Customer Reviews

Organic Chemistry (with Organic ChemistryNOW) (Available Titles Owl)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is by far one of the best texts for undergraduate organic chemistry! The explanations are clear and concise, and ideas and concepts are well-organized. The book is easy to follow and the problems, both within and at the ends of the chapters, make the concepts crystal clear.

I used an earlier edition of this textbook and solutions manual when I took organic chemistry (2000-2001), and it (and some great professors) made the class easier and enjoyable. Having encountered other textbooks at other schools, I am grateful that the chemistry department at my alma mater uses this text. I am an organic chemistry TA now, and wish my students were using this book!

Bottom line, I sing the book's praises every chance I get! It's a bit expensive brand-new, but worth every penny!

A mechanistic approach to learning organic chemistry seems to make a whole lot more sense than memorizing/regurgitating the slew of reactivities available for each functional group along the way. Why then do we not have a text which allows us to do this? A few authors in the past have attempted to construct a text which views organic chemistry from a mechanistic (rather than funtional-group)standpoint, but none have been able to offer something an UNDERGRADUATE could embrace. Hornback has clearly and logically presented this often intimidating subject here, and should be praised for hurdling the barrier to offer the first readable mechanism-oriented text.

I used Hornback's 2nd edition for my introductory organic chemistry courses and found the text to be excellent, and often surpassing the in-class instruction I recieved from my professor. If you are an undergraduate student taking organic chemistry I would recommend this text above all others. I often refer to it as a reference now that I am taking advanced organic chemistry. If you read the this text, you will do well in your course regardless of the calibre of instruction you are recieving.

Hornback's organic chemistry text is by far the most concise and clear textbook I have ever used for any chemistry course in college. After introducing new concepts, ample practice problems are provided throughout the discussion to help the student stay on track and test her knowledge. The illustrations are also excellent and Hornback encourages the student to use models, which is extremely helpful in the beginning of organic chemistry.

Unlike many science textbooks that drown the reader in confusing detail, Hornback offers the perfect amount of detail in his discussions. The problems at the end of the chapters, ranging from easy-difficult are also extremely helpful to master the material.

Hornback makes an allegedly difficult subject easy to master, presenting the information in a logical manner.

I used an earlier edition of this book in an Organic Chemistry course in high school, and I LOVED it. The arrangement of the topics in each chapter made everything feel so organized and neat while studying. Chapters are devoted completely to either reactions, nomenclature, or spectroscopy (except the very early and the very late chapters).

This isn't like Carey's book (the one I used in college) in which the functional group is the basis for a chapter's organization, and a chapter can jump from physical properties, to reactivity, to spectroscopy, making the reading of the chapter feel like a mental rollercoaster. The information felt a bit too scattered and artificially gathered, which made it hard for me to be grasp and organize the material in my mind easily. I relied a lot more on rote memorization to do well in the course with Carey's book.

With Hornback's book, however, the information is a lot more manageable to me, since the theme of a chapter is intuitive and focused. For example, when I learn nomenclature, I know I'm just focusing on nomenclature, and I won't float to a completely different aspect of the subject, like spectroscopy or reactions, a couple of paragraphs down. I know that after I'm done with the nomenclature chapter, I will've learned enough nomenclature to be able to become competent and secure with naming organic compounds with any of the basic functional groups, and will be ready to move on to another aspect of this subject, like reactivity. It's hard to get that feeling of focus or thoroughness with Carey's book, where the author moves from one subtopic to another intuitively-unrelated subtopic in a chapter, leaving me struggling to organize this information clearly in my mind.

I really hope this book gets into more Organic chem classrooms. It's a neater, less stressful, and more exciting way to learn Organic chemistry. I highly recommend Hornback for self-study as well. 5+Stars.

The text was received in a better conditions than anticipated and arrived within the scheduled shipping time frame. Overall, the followed through on all of their responsibilities.

This is a very good introductory organic chemistry book. It seems to have a very good layout and covers all the basic theory. I would recommend this book

It is a very good book for those who want to start to learn O. chem, the content is very detail and there are always problems right after each section so that you can practice to master your new knowledge. I really like this book.

Got this older edition to supplement my OChem studies - also bought the solutions manual - it helps to clear up difficult to understand concepts. It is well written in easy to understand words and good illustrations.

The product was actually way better than I expected. I feel like the seller didn't do himself justice. The book I received was pretty much in perfect condition! I would definitely buy from them again!