Physical Chemistry [Hardcover]

Robert A. Alberty (Author), Robert J. Silbey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471104280 | ISBN-13: 978-0471104285 | Publication Date: July 1996 | Edition: 2

This book provides thorough coverage of physical chemistry. It demonstrates the power and limits of thermodynamics with a more systematic treatment of the second law and more focus on entropy. It also covers current topics in physical chemistry and shows how physical chemistry relates to daily life. Includes many current applications such as lasers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 960 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (July 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471104280
• ISBN-13: 978-0471104285
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,639,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent supplement for serious treatments of physical chem, November 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Physical Chemistry (Hardcover)

This is an excellent text for serious and independent students of physical chemistry looking for interactive learning experiences. It is not for dabblers, but for the preparation of future practitioners in the field. The book maintains a balance between presenting the material in the text outright and asking the student to participate in his/her own understanding of physical chemical principles by a "discovering by doing" philosophy. If you cannot stand a "fill in the blanks" sort of Socratic method in a book, then this is probably not your cup of tea. But for people who want to thoroughly understand the material on a very detailed level, this is one of the best teaching techniques around. Having taken the course offered by Silbey and used this text for that undergraduate physical chemistry course, I can say that no other method serves the student as well in giving the student an opportunity for an intuitive understanding of the material. If you are serious about understanding this material beyond throwing down the equations and crunching the math, it will be well worth taking Silbey and Alberty's lead on this strong introduction and journey through PChem.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Far from what the preface states., March 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Physical Chemistry (Hardcover)

The preface states that "The objective of this book is to make the concepts and methods of physical chemistry clear and interesting to students who have had a year of calculus and physics. Well I have had 2 years of Calculus and 1 year of calc-based physics. What the preface should say is that it will be clear and interesting to a mathmatics and physics professor. This book makes quantum mechanics more inaccessible than ever. I am relieved to read that other students are also overwhelmed by the presentation style of this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Physical Chemistry Berry Ross Rice, March 12, 2011

By 

jo chemist - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Physical Chemistry (Pts. 1-3) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book if you have a good background in chemistry. It is both a text and reference book. This combination may confuse some readers who are interested in "just the facts" and not the big picture behind the structure of P Chem. Many readers may be overwhelm by the amount of information. As students mature over time and begin to understand the structure of chemistry they will better appreciate the details presented and see the coherence of the topics in this book. In short, if you basically have your general chemistry textbook memorized and truly understand those topics, then this P Chem book will be very good for you and the light bulb will come on and you'll say "oh, that is why".