KNOXVILLE—Today's students in college biology and other science courses are increasingly being asked to analyze problems in quantitative ways, and now they have a new textbook to help them do so.

Everybody knows that science textbooks (or any textbooks, for that matter) are notorious for their high prices. Thus, it is always refreshing—and a bit exhilarating—to come across entire free texts.

It’s that time of the year when you’re making your list, checking it twice, for gifts that spark a love of science for the kids in your life. Ira talks with Mahnaz Dar, young readers’ editor at Kirkus ...