the University of Illinois: each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the field. Designed for the new generation of e-readers, the book can also be viewed in a browser, saved as a pdf, or printed.

To download a pdf: click here

To down load an epub: click here

To read the book in your browser: click here and use the table of contents on the left

For more download options: click here

Alternative pdf download source: click here

To buy a printed version: click here

Problems with the file or download? Use the connexsions help tool: click here

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The School of Earth, Society and Environment is a proud contributor to the book , which is currently used in our ESE 200 “Earth Systems” course.

The chapters of the work include:

             1. Introduction to Sustainability: Humanity and the Environment

             2. The Evolution of Environmental Policy in the United States

             3. Climate and Global Change

             4. Biosphere

             5. Physical Resources: Water, Pollution, and Minerals

             6. Environmental and Resource Economics

             7. Modern Environmental Management

             8. Sustainable Energy Systems

             9. Problem-Solving, Metrics, and Tools for Sustainability

             10. Sustainability: Ethics, Culture, and History

             11. Sustainable Infrastructure