Principles of Polymerization

Rating:
Summary: Impressive, despite recent reviews to the contrary.
Review: Encyclopedic and comprehensive, this text ought to be the sole reference work for undergrads and graduates in the field of polymer science.

Rating:
Summary: A handy reference
Review: I have been using this book for several years, including a term where it was the primary text for a graduate-level Introduction to Polymers course. As textbooks go, I have found this one relatively easy to read, and the concepts easy to follow. It it quite comprehensive, but assumes an undergraduate background in organic and physical chemistry. Since the course, it has been a handy reference in my research, though, as someone else noted, it is lacking in respect to living polymerizations, particularly Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization. However, Odian's work remains one of the most useful textbooks from my graduate classes.

Rating:
Summary: A handy reference
Review: I have been using this book for several years, including a term where it was the primary text for a graduate-level Introduction to Polymers course. As textbooks go, I have found this one relatively easy to read, and the concepts easy to follow. It it quite comprehensive, but assumes an undergraduate background in organic and physical chemistry. Since the course, it has been a handy reference in my research, though, as someone else noted, it is lacking in respect to living polymerizations, particularly Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization. However, Odian's work remains one of the most useful textbooks from my graduate classes.

Rating:
Summary: Great text book!
Review: I took a course last year in Polymer Chemistry and this text was the standard text book. It was an amazingly great reference book. This book mainly target on Polymerization synthesis and characterization. If you are interested in the mechanical properties of polymer, you should look for other one. But this is a must for all polymer chemists and material scientists who are interested in polymer processing.

Rating:
Summary: Must read for polymer chemistry!
Review: Odian offers a comprehensive guide to polymer chemistry, covering nearly all the types of polymerization, exploring radical, ionic, step, and copolymerization mechanisms and kinetics in sufficient detail. Some recent advances in polymer synthesis are not covered, but book offers enough knowledge to have a good grasp of all aspects of polymerizations. A must read for anyone considering a career or education in polymer synthesis!

Rating:
Summary: The standard text for teaching polymer chemistry.
Review: The number of concepts covered in this book is amazing -- I learn something new with each reading. The book is also great for pointing you to the leading references in the field; although it is lacking decent coverage of living polymerization. Odian's book is not easy to read. For a chemistry book it includes relatively few chemical structures or mechanisms, so for students who don't already know chemistry it is a rather useless introduction A better introductory polymer chemistry book is by M. Stevens.

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Summary: This text is so dry I'm using it as dessicant in my hood.
Review: Well, it's got everything in it, including the kitchen sink and perhaps a few forklift tires as well (crosslinked polyurethane). But, by including everything Odian crosses the gap between a textbook for students and a catalog to impress other educators. It's good for reference, but not much fun to read.