Chemistry [Hardcover]

John A. Olmsted (Author), Gregory M. Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0471478113 | ISBN-13: 978-0471478119 | Edition: 4

100% Pure Chemical Understanding

Every morning many of us are energized by a cup of coffee. Imagine if you were as energized by understanding the chemistry in your morning cup--from the coffee trees, which fill red coffee berries with caffeine and a variety of other chemical substances, to the feathery crystals formed by the caffeine molecules, to the decaffeinating machines, which use liquid solvents to remove this stimulant from some of the beans. Now, that's real chemical understanding!


Olmsted and Williams' Fourth Edition of Chemistry focuses on helping you see and think about the world (and even your coffee) as a chemist. This text helps you understand how chemical phenomena are governed by what happens at the molecular level, apply critical thinking skills to chemical concepts and problems, and master the basic mathematical techniques needed for quantitative reasoning. You'll see the world as chemists do, and learn to appreciate the chemical processes all around us.

A Fourth Edition with a lot of new perks!
* Revisions include a new, early energy chapter; revised coverage of bonding; expanded coverage of intermolecular forces; and increased coverage of multiple equilibria, including polyprotic acids.
* New pedagogy strengthens students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
* Visual Summaries at the end of each chapter use molecular and diagrammatic visual elements to summarize essential skills, concepts, equations, and terms.
* eGrade Plus provides an integrated suite of teaching and learning resources, including a complete online version of the text, links between problems and relevant sections in the online text, practice quizzes, the Visual Tutor, Interactive LearningWare problems, and lab demos, as well as homework management and presentation features for instructors.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

100% Pure Chemical Understanding 

Every morning many of us are energized by a cup of coffee. Imagine if you were as energized by understanding the chemistry in your morning cup––from the coffee trees, which fill red coffee berries with caffeine and a variety of other chemical substances, to the feathery crystals formed by the caffeine molecules, to the decaffeinating machines, which use liquid solvents to remove this stimulant from some of the beans. Now, that’s real chemical understanding!

Olmsted and Williams’ Fourth Edition of Chemistry focuses on helping you see and think about the world (and even your coffee) as a chemist. This text helps you understand how chemical phenomena are governed by what happens at the molecular level, apply critical thinking skills to chemical concepts and problems, and master the basic mathematical techniques needed for quantitative reasoning. You’ll see the world as chemists do, and learn to appreciate the chemical processes all around us.

A Fourth Edition with a lot of new perks!

• Revisions include a new, early energy chapter; revised coverage of bonding; expanded coverage of intermolecular forces; and increased coverage of multiple equilibria, including polyprotic acids.
• New pedagogy strengthens students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Visual Summaries at the end of each chapter use molecular and diagrammatic visual elements to summarize essential skills, concepts, equations, and terms.
• eGrade Plus provides an integrated suite of teaching and learning resources, including a complete online version of the text, links between problems and relevant sections in the online text, practice quizzes, the Visual Tutor, Interactive LearningWare problems, and lab demos, as well as homework management and presentation features for instructors.

About the Author

John Olmsted III is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at California State University, Fullerton, from which he retired in 2003 after nearly 40 years of teaching and research in general and experimental physical chemistry. John was honored as the CSUF Outstanding Professor in 1997-98 and served as department chair from 1998 to 2001. In addition to 25 years at  CSUF, he taught for 12 years at the American University of Beirut. He had visiting teaching/research appointments at UCLA and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did research at the Max-Planck-Institute für Biophysikalische Chemie (Göttingen, Germany), the University of California at San Diego, and Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM.

John received his BS degree in chemistry from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University) and his PhD in physical chemistry from UC Berkeley, where he also did postdoctoral work at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. He has more than 30 referred research publications and has also published regularly on chemical education topics in the Journal of Chemical Education.

In his retirement, besides continuing to write chemistry textbooks, John Keeps busy with his interests in gardening, photography, and the philosophy of chemistry. He and his wife Eileen enjoy traveling, dancing, and  visiting with their three married children and two grandchildren.

Greg Williams is an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon. He earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry at UCLA and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at Princeton University. He has taught and conducted research at the University of Oregon, California State University, Fullerton, UCLA, and the University of California, Irvine. Outside the classroom, Greg's professional work is concentrated on developing graphics, digital animation, and interactive multimedia for teaching chemistry.

When he is not teaching or writing about chemistry, Greg can be found somewhere in the western United States, backpacking, climbing, skiing, fly fishing, or kayaking. He also sings low bass with the Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble. Greg lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife Trudy Cameron, a Professor of Economics at the University of Oregon, and their daughters, Casey and Perry. He absolutely insists on enjoying life.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1096 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 4 edition (December 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471478113
• ISBN-13: 978-0471478119
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #558,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why don't they use books by Wiley in high schools?, December 3, 2004

By 

Erik J. Fritsch (Sioux Center, IA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chemistry: A Molecular Science (Hardcover)

That is the gold question because Wiley Publishers put out some amazing books. A highly organized index, comprehensive tables for electron affinity, ionization energies, thermodynamic functions, equilibrium constants and standard redox potentions are all here for the intermediate/advanced reader while all the fundamentals from bonding to composition are here. The book focuses heavily on electron relationsips in bonding and the effects of intermolecular forces. Large colorful charts and diagrams are shown on every page. There are multiple examples throughout every chapter with an adbundance of questions at the end. The only complaint is an incomplete periodic table as it only shows molar mass, valence configuration, the atomic number, and the elemental symbol. Great book with good organization. 5 Stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome General Chemistry Book, March 20, 2008

By 

KOBE (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chemistry: The Molecular Science (Hardcover)

Learning Chem is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. When I studied, my main source of knowledge was from the text books. Unfortunately, I didn't have this book when I took General Chem.
After reading this book, I realized that many authors(at least 3 of my other general chem books I own) don't emphasize on Atoms and Light(as in Ch6) much less know how to explain the topic. More over, they don't know how to arrange the material in an organized order. Comparing to this book, I'm surprised how those other Chem books could miss entirely on The Properties of Electrons (Ch6.5) which I think is the most important topic in Chem since Chem deals mainly with the Coulomb Force.
So I guess writing a Chem text book requires a lot of skill. The author need to know what to emphasize(and what not to) and know how to cleverly link the material in order that readers can easily understand. The authors of this book did just that.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It may help to use additional resources with the book, October 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Chemistry: A Molecular Science (Hardcover)

The pros about this book:
1. I really enjoyed the sample problems in the book. It helped prepare me for the additional problems in the book.

2. For the most part, I understood everything. Reading it was not too difficult.

The cons about this book:
1. Some answers were incorrect. I had to speak with the instructor to get a couple of problems cleared.

2. The worst is that there is a solution manual available for only the Odd problems. I'd prefer a solution manual with both even and odd problems so that I can compare my work with and not hassle the professor's as much as i do to make sure i'm understanding the material.