Rating: 
Summary: Chemistry, the Central Science.
Review: This text is a great introduction for students just beginning their study of chemistry at either the advanced highschool or college freshman level. Every chapter has a review and questions so that the reader is able to verify how much (or indeed how little) they have learned. It's easy to read and quite thorough, and for someone in a science field it's also a great reference to keep on hand for when those basic details begin to slip. I found myself consulting it frequently as I prepared for my MCAT examination, and it still has a place in my science library. As for the CD-Rom, I'm sure it's lovely, but I've never even put it in the computer. Overall a worthwhile purchase if you need a chem text.
Rating: 
Summary: Well done intro to Chemistry
Review: This text is a great introduction for students just beginning their study of chemistry at either the advanced highschool or college freshman level. Every chapter has a review and questions so that the reader is able to verify how much (or indeed how little) they have learned. It's easy to read and quite thorough, and for someone in a science field it's also a great reference to keep on hand for when those basic details begin to slip. I found myself consulting it frequently as I prepared for my MCAT examination, and it still has a place in my science library. As for the CD-Rom, I'm sure it's lovely, but I've never even put it in the computer. Overall a worthwhile purchase if you need a chem text.
Rating:
Summary: classic text
Review: This text is widely used and has helped many students to understand chemistry. The sequence of topics presented is traditional. It has a good chapter on modern materials. The dual-column format of examples clearly shows problem solving strategies.This, and all other similar textbooks, are written for studnents who have appropriate background in high school sciences and reasonable reading comprehension. It is not fair to compare this book with a teacher whom you can talk face to face. Considering the poor reading skills of today's college students, most of whom have hard time with any materals written at 8th grade readability level and do have no idea on how to read and use a textbook, it is impossible for any textbook to do the magic of enlightening them. The companion website of this text has thousands of problems available for practice, much more than most other similar textbook websites. Learning chemistry is like learning how to play tennis. You can't expect to learn how to play tennis by watching tennis matches on TV. Similarly, you can't expect to learn chemistry by simply reading the textbook or watching your professors solve problems in class. You have to practice. If this is the text you are using, take advantage of this good resource. Students using other texts are not as lucky as you are. For a slightly more engaging text, see the one by Moore, Stanitski and Jurs.
| 
