The Elements of Physical Chemistry [Paperback]

P. W. Atkins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198559534 | ISBN-13: 978-0198559535 | Publication Date: August 1996 | Edition: 2

From the renowned author of the best-selling Physical Chemistry comes the second edition of this popular introduction to physical chemistry for first year chemistry undergraduates. In this completely revised and updated edition of The Elements of Physical Chemistry , special attention has been paid to the clarity of presentation of the material, with many pedagogical aids. An increase in the number of worked examples, in-text exercises, justification boxes, and new strategy sections will help students to understand all of the topics under review. The book is now more extensively illustrated than ever before, with completely new artwork, and the author has had in mind throughout the revision the difficulties students have with this subject. To reflect the growing emphasis within courses on biological and medicinal aspects of the subject, this new edition takes many of its examples from applications in both areas. The many new and modified exercises are designed to reflect the span of interests of students likely to use this text, and to help learn problem-solving skills. The aim has been to produce a book which covers physical chemistry in an introductory way without burdening the reader with an excess of mathematics. All lecturers and undergraduates in chemistry will want to own a copy of this book. The forthcoming Solutions Manual to the Elements of Physical Chemistry 2e will publish in January 1997. Full details to be given in the next bulletin. This book is intended for first year undergraduates in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, molecular biology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 510 pages
• Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr (Txt); 2 edition (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198559534
• ISBN-13: 978-0198559535
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,740,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Text, June 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Elements of Physical Chemistry (Hardcover)

As an instructor I found this text VERY DISAPPOINTING. It has many errors that persist to the 2nd edition. In addition, there are several instances in which references are made to sections that are only found in Atkin's larger P-Chem text. I attribute this to simple lack of effort on the part of the author and publisher. The errors and inconsistencies have made this text difficult to use. In addition, for students with the background to understand straight forward calculus based descriptions, it was confusing to wade through algebraic description before encoutering the proper "justification" at the end.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wholly disappointing, December 14, 2005

By 

Prof01 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Elements of Physical Chemistry (Hardcover)

Another instructor's viewpoint:

This text is not worth utilizing. It has many errors -- in the text, in the sample problems, in the book-end answers, and in the accompanying student solution's guide.

A note regarding the recently-released 4th edition: It's no better! I recieved an evaluation copy and found many of the same errors propagated into the new edition. And the "online" student solution guide does not exist (as of Dec 15, 2005). I'm sure it made teaching the course especially difficult for those who used the new edition this past Fall.

Atkins is a great author for the 2-semester calculus-based course, but everyone involved with the production of this text should consider what they're doing with greater scrutiny.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pick another Atkins text, January 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Elements of Physical Chemistry (Hardcover)

While the descriptions in the book are helpful, I reccomend you pick another Atkins text. Both my class and my professor are unhappy with this selection. The book has many contradictions and innacuracies, and while the correct parts may be very good, a text book _must_ be reliable. It is important to know what is true from the errors. For this reason I used another Atkins text. "Physical Chemistry" 5th edition is accurate and helpful. (I've heard the 6th edition of "Physical Chemistry" also has errors.) "Physical Chemistry" is calculus based, so be aware that a math background is helpful (including Multivariable Calculus). The solutions manual to this book is _full_ of errors.