Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd Edition [Hardcover]

F. Albert Cotton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471510947 | ISBN-13: 978-0471510949 | Publication Date: March 2, 1990 | Edition: 3

Retains the easy-to-read format and informal flavor of the previous editions, and includes new material on the symmetric properties of extended arrays (crystals), projection operators, LCAO molecular orbitals, and electron counting rules. Also contains many new exercises and illustrations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 3 edition (March 2, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471510947
• ISBN-13: 978-0471510949
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.3 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Physical & Theoretical > Physical Chemistry

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bad expectations => Bad reviews, March 18, 2003

By 

Jeff (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

So if you are a mathematician or a physicist, don't whine if this book isn't for you. It's for chemists, specifically inorganic ones, who use group theory to analyze ligand chemistry and spectroscopic measurements. It is also useful for those who utilize computational chemistry programs like Gaussian and need to know the basics of orbital and molecular symmetry.

This book contains only point group symmetry and none of the SO, SU, U, etc. groups used in physics. There is also no coverage of Lie algebras.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Review nearly 40 years later, November 20, 2005

By 

R. Bagula "Roger L. Bagula" (Lakeside, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

I read this book in 1965 as a freshman in Chemistry
at UCLA. I had no background in group theory or representation
of groups by characters. It started me on a life long study of groups,
but the wrong way. For someone without the necessary mathematics background
this book is actually harmful.
I think a course in modern algebra should be necessary
to reading this book. In 1965 an understanding of Calculus
wasn't enough even with a little Boolean algebra mixed in.
It came down to us using the book like a recipe book
for the mathematics, following many of the operating blindly.
But I have to say that over the years I have learned more about groups
and that the approach here has grown in my respect with that study.
So I have to say it is an excellent book
for those prepared
and a very poor book for those who aren't.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for its intended purpose and audience, June 4, 2003

By 

Timothy Hughbanks (College Station, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

Professor Cotton's book is a well written introduction to the theory of group representations for chemists. It is appropriate for chemical experimentalists and beginners with a more thoeretical bent. It was NOT INTENDED to be a book of algebra for mathematicians or physicists interested in Lie groups. The pure rotation group is not covered, representations of space groups are not mentioned, ray representations are not used, etc. Many of the reviewers below seem to think they will need one and only one book that deals with applications of group theory - not likely! For a beginner with a background typical of a 1st year grad student in physical or inorganic chemistry at an American university, the book is good. If the complainers below ever tried to teach a course to such students using the more rigorous books they are clamoring for, they would be hung in effigy (if they were lucky).
However, even for the intended audience, there are things that could be improved. Most glaring in my opinion is the treatment of electronic states, as opposed to orbitals. Even "mathematically-challenged chemists" have to face up to Slater determinants as basis functions for multi-electron wavefunctions. The spectroscopy and ligand-field theory topics are obscure if you don't introduce this concept. Symmetry with respect to interchange of particle labels is not that difficult to teach, and is essential for understanding the symmetry requirements that must be placed on electronic and vibrational wave functions.