Springer Nature launches its first textbook as part of the newly established MOOC&BOOK

Textbook on Archaeoastronomy is linked to the online course The Science of Stars and Stones at Politecnico di Milano

Heidelberg | Milan | London, 03 September 2020

Springer Nature is pleased to announce the publication of its first textbook as part of its new MOOC&BOOK product line. The book, Archaeoastronomy: Introduction to the Science of Stars and Stones, by the Italian astrophysicist and archaeoastronomer Giulio Magli is connected to a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) hosted on the platform of the Politecnico di Milano (Polimi Open Knowledge - POK). The book includes direct links to augmented reality material.

The online course, The science of stars and stones, is freely available on the University’s MOOC platform and allows unlimited participation via the web. Students who buy both the print and the e-book can easily access the content and benefit from the numerous exercises with solutions, in addition to those offered in the MOOC. The textbook features multimedia content, such as videos and augmented reality, which can be accessed by PC, tablet, or any other mobile device. 

Francesca Bonadei, Executive Editor and project manager for MOOC&BOOK at Springer, states: “Multimedia distance learning plays an important role in providing access to education for people all over the world, regardless of personal or external conditions. Springer Nature's MOOC&BOOK product line not only represents a valuable resource for the dissemination of knowledge in these challenging times due to the Corona crisis, but also empowers researchers, students, teachers and professionals to advance discovery every day.”

Archaeoastronomy: Introduction to the Science of Stars and Stones provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the discipline of archaeoastronomy and enables readers to virtually experience many astronomically-related archaeological sites through augmented reality potentialities.

About the MOOC&BOOK product line

The concept of MOOC and book provides authors with the unique opportunity to create a book complementary to an online course and is open to researchers in any area, from STM to HSS. It combines the quality of an academic/scholarly/research essay with the communicative power of an online educational product and offers authors and customers from all over the world an enhanced pedagogical experience. Readers can simply scan an image with their mobile phone or tablet in order to be taken directly to the corresponding video, illustration, photo, table, PowerPoint slide, etc. This allows them to share the relevant content in a fast and easy way, which makes the book more dynamic than a standard textbook. 

The next books to be published in spring 2021 are four MOOC&BOOK titles on Robotics, edited by Bruno Siciliano, and hosted by Federica Web Learning, the university platform owned by the University of Naples Federico II.