|
|
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good scope, difficult to read, many errors, June 21, 2000
Perhaps I didn't pay as much attention to the 2nd edition, but it seems to me that this 3rd edition of Shriver and Atkins is not as well written and contains more errors than its predecessor. Or perhaps, the other author of the previous two editions, Cooper Langford, was the best writer of the three.First, the good points. I chose this book as the text for my 3rd year inorganic courses because of the scope. No other textbook out there covers the same breadth of material. Meissler/Tarr and Cotton/Wilkinson both suffer from too heavy an emphasis on metal-based chemistry, which doesn't help those of us teaching 2 half-courses in inorganic chemistry - one on the main group, one on transition metals. The material has been kept current with examples from the (relatively) recent literature, something other texts do not do well. Now for the bad. Atkin's books are usually difficult to read, but at least they are rigourous and complete (e.g., his Physical Chemistry, which I find an invaluable reference). Unfortunately, in this book he does not improve his prose, and the thoroughness is lacking, as well as the profusion of errors make it difficult and confusing for the student. What does this all mean? Someone needs to write an inorganic text that is exactly this book, except better written. I will continue to use this text, but I will continue to check all the other new ones in the hope of finding a better one.
|
by Peter Atkins
by Peter Atkins
by Steven H. Strauss
by Gary L. Miessler
by Charles Trapp
