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Summary: My faithful friend throughout my time at Cambridge
Review: Some of criticisms fired at this book are hard to understand, particularly the complaints that the math is too hard to follow. There's nothing that goes far beyond British high school (A-level) maths here and if you don't already know how to integrate 1/x you really shouldn't be studying subjects like thermodynamics that can only be properly understood at a quantitative level. Inevitably with so much crammed into a single volume some of the chapters lack depth, but it almost always gives a good foundation for further reading on everything from diffraction to colloids, while the thermodynamics chapters provide everything an undergraduate needs to know. Atkins was my faithful friend throughout my time at Cambridge and helped me get a Double First.
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Summary: Gibberish
Review: This text is good, if you are looking for pretty pictures and charts. If you happen to be looking to learn about physical chemistry, this is the wrong place. Theorems and formulae are introduced in an ad hoc manner, with little or no explaination as to their physical significance or how they are derived. Whenever they are explained, it is in such a way as to only increase the confusion. AVOID THIS BOOK AT ALL COSTS!
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Summary: Doesn't a Solutions Manual Need Solutions?
Review: Atkins does a decent job of explaining physical chemistry in the text; however, his problems (and subsequent solutions) leave much to be desired. Even in this SIXTH edition, many of the solutions are incorrect, and many errors abound both in the solutions manual and the text that cause much anguish to the struggling PChem student. Also, it bothers me that the solutions manual does not contain all of the problems. What is the point of a solutions manual if it doesn't contain solutions? Ultimately, it would probably be more beneficial for the student to be able to search through the text and manual to figure out the problems, but most often the manual is best used for a quick hint or two to get going on the problem. It's very frustrating when a student is having problems, and has no where to turn to because the authors have decided to skip giving a solution to the problem. In addition, many of the solutions are wrtten in such a concise manner that while professors may easily follow the solution, students generally find it difficult to make the jumps from step to step. All in all, I have been very disappointed with this purchase. I would recommend to all students: Stick with the book, the solutions manual won't be of any help.
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Summary: Not exactly the book for serious P. Chemisty students
Review: For some uncanny reason, every P.Chem professor seem to agree on one thing -- P.Chem by PW Atkins is a great book for students. If only they asked a serious student(5 years ago)like myself what I thought about this book. I would have clearly said no. This book has its good point and that is being simple. However, in doing so, it has neglected the true P.Chem students who wanted to have a better understanding of the theory. The quantum mechanics section is just too simple to satisfy any curious mind. It leaves more questions than it answers. If you are a serious P.Chemistry student like I once was, please use P.Chemistry by Ross and Berry(Unfortunately,I think it's already out of print) Even better, take a QM course in the physics department.
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Summary: Poor compared to McQuarrie
Review: Although bestselling, this book is awkward, boring, hard to follow. I predict McQuarrie & Simon's Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach will finally put out of business the dozen or so poorly written P. Chem texts, starting with Atkins...
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Summary: Let's face it: Everyone doesn't like Pchem...
Review: So how am I going to review this book and justify the above statement? Good question, let me get started... Most people have a difficult time with pchem and sometimes the book and the teacher can really make the difference in knowing or not knowing the material... Assuming a decent teacher (most pchem guys are sort of out of it and wierd...) then it is really up to the book to provide a basis for understanding the material. Atkins presents A LOT of stuff... This book is very encyclopedic, and that can be good in the sense that when you need a quick explanation it is there. I agree that Atkins can sometimes jump into the math a bit quick, and that is where a book like Barante "Applied Math for Chemists" really shines through... A book that is more "readable" is Levine so the two can really go hand in hand. The best part about Atkins is the problems section. Many gripe that it is "unintelligible" but the truth is that it prepares the student for the real world. My best advice is to buy BOTH solutions manuals, try the problems, then look up the answers... What else can I say??? Most important parts of chemistry are presented in a rigorous manner here and this is a wonderful reference book for that reason.
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Summary: A good reference book
Review: While this book is not a good undergraduate Physical Chemistry text, it's a good book to turn to years down the road for information on pretty much everything.
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Summary: This book needs a translator!
Review: Having been through Pchem I (thermo) and currently enrolled in Pchem II (quantum), I have had to serve my time with this poorly written book. Firstly, this book needs a translator! It is written in British-ese. It took me a while to realize why this supposed genius would misspell "vapour" and "colour". This makes the book confusing at time if one were to try to read it. Also, this book is more a compliation of equations for the thermo part. I found little physical interp to correlate to the math. And the math was very hard (giving us integrals with no integral tables....how dumb is that)? How many of you really remember how to integrate half of the things you learned in Calc II? The quantum section seems to be explained a bit better. My only gripe with it is its lack of mathematical precision. Atkins uses many approximations in his study guide (like 4/3*Pi*r^3 instead of using the spherical triple integral). This only serves to confuse the student b/c there is no clear indication of when to be mathematically precise and when not to be.Overall, I would say this is a poorly written and edited book. The drawings are done in 2 colors. Boring, absolutely boring. But I guess if you are trying to make your million off of textbooks, you try to keep costs down......
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Summary: Excellent text
Review: This is simply one of the best text boks I've come across in my study of chemistry. I plan on going to graduate school in physical chemistry and this book has been extremely helpful. It's well set up, good at explaining concepts, and full of challangeing problems at the end of each chapter. As for the revies that disliked the book's lack of deriving every single equation, I think that anyone who has made it to a course in p-chem should have the math skills required to derive equations in order to master what is a highly mathematicaly driven subject. An excellent book, and one that will stay in my reference library.
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Summary: Difficult to Follow
Review: The lack of mathematical derivation of therodynamic relationships make this text very difficult to follow. The author had inadvertently and audaciously assume students can derive and master all the mathematics behind these therodynamic relations. As a reulst, students are forced to memorize these relations and play with the mathematical statements WITHOUT knowing the physical interpretation pertaining physical chemistry. The sections on solutions and mixtures are extremely poor-organized and difficult to comprehend. Aside from the content of the text, the small weird print is just too annoying and the price is ridiculously high. Not recommended.
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