Customer Reviews

Physical Chemistry

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I used this book during my undergraduate physical chemistry course. I was very confused when I was done. Essentially, the book aims to teach four topics: thermodynamics, statistical themodynamics, kinetics, and quantum mechanics. This is more than can be covered in one book! You really can't accomplish any depth or discussion while trying to cover so much material, and therefore I felt like I got to hear about a lot of things but never really learn about them. It is much better to get good texts on each of the subject areas. If you are a chemistry student (as opposed to physics), would recommend Callen for the thermo, Chandler for the stat mech, probably Steinfeld for the kinetics, and Levine for the quantum. I know this will cost more than one book, but it's better than being confused!

All things considered, it's a nice effort to cram too many topics in one book. I think the writer tried and did as well as could be done, but it is just too many topics for one book to cover!

In Physical Chemistry, Professor George Woodbury combines the mastery of detail reminiscent of Tolstoy with the sweeping vision of Neils Bohr. A thoroughly enjoyable and highly readable text marked by clarity of prose, focused methodology and really neat graphics. This text, combined with the video lecture series of Prof Woodbury, is a must for any serious student of physical chemistry. A great stocking stuffer! - Larry Gloss, 24 December, 1997.