Customer Reviews

Chemistry: Structure and Dynamics, Preliminary Edition

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I looked at quite a few chemistry books before choosing this one. In the end I decided to follow one of MIT's OpenCouseWare chemistry classes for which this is required reading. To find the MIT lectures, do an internet search for "ocw 3.091"; all the videos and homework assignments are available. The video lectures are great!

What's good:
The text gives a very smooth build-up to all topics, so the reader will rarely ever be left confused. Because of this, it can be read quite quickly. Furthermore, exercises with clear solutions are integrated into the text, letting you double-check yourself frequently. This can be a fantastic strategy to support both understanding and overall readability.

What's not so good:
Slightly advanced topics only get a very cursory treatment. Often so cursory, in fact, that there's no way to gain any understanding of the topic. The frequent in-chapter problems may be great at the beginning of the book, but later they began to seem more like frequent interruptions.

Who it's for:
The book is good for students who want a clear and smooth introduction to chemistry without mathematical theory. The only math requirement is basic algebra.

Who it's NOT for:
It's definitely not sufficient for students interested in gaining a solid theoretical understanding of chemistry.

Tip:
- You may want to order the student solution manual too. I found it useful for practice.
- If you're looking for a book for self-study, the MIT OpenCourseWare supplementary material can complement this text somewhat. The MIT courses requires a lot more theory than this book, though, so there's a discrepancy. A less demanding (but excellent!) series of video lectures can be found by searching for "webcast berkeley chem 1a".

Chemistry has never been my strong point - I've never been overly BAD at it... just not all that great at it either... and I remember taking it in Highschool and struggling with my book. I'd struggle to understand it and struggle to keep my eyes open while reading it. This book is far better then the several I'd fought through in Highschool. It puts things into terms that were easy to relate to. Will I ever be a Chemist - no, but this is the first book that actually made moles something that I felt I understood rather then just memorized.

There are tons of pictures, diagrams, and charts to look at - and most things are in fairly simplistic terms.

Chapter list:
Elements and Compounds
The Mole
The Structure of the Atom
The Covalent Bond
Ionic and Metallic Bonds
Gases
Making and Breaking of Bonds
Liquids and Solutions
Solids
The Connection Between Kinetics and Equilibrium
Acids and Bases
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
Chemical Thermodynamics
Kinetics
Nuclear Chemistry
Chemical Analysis

The biggest complaint I have heard from my teacher is that the chapters are not in a fluent order for teaching - so if you are home schooling or a professor that might be something you want to keep in mind. For example we had to do Chapter 5 prior to Chapter 2 because if you don't know the difference between Metals, Non-metals and semi-metals (in Chapter 5) then doing equations is much harder (Chapter 2).

I don't know if this is the BEST Chemistry book - but of the ones I've encountered, I'd pick this one.

Here is a list of complaints I have about the binder ready version:

1. Approximately 50 pages have torn through one or more of the binding holes only eight weeks into the semester. This is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons including the high probability of lost pages and the near impossibility of resale. I can't imagine how bad and how useless this book will be at the end of the second semester of use. In fact, I may have to buy the book again (this time the standard version) in order to complete the semester. This will not only cost me the price of a new book, but also the money spent on the binder version since it is completely wasted on a book that will have to be thrown away and will not be available for reference.

2. The binder version is much larger (2.5 times by volume, 1.75 times by area) than a standard chemistry text book and does not fit well in a back pack or brief case.

3. The binder version is 1.5 times heavier than a standard chemistry text book.

4. The binder version is much more unwieldy requiring careful handling to avoid dropping the book or accidentally tearing out pages.

In summary, I am EXTREMELY disappointed with this book and WILL NOT EVER buy a "binder ready" version of any text book again.