General Chemistry I as a Second Language: Mastering the Fundamental Skills [Paperback]

David M. Klein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0471716626 | ISBN-13: 978-0471716624 | Edition: 1

Get a better grade in General Chemistry!

Even though General Chemistry may be challenging at times; with hard work and the right study tools, you can still get the grade you want. With David Klein's General Chemistry as a Second Language, you'll be able to better understand fundamental principles of chemistry, solve problems, and focus on what you need to know to succeed.

Here's how you can get a better grade in General Chemistry:

• Understand the basic concepts: General Chemistry as a Second Language focuses on selected topics in General Chemistry to give you a solid foundation. By understanding these principles, you'll have a coherent framework that will help you better understand your course.
• Study more efficiently and effectively: General Chemistry as a Second Language provides time-saving study tips and problem-solving strategies that will help you succeed in the course.
• Improve your problem-solving skills: General Chemistry as a Second Language will help you develop the skills you need to solve a variety of problem types - even unfamiliar ones!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Get a better grade in General Chemistry

Even though General Chemistry may be challenging at times; with hard work and the right study tools, you can still get the grade you want. With David Klein’s General Chemistry as a Second Language, you’ll be able to better understand fundamental principles of chemistry, solve problems, and focus on what you need to know to succeed.

Here’s how you can get a better grade in General Chemistry:

Understand the basic concepts
General Chemistry as a Second Language focuses on selected topics in General Chemistry to give you a solid foundation. By understanding these principles, you’ll have a coherent framework that will help you better understand your course.

Study more efficiently and effectively
General Chemistry as a Second Language provides time-saving study tips and problem-solving strategies that will help you succeed in the course.

Improve your problem-solving skills
General Chemistry as a Second Language will help you develop the skills you need to solve a variety of problem types––even unfamiliar ones!

About the Author

David Klein is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University where he teaches Organic and General Chemistry. He is a dynamic and creative teacher and uses analogy to help students grasp difficult topics. Klein’s unique informal voice and manner of presentation help students truly master key topics in this course. He is also the author of Organic Chemistry as a Second Language; response to this book has been phenomenal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471716626
• ISBN-13: 978-0471716624
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Klein is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at The Johns Hopkins University where he has taught organic chemistry since 1999. Having worked with thousands of students, he has intense first-hand knowledge of how they learn and the difficulties they encounter. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from The Johns Hopkins University and his PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles under the supervision of Professor
Orville Chapman. Motivated by his experiences teaching organic chemistry as a graduate student at UCLA, David wrote Organic Chemistry as a Second Language (John Wiley & Sons, 2004, updated 2nd edition published in 2008), which has become a highly valued student study resource. David has received numerous teaching awards at both UCLA and Johns Hopkins for his unique, skill-building approach to organic chemistry instruction. David is married, with five children, and enjoys skiing, scuba-diving, and Tae Kwon Do.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spoon fed chemistry made understandable, June 24, 2006

By 

S. Dixon (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: General Chemistry I as a Second Language: Mastering the Fundamental Skills (Paperback)

I am taking general chemistry 1 in summer school and this book has basically saved me. Like the title suggests, this book concentrates on making you "fluent" with the basic techniques and ideas in Chem 101, increasing both your technical abilities and your overall understanding, and also saving you quite a bit of memorization, by showing you how to figure out what your chem book would have you memorize. It manages to spoon feed you the material with plenty of easy to remember visual concepts, but somehow avoids seeming pedantic or condescending, and also manages to be fairly concise. It is not comprehensive, but after working through the relevant section of the book, you usually have no problem learning from your assigned textbook, since the new material is usually just extensions of what you have already learned, and seems obvious. In my opinion, if they made this text a little more comprehensive and added $150 bucks to the asking price, it would be the ideal chem 101 textbook. Unless you are very confident in your chem abilities, I think it is a mandatory supplement to chem 101.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You need this book!, June 7, 2007

By 

Swerve for Squirrels - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Chemistry I as a Second Language: Mastering the Fundamental Skills (Paperback)

This book helped me get an A in Chem I. Period. Sure, my text was better than most and my professor was MUCH better than most...but every text will have shortcomings. And most professors aren't that helpful. Let's face it - most don't even care. So, THANK YOU David Klein for lending your expertise to those future professionals who would suffer through Chem I unnecessarily without your help. Do yourself a favor & invest the $20 or so that this book will cost you. Warning: Though you will probably still have to put in about 5-8 hours a week studying for this class, this book will make it worth your while...instead of just sitting there, blankly staring at diagrams, your time will be well (and properly) spent.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars practical, simple, straightforward, uncomplicated = this book, May 3, 2009

By 

Tu Anh (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Chemistry I as a Second Language: Mastering the Fundamental Skills (Paperback)

It just happened that for my first chemistry class, I got a teacher who doesn't speak English very well, who doesn't explain well and refuses to answer questions. This book is heaven-sent! The author explains every single concept so thoroughly, so simple and straightforward in a way that you can understand. I really recommend reading the Appendix of this book! I learned a new way of balancing equation that helped me out a lot on some of the exams. The practice problems in this book also helped me out a lot, I wouldn't aced one of the exams without doing them! I also recommend reading this book and watching one of the MIT online lecture series titled "principle of chemical science."