Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of Organic Chemistry

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

 

 

I am giving this book 3 stars because I did not receive much help from it. A lot of the information that was covered in this book did not go into enough detail, like an entire subject was explained in two sentences. I needed a little more explanation, but I guess this is why the book is deemed an outline.

I was able to gather some (a very small amount) useful information from it. But, pick the book up anyway, because to master Orgo you need as many resources as possible, especially at 3 in the morning and you are trying to figure out where to place an ethyl group. In addition to this book, grab an elementary type orgo book, like orgo for beginners or orgo for nursing majors. These type of books explain things with great detail using an ABC approach. Then do as many problems as you can! Buy a ring of notecards and write part of the reaction on the front and the rest on the back. Study these cards every night religiously. You should be able to make sense out of the reactions and pass the class with a good grade with a considerable amount of study. (I received an A using the above method)

Schaum's outlines are perfect for what they propose to do -- give the student as much practice as possible. They are experience tools, not teaching tools. The secret to doing well in genchem/orgchem is to practice, practice practice. The more problems you do, the better you will become. Concepts and theories are only half the game in chemistry.

What you should remember about the Schaum's series is that all of them, though they may call themselves "outlines," are in fact rather cheap textbooks. They include many more solved problems than your standard textbook, but they are also not as slick or nice to look at.

The organic chemistry outline can be helpful to you, perhaps. The main draw is that each chapter includes a summary of reactions that might be worth it... if, that is, you already know which reactions are more useful than others. The amount of information is great, and this may make it difficult for you to sort out which ones are worth your attention.

The Schaum's outlines are, in my opinion, great for those motivated students who would like to gain some knowledge of the subject. They can also help when you are stuck with a problem, as chances are you will find a solved problem in the book that is at least similar. Whether that is worth the cost is another question.

Everyone can guess that a subject as extensive as Organic Chemistry, making well over thousand pages long textbooks, cannot be packed well with the same concept-teaching potential into a 400-page long outline. The authors make it clear from the very first page that to really master a subject one has to practice, practice, and again practice. The word "Outline" may serve a bad service to those who think this book is as shallow as, say, "Organic Chemistry Demystified". It is not, and in fact it's probably too advanced for those who rate this book low. On the other hand, "Outline" also serves a bad service to the book itself, as those seeking a more advanced practice may not even consider it. I would rather call it Intermediary Organic Chemistry. But I bet if you do find time to go thru every problem in the book you will never be the same person again as before.

Very few of the Schaum's outline series are helpful. This one is no exception. It does nothing to clarify the confusing concepts. All it does is provide more problems. Anyone taking organic chemistry knows that it is hard enough to have time to do all the problems in the assigned textbook let alone do more from this book. Furthermore,the answers to the questions are poorly explained. Save your time and money and check out your school library for other helpful books instead.

It was not the updated copy as shown it was an outdated very very old issue, I am very upset by the book, I will hesitate to order anything else from Amazon.