General Chemistry [Hardcover]

Darrell D. Ebbing (Author), Steven D. Gammon (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1101 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin College Div; 6 Sub edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395902223
• ISBN-13: 978-0395902226
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, general, nice diagrams, June 27, 2000

By 

Craig MACKINNON (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Chemistry (Hardcover)

We use this text for our freshman chemistry course at Trent University, and have for a number of years (previous editions). It is equal or superior to virtually all other texts that I am aware of for a general course that includes both chemistry majors and others (biology, physics, etc.). Concepts are explained well, diagrams are easy to understand, and there is a profusion of examples in the text. It also includes a biochemistry chapter, which many other texts do not have. With the addition of bichem to many 1st year curricula, this is important.

If teaching a more rigorous/physical course directed solely to chem majors, this book may not be the best choice (perhaps Oxtoby and Nachtrieb would be a better choice).

This book is generally superior in quantity and quality of questions at the back of the chapter. All questions are paired with the odd numbered question having the answer in the back of the book. Students really like this feature.

As an instructor, there are a number of extras that are very helpful, including an alternate example manual (with examples to use in class that are complimentary to the text), a full set of figures on a CD-ROM which are easily transferred to Powerpoint for use in lectures, and a complete solutions manual.

There are a few small problems. The order in the text is not the order I teach in, but the chapters are pretty good at delineating the material so you can teach out of order. For example, Chapter 6 is thermochemistry, and Chapter 18 is the rest of thermodynamics - why 12 chapters between them? (To be fair, this system is used in a number of freshman texts.) Web resources for the student are lacking in that they cost extra (at least, in Canada), something many other publishers offer for free.

All in all, this is a very good text for a general course in freshman chemistry. It is well indexed, and should also be of use to anyone that needs a chemistry reference book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great aid for any 1st year chem student, November 5, 2001

By 

Jeff Manuel (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Chemistry (Hardcover)

As a first year Chemistry student, I found Ebbing the most helpful textbook of the three that was prescribed for me.

Ebbing has it all: A logical layout, Nice diagrams to accompany explained concepts and best of all: a set of applicable problems at the end of each chapter. Ebbing's glossary is also one of the better ones you will come accross in General Chemistry Textbooks.

For the student who likes self-study, Ebbing is a gem, as it explains everything in a user-friendly, easy-reading easy-to-understand manner. It is, in fact, a Chemistry textbook that you can read just for the hell of it. If only I had Ebbing in highschool, my chemistry grades would have been that much higher.

It is not, however a textbook for those planning to major in chem. It is, as the title clearly says, a GENERAL CHEMISTRY textbook and should be treated as such. If you are, however, planning to major in more inter-disciplinary subjects that draw on chemistry , i.e. botany, geology and to an extent physics, Ebbing would be good to have around.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is extremely helpful., September 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: General Chemistry (Hardcover)

I am a XIIth standard student, and learning concepts of the science. I was very scared of general chemistry before I read this book. Ten days ago, I bought this book and even in real shortage of time, I read this book thoroughly, and I liked it so much that I never liked any book before it. It has great information in very simple words that a rookie like me can also understand easily. It has been written very systematically and logically with probably great efforts. Now I am not a bit scared from general aspects of chemistry and can solve even some tough problems. This book is no doubt a very nice book.