Inorganic Chemistry (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Catherine Housecroft (Author), Alan G. Sharpe (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131755536 | ISBN-13: 978-0131755536 | Publication Date: December 9, 2007 | Edition: 3

Designed as a student text, Inorganic Chemistry focuses on teaching the underlying principles of inorganic chemistry in a modern and relevant way.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"To put it short, this is THE BOOK, that I would like to use in Inorganic Chemistry. The book contains all the information needed. Furthermore, it is well and logically presented. The problems related with each chapter are good; and the suggestions for further reading are highly relevant." Markku Sundberg, Helsinki University, Finland "I've had one of my students take a look at the book and I virtually had to tear it from his hands in order to get it back!" Professor Nikolaus Korber, University of Regensburg, Germany "Housecroft--Sharpe has been the far most superior contemporary inorganic chemistry textbook there is. It was the case of the 1st edition and it remains so for the 2nd edition. The book is also a very good comprehensive text for chemists in general, PhD students and researchers. Clearly, students may prefer the more colorful 2nd edition, and so will their teachers for pedagogical reasons." Pavel Karen, Oslo University, Norway "My tutorial group students... thought that the addition of colour was a major improvement relative to the 1st edition. I thought that the section on Group Theory and symmetry is much better handled in the 2nd edition." Mary Mahon, Bath University, UK "Undoubtedly, the new colour format makes the book seem more attractive to the reader; I noted that the descriptive chemistry has been updated also. It is pleasing that the authors continue to provide a broad coverage of chemistry throughout the Periodic Table while maintaining a reasonable size of book. One of the most important features (and one that recommended the book to us as a text) is that topics are presented in a straightforward manner, making them accessible to the less able students." Professor John Winfield, Glasgow University, UK --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Housecroft & Sharpe's Inorganic Chemistry is established as the leading textbook in the field and has been fully updated in this third edition.  Designed as a student text, Inorganic Chemistry focuses on teaching the underlying principles of inorganic chemistry in a modern and relevant way.

 

Within a single text, Inorganic Chemistry provides a balanced introduction to core physical-inorganic principles and to the descriptive chemistry of the elements.  Using worked examples and self-study exercises, Inorganic Chemistry reinforces the links between these two key themes.   Special selected topics chapters are also included, covering inorganic kinetics and mechanism, catalysis, solid state chemistry and bioinorganic chemistry.  New to this edition is a section on carbon nanotubes included in the chapter dealing with solid state chemistry.

 

Inorganic Chemistry has been carefully designed with teaching aids throughout to enhance learning.  A stunning full-colour text design and three-dimensional illustrations bring inorganic chemistry to life.  Topic boxes have been used extensively to relate the chemistry to issues in everyday life, the chemical industry, the environment and legislation, and natural resources.  New to this edition are also experimental techniques boxes  introducing physical methods such as diffraction methods, computational chemistry, ESR spectroscopy and HPLC. 

 

Numerous worked examples take students through each calculation or exercise step by step. They are followed by related self-study exercises, complete with answers, to help build further confidence.  New self-study exercises have been added throughout the book.  End-of-chapter problems (including 'overview' problems) reinforce learning and  develop subject knowledge and skills.  Definitions boxes and end-of-chapter checklists provide excellent revision aids while further reading suggestions, from topical articles to recent literature papers, encourage students to explore topics in more depth.

 

New to this edition

• The coverage of 'basic concepts' has been split into two chapters (Chapters 1 and 2).
• Updated coverage of recent advances in basic inorganic chemistry.
• Improved coverage of the use group theory in infrared spectroscopy (Chapter 4), of charge transfer bands and UV-VIS spectroscopy (Chapter 21), of term symbols and microstates (Chapter 21), and of magnetism (Chapter 21).
• New sections on superacids (Chapter 9) and carbon nanotubes (Chapter 28).
• Many new self-study exercises have been added to the descriptive chemistry chapters.  
• New experimental techniques boxes.
• Updated applications and resources, environmental and biological boxes.  In selected boxes, photographs have been  included for the first time.

Supporting the third edition

• Companion Website available at www.pearsoned.co.uk/housecroft  Featuring multiple choice questions (including additional questions for this edition)and rotatable 3-D molecular structures.
• PowerPoint figures and tables for lecturers.
• A short Guide for Lecturers written by Catherine E. Housecroft.
• A Solutions Manual, written by Catherine E. Housecroft, with detailed solutions to all end-of-chapter problems within the text is available for separate purchase,  ISBN 978-0-13-204849-1.

 

 

Catherine E. Housecroft is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Basel, Switzerland.  She is the author of a number of textbooks and has extensive teaching experience in the UK, Switzerland, South Africa and the USA.  Alan G. Sharpe is a Fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge, UK and has had many years of experience teaching inorganic chemistry to undergraduates.  

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1136 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (December 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131755536
• ISBN-13: 978-0131755536
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Inorganic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Detailed Enough, November 7, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Inorganic Chemistry (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I realize that this is supposed to be an introductory book, however it does not provide enough detail to be very useful in my 2nd year inorganic chem class. I am extremely disappointed by this since the book costs so much money. I wonder how much more it would cost if it was hardcover.

It does have a good layout and bright pictures and colors though. I guess this is supposed to stimulate the brain or something.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Who is this book for?, February 12, 2010

By 

Billy Wayne Mccann - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Inorganic Chemistry (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

I find this book frustrating.

The presentation is very poor. Topics are broached willy-nilly with paltry discussion. Sometimes it's just plain laughable. For example, Box 1.3, discussing the particle in the box: "There is one further restriction that we shall simply state: the boundary condition for the particle in the box is that [the wavefunction] must be zero when x=0 and x=a." Instead of a simple statement of this and expecting the student to take it on authority, why not give the *reason* for these boundary conditions, which can be summarized in a single sentence, i.e. 'the wavefunction must be continuous with the region outside the box, which is also zero'? Another example from the first chapter: the section "Ground state electronic configurations: experimental data". After I read this section I couldn't help but think to myself "where's the experimental data? what was the point of this section?"

Which leads to my second criticism: who is this book for? It's too advanced for undergraduates and not advanced enough for graduates. This book attempts to be all-things-to-all-people, in my opinion, which makes it good for no one. It's as though the authors took an undergraduate text and added a few more bits here and there, sporadically, without rhyme or reason. This may or may not be the reason that this book weighs SIX pounds. The authors tried to shoe-horn too much into this book.

Finally, the aesthetics of the book are atrocious. The color scheme used is distracting and hard on the eyes. Dark primary colors and light pastels on the same page?!? On some pages you can count up to six different colors used for separate things. I feel like my eyes are being pulled every direction and find it difficult to concentrate on the text.

However, I do feel like this book may be a good review book. Do you need to freshen up on a wide variety of inorganic chemistry topics without going too much into detail on every topic? This text may indeed suite that purpose very well.

But, being a grad student and having been assigned this book, I have found that in reading it I'm viewing material that is either far too basic and general and therefore a waste of my time or I'm given insufficient details for true understanding when it comes to advanced material. This is why I find this text frustrating and have given it two stars. If it weren't for the encyclopedic nature of the text, it would have received only one star.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Have Mine, August 21, 2009

By 

LordStryker (JAX, FL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inorganic Chemistry (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

Housecroft and Sharpe do an excellent job writing this Inorganic Chemistry book. Its tough writing one of these that will please everyone. I used this book for both Inorganic and Advanced Inorganic chemistry classes. Simplified approach, bright/easily organized layout, plenty of diagrams, pictures, and tables. The LGO approach (as mentioned earlier) was a bit murky. Also, its written by British people so you'll see minor spelling inconsistencies with that of English (people actually had a pet peeve about this but whatever, I found it to be amusing). This book makes such a good source for reference material as well. I never sold this one back and its sitting right above my desk here ready and waiting.

Side Note: I'm using Miessler's Inorganic Chemistry text this semester (for Graduate level Inorganic Chemistry) and looking through it I cringe at all the convoluted ways he presents even some of the most simple concepts. Thank goodness I kept my Housecraft and Sharpe version.