General Chemistry (Dover Books on Chemistry) [Paperback]

Linus Pauling (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0486656225 | ISBN-13: 978-0486656229 | Publication Date: April 1, 1988 | Edition: 3

Extensive revised and updated third edition of classic first-year text by Nobel Laureate. Atomic and molecular structure, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics correlated with descriptive chemistry. Problems. 75 pages of appendixes. Hailed by Choice as "an excellent text, highly recommended."

Product Details

• Paperback: 992 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; 3 edition (April 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486656225
• ISBN-13: 978-0486656229
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 138 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Undergraduate Text ever!, December 16, 2001

By 

Ashutosh Jogalekar "Sciencecat" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: General Chemistry (Dover Books on Chemistry) (Paperback)

When Linus Pauling was teaching undergraduates at Caltech, he found that none of the existing undergrad texts would serve his purpose.So he decided to write his own. This was in the 1940's. The result, 'General Chemistry', even after more than 50 years, is one of the best introductions to chemistry at the University level that I know of. I discovered this book in my sophomore year and after that I couldn't put it down. If you really read this book thoroughly, you can probably say that you have an excellent grasp of most of the fundamental principles of chemistry. Pauling's masterly style of explaining the essentials without compromising on information is unmatched. The small, simple calculations that he illustrates in each chapter are enlightening. In addition, the book is lavishly illustrated with beautiful figures by Roger Hayward. Pauling has a special knack of bringing out the flavor of seemingly boring but important topics like thermochemistry and ionic equilibrium. If you want one book that will launch your chemical knowledge on the right trajectory, trust me and buy this one. You will be enlightened by it forever.

77 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars full of insight but eccentric, September 23, 2006

By 

Einsteinian "oregonscientist" (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Chemistry (Dover Books on Chemistry) (Paperback)

This is an interesting, if somewhat dated and eccentric textbook by the man who was probably the leading chemist of the twentieth century. It is full of interesting insight, and written with real flair, so much unlike the typical textbook today produced by the textbook publishing machines.

Let me give a couple of examples, good and bad, of what makes this book interesting, but also exasperating.

The book is the only freshman chemistry text I know of that has a derivation of the Boltzmann distribution P ~ e^(-E/kT), a very basic relation in the kinetic theory of gases and in fact in all of statistical physics. The derivation is simpler than most, which makes it a real jewel especially at this level, where most people would think it doesn't belong.

On the other hand, the section on chemical bonding, which is actually where Pauling made his reputation, is very eccentric, like the author, so much so that it makes the book unsuitable as the sole text for a course. It is all based on sp3 hybrid orbitals. As far as I can tell, sp2 and sp hybrids are never mentioned. With the sp3 story, Pauling is able to account surprisingly well for some systematics of bond lengths. Whether this is fortuitous or not, I don't know, but it is interesting. On the other hand, without sp2 and sp hybrids, he is completely unable to give the standard, very simple, beautiful account of bond angles. A student learning introductory chemistry from this text who then went into organic chemistry would soon be at a disadvantage without knowing the theory of hybrid orbitals that everyone else would get from any of the standard contemporary texts.

My recommendation: use this text as a very insightful, quirky supplement. The price is certainly right.

The text that comes closest, in my opinion, in seriousness, if not eccentricity, is the contemporary text by Oxtoby and coauthors. It is too highbrow though for most college introductory chemistry courses.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Despite its age, still a truly fine book., October 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: General Chemistry (Dover Books on Chemistry) (Paperback)

Even though this is NOT the most up to date and technically correct text out there, it is still the best introduction to general chemistry I've seen which is why I rated it 5 stars (I refuse to dock it points for being old, unlike other reviews of other books I've seen). I found a copy at a garage sale, best four bucks I've spent in a while. The format of this book is superb, basing thermodynamics on his discussion of statistical mechanics and QM-he found it makes learning much more smooth, and I happen to agree. If someone would get permission to update this book and not much more, perfect general chem text for a college sequence. For those who'd like more physical and mathematical detail, the appendices are chock full of derivations, integrations and connections to make your heart swoon. Excellent book.