Customer Reviews

Chemistry Demystified (TAB Demystified)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This book is a horrible waste of trees. Aside from the errors and omissions, it is condescending, thin in content (filled out with quizzes that take up many of the pages), and generally useless for any meaningful introduction to or overview of chemistry. I would give it zero stars if that were an option. Try the old workhorse "Chemistry Made Simple" instead.

I'm reading up on the science I've forgotten from my school days, the science I didn't elect to take back then, and the science that didn't exist yet. I initially studied Chemistry as an adult through the John Wiley Self-Teaching Guide on this subject, which I highly recommend, by the way. I then chose to study Biology and Physics using the books in the Demystified series. Both of these books were jam-packed with enough information to bring me up to speed on these topics, and I also highly recommend them.

I decided to read Chemistry Demystified because the Physics and Biology books had been so great. But as other reviewers here have noted, it is jam-packed with errors! My copy is apparently a later printing than the one that one of the other reviewers had because it does have the Periodic Table on the inside front cover. Because I saw it printed there, I thought maybe I'd be getting a totally corrected edition, but the other mistakes are still present.

In several places, when references needed to be made to the B portion of the Periodic Table, the reference instead was made to the same-numbered column in the A portion.

How such a book managed to be released with so many errors escapes me. Author Linda Williams may be an accomplished science writer, as her biography inside the book states, but she must be embarrassed to have put out such a shoddy publication bearing her name. If they didn't have time to do this book right before a release deadline, they should have delayed the book. I hope that a later, corrected edition is planned, though, because the concept is valid.

Incidentally, both the front and back covers, as well as an editorial review quoted here, mention something called "ChemBites" as being included. That's one more error for this book, because I didn't see anything of the sort in the book.

Aughh, I can't believe I bought this book without reading reviews first! I had found the Precalc Demystified book to be very helpful, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with another one in the same series. Wrong!!! I am on Chapter TWO, and so far there have been so many ridiculous errors that I just can't continue with the book. Because of all the errors (and then the creeping, nagging feeling: is *that* an error, or is my understanding wrong??) the book has pretty much been an impediment to understanding. I have spent more time on the internet clarifying concepts, and with pen and paper re-working the bizarrely wrong example calculations, than I have spent learning from the book. I only wish I had not begun to make margin notes in it, because now I can't return it. :(

Nice cover; great illustrations, charts, tables, and diagrams; neat outlines; however, the book is of poor quality. It introduces concepts without explaination as if it assumes you know them. This begins to happen around chapter 4. You begin to feel lost as you progress through the book. There are virtually no guides to help indicate what is an important point to remember. There are questions given at the end of the chapters that have answers that are difficult to locate or deduce. I would highly recommend "Chemistry: A Self-Teaching Guide" by Wiley & Sons which is of far greater quality.

I picked up a copy of this at Half-Priced Books. I have studied science as a hobby for more than 4 decades, but mainly astrophysics, quantum physics and cosmology. I saw this and it seemed to be a fairly nice layout and concept. Not too complicated but also not overly simplistic. So far I have finished Chapter 6. I was quite surprised when I realized that I found about four errors in one chapter--especially when it is getting into some of the more difficult things like calculation of electron configuration orbital subshells.

This seems to be a reasonably usable book but YES, it does have LOTS of typos! Just be aware that if you think the text may be wrong, it may be because it *is* a typo. The errors are not misspellings, words missing, grammatical errors, etc., nor are they simple obvious misstatements of fact, such as, "New York City is the capitol of New York State." For the most part they are one or two letters or numbers wrong. For instance, Example 6.8 says the abbreviation for Cesium is Ce but it is actually Cs. For Quiz 6 Question 10 the question is "The Pauli exclusion principle states that". The correct answer is, "no two *electrons* can occupy the same orbital unless their spins are different." The correct answer is supposed to be (b) except that their text reads "no two *atoms* ..."

When I read Williams' explanation of "significant digits" and rounding some of it just didn't make sense and I kept thinking, "Gee, that's not the way I understood it ..." (I have 30 semester hours in accounting and tax and passed 2 parts of the CPA exam.) After seeing these reviews and the other errors, I'm thinking my original understanding is right and the book is wrong.

I haven't checked out any of the competing books, so I can't say whether those might be preferable. This is basically for someone who wants a general understanding of the concepts.

Full of ambiguous language and outright errors. Seems like a classic case of a publisher taking no interest in content, only sales potential. Was this book edited by anyone knowing anything about chemistry or editing? Not recommended under any circumstances.

This was a poorly written book and like many of the previous reviewers, I found this book filled with errors and relatively useless information. While it does indeed cover a lot of basic concepts, if you're looking to try and understand the concepts, the book will fail miserably.

While reviewing the quizzes I find myself constantly going back to the chapter to see if I had missed anything only to see that the chapter simply didn't cover the material.

I'm quite a fan of the other demystified books like differential equations, but this book I'm afraid would lead to false sense of self confidence.

I have taken chemistry before, but wanted a simple refresher. This book looked good in the store--I liked the general format and progression of topics. Once I got into it however, I was really disappointed. I got through chapter 3, decided it wouldn't get any better, and then returned it for a refund. The two reviewers ahead of me were on the money. Save yours for another book!

Chemistry was never my best subject, especially after high school. I couldn't grasp the concepts. This book defines things well, and the format is straightforward. After finishing this book I was not so confused anymore. There are other books in this same series (like biology, physics, trigonometry, calculus, etc.) all written in this same format. I have checked them out of the local library and recommend any or all of them, especially for home schooling, which I, the quintessential desert rat, am doing with all my kids. This book should be good for anybody who has had trouble with chemistry. It can help you get over the fear.

Thank goodness I bought this at a going-out-of-business sale so I didn't waste too much money. I don't know why I didn't read the reviews first like I usually do. I guess I trusted the "McGraw-Hill" emblem in the corner. HA! I bought this to get a basic understanding of chemistry before my summer gen-ed college course. There was already an example in Chapter Two that I could not make sense of no matter how many times I reread it. I figured I would ask a coworker who had Chem about it later and I decided to read on. Three pages later another example didn't make sense. I was beginning to doubt my intelligence. Then I looked up the reviews. So many reviewers saying the book was full of errors. What's mystifying is how this book ever made it to press. Do not waste your money!