Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight [Hardcover]

Peter Atkins (Author), Loretta Jones (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0716739232 | ISBN-13: 978-0716739234 | Publication Date: July 15, 2001 | Edition: 2nd

Written for general chemistry courses, this text should help students to develop chemical insight by showing the connections between chemical principles and their applications, both in the laboratory and the world around us. the author begin with a detailed picture of the atom before moving on to the macroscopic topics of thermodynamics and kinetics. They continually demonstrate how to solve problems and encourage students to question, reason and think visually about the concepts they learn.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

PETER ATKINS, Oxford University. - LORETTA JONES, University of Northern Colorado.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1024 pages
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman; 2nd edition (July 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716739232
• ISBN-13: 978-0716739234
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Generally good, March 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight (Hardcover)

This is one of the more advanced general chem textbooks available. It has a review section at the beginning of the book for those who are not quite ready for college level chemistry. Unlike its two main competitors(Principles of Modern Chemistry by Oxtoby and Chemical Principles by Zumdahl), it introduces quantum chemistry (at very basic level) first. If you have hard time with this book, you might have to go down a level and find a text for regular science major general chemistry, for example, Brown/LeMay/Bursten or Moore/Stanitski/Jurs.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Confusion, December 20, 2004

By 

goldbruin86 (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight (Hardcover)

Book layout is overly confusing. Text is sometimes not as clear as can be and needs more practice examples (most apparent in sections like isomers and titrations). Yes like one person said before, UCLA does use this text to teach Life science majors, but there are better choices. There are numerous mistakes in the solution guides still, and Zumdahl's "Chemical Principles" is a much better read in my opinion. I actually used it to clear up points this text was muddy on. Your mileage may vary.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE COLLOGE 1ST SEMESTER HONORS CHEM BOOK, January 4, 2004

By 

Jose Alvarez (Miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight (Hardcover)

I used this book for my 1st semester Honors Chemistry class at Cornell University (CHEM 215). Even though Chem is not my favorite science subject (I'm an electrical engineer, so I prefer physics instead) I have to say the combination of book and professor (Benjamin Widom), makes me remember that class as my favorite one during my first semester at Cornell. I wouldn't listen too much to the negative reviewer (Who wrote this book?). The book is not bad at all; it is just focused towards students who are going to be majoring on Chemistry (Pre-Meds). But that doesn't make it "bad". I do recognize that there are some typos in this edition that our professor easily corrected (that's why I gave it a 4 and not a 5).