Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd Edition

Rating:
Summary: One Terrible Book
Review: This book is ok. Not great. The thing I found most lacking in it is exercises and importantly, ANSWERS to exercises. The exercises that the book does contain are overly tedious for the point to be learned. The book shouldn't be used as a stand-alone text for a group-theory class; it lacks detailed development for many important ideas. More concrete examples are needed in the text to illustrate important concepts. Less text and more equations are needed!

Rating:
Summary: A classic, but more hoopla than this book deserves.
Review: This book is ok. Not great. The thing I found most lacking in it is exercises and importantly, ANSWERS to exercises. The exercises that the book does contain are overly tedious for the point to be learned. The book shouldn't be used as a stand-alone text for a group-theory class; it lacks detailed development for many important ideas. More concrete examples are needed in the text to illustrate important concepts. Less text and more equations are needed!

Rating:
Summary: Primer for dissecting vibrational chemistry
Review: This book provides a clear and direct link between "group theory" as a mathematic topic and "spectroscopy" as a physical chemical topic. It provides advanced methods for determining the symmetry of molecules, and how to predict the physical observable effect of the molecular symmetry, such as Raman or normal vibrational spectroscopy. Useful background for chemists who will use vibrational spectroscopic techniques in structural determinations.