Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Presentation
Comment: I'm amazed at the diversity of reviews for this textbook. Usually, I can spot an exceptinal science textbook and usually the reviews are petty much in agreement but this one is an exception. Oh well - we all have our own opinions, and that's a good thing.
I'm currently into studying Biochemistry and Physics. I bought this book after seeing a pdf version that was part of a "Great Science Textbooks..." collection. As I started browsing the file I found myself being captivated by just about any section I skipped into. That is, I was learning and re-learning some of the fundamentals which I thought I already knew (and probably should've, but didn't), and it was like an "AHAH!" experience when the light would go on. This was great fun! I enjoyed that so much I immediately ordered the book. I began referring back to it to help me with my Biochem studies (via Lehninger and a couple other texts). The last chapter of this textbook is on Biochemistry and actually does a better job at introducing many of the key aspects of that subject than my Biochemistry textbooks. I still find myself frequently consulting this textbook and its resources for a large variety of issues that would otherwise remain subtle points of confusion or mystery. So, I have to give it 5 stars and a hearty recommenation.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Unless u have to, dont buy
Comment: This book is not very informative. I would recomend Zumdohl 6e or something else.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not bad, it does the job
Comment: This text is OK and some of the examples and problems are well done. It jumps a bit in subject matter, but that's only compared to the order the subject matter was presented in the class I took. It does seem to contain all the topics that were relevent to Chemistry 1 and the index was spot on in finding the info I needed about a particular term or concept.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not good when compare to Chang's Chemistry book
Comment: This book made me confuse. Not clearly written.
I prefer to use Chang's chemistry book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Clearly written, richly illustrated, and well organized text for a one year general chemistry course (or self study)
Comment: This is an interesting text for a one year general chemistry course. While all general chemistry texts form major publishers have some convergence so they all cover similar basic material, they all have different organizing ideas. What I enjoyed about this text is that it has a clear organizing principle: the periodic table of elements.
The authors not only do the best job I have seen of explaining the origin, evolution, and principles of the periodic table, they also use the properties of groups of elements to illustrate all the principles discussed in the course of the text. This helps the student organize his or her thinking about the ideas discussed in each chapter and section.
In addition to the information imparted in each chapter, the text has many illustrations, use of color in the text itself, a key concept summary (which is a helpful chart that can help the student memorize the ideas and check through their understanding of the principles discussed), key words, understanding key concepts, additional problems (with the red numbered problems having their solutions at the back of the text - most helpful for self study), general problems, and multi-concept problems (involving principles learned in previous chapters and multiple steps). The book also comes with its own CD that has information, animations, and presentations to aid the student in learning the material in each chapter. I particularly like the emphasis in the text on real world applications and processes. The articles the authors call "interludes" are quite interesting and informative.
The authors are correct in urging the student to not simply start reading the material left to right, but to look through the chapter and begin absorbing what is going to be discussed before starting to read. This helps orient the student into how to begin thinking about the material they will encounter. The pictures, illustrations, graphs, and so forth also help one to grasp the concepts that will be discussed.
I think this is an excellent text that is clearly written and thoughtfully presented.
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