"Opt-Req" Explained

What is required for the course is the CONTENT of Astronomy Notes. The entire content of the Astronomy Notes textbook is found for free on the website www.astronomynotes.com . You are not required to purchase the physical, hardcopy textbook---the hardcopy is optional. However you get the CONTENT of Astronomy Notes, whether it is from the hardcopy or from the Astronomy Notes website, you are responsible for reading and understanding how to use the CONTENT of Astronomy Notes.

With that said many students still purchase/rent the hardcopy version because:

  1. It is nicely formatted and bound for easy study-reading with generous margins for making your notes and comments.
  2. The hardcopy also has margin notes of key concepts, section numbering, and page numbering that all help you quickly find the topic you're looking for.
  3. The webpages of Astronomy Notes each have A LOT of content on them so you'll probably end up wanting to make hardcopies of them anyway. With that you'll probably go through a couple of ink cartridges and more than a ream of paper. While the cost of doing that may be slightly less than the hardcopy, the webpage printouts won't be nicely bound with margins for making your own notes and comments and they won't have the section numbering and page numbers that all help you quickly find the topic you're looking for.
  4. Ink on paper technology is extremely robust and dependable and will work even when internet access is down, when batteries run down or when AC power is unavailable.

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Contact: Nick Strobel