Rating: 
Summary: excellent reference
Review: The first few chapters of the text, on error analysis are the most important chapters of the entire book. His presentation of propagation of error is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: The new analytical standard.
Review: This book has become the new standard for both quantatitive and instrumental analysis courses. Goodby, Skoog!The textbook (in different editions) has been used for our Quantatitive Analysis course for several years, with excellent results. I am currently adopting it for my Instrumental Methods of Analysis course. Although I will need to suppliment some material (FTNMR is not covered, for example), the main important instrumental techniques ARE covered very well - straight and to the point! As for the prior poor reviews, well the problem seems to me to be in the student, not the textbook!
Rating:
Summary: The Defintive Book for Analytical Chemistry
Review: This book is the definitive guide for anyone who is taking a course in Analytical Chemistry or just wants to learn about Analytical Chemistry. The language and examples are straight-forward and very easy to understand and format is easy and progressive without being intimidating to anyone who may find chemistry to be a difficult subject to understand.
Rating: 
Summary: In general, totally confusing
Review: This book managed to make even the most simple chemical analysis concepts extremely complex. The diagrams were confusing, and the explanations were garbled with the overuse of variables (to the point that I had to constantly flip back in the text to try to remember what each variable meant). Many of the problems/answers had mistakes in them (or were beyond the scope of the class). The publishing company, in their typical style, published in that sickly blue spot color, with no other color (except the color platelette in the center of the book). Though bad teaching was certainly also to blame for my difficulty in this class (I still managed to get a B), certainly this book selection was a significant factor as well.
Rating:
Summary: In general, totally confusing
Review: This book managed to make even the most simple chemical analysis concepts extremely complex. The diagrams were confusing, and the explanations were garbled with the overuse of variables (to the point that I had to constantly flip back in the text to try to remember what each variable meant). Many of the problems/answers had mistakes in them (or were beyond the scope of the class). The publishing company, in their typical style, published in that sickly blue spot color, with no other color (except the color platelette in the center of the book). Though bad teaching was certainly also to blame for my difficulty in this class (I still managed to get a B), certainly this book selection was a significant factor as well.
Rating:
Summary: A textbook that's actually interesting!
Review: When I first bought this textbook I was rather intimidated by the dark, foreboding cover. However, when I got into it I found it was my favorite textbook to read. It is written in a conversational tone that is no less effective in teaching the concepts and skills of analytical chemistry. Harris also interjects short sections at the end of some of the chapters on interesting facts in chemical history, like "The Smallest Titration" and "The Largest Voltaic Cell." I will definitely keep it to use for review in my graduate studies.
Rating:
Summary: The best Analytical Chemistry Textbook!
Review: When I was an undergraduate student, the reference text was Chimie Analytique Generale by Gaston Charlot (which is quite an antique, completely unexplained, but problems are OK). But when I really needed a clearly explanation, no other book could match Harris. It's clear, yet fully explained, and it's miles better than any Quantitative Chemical Analysis book (e.g. Skoog, Christian, among many others). It covers not only "classic techniques, e.g. titrimetric techniques acid-base equilibria, gravimetric methods, titrimetric analysis by complex with EDTA, among others, but it can also be adapted to Instrumental Methods courses (but, at some point, some additional material must be supplemented).Thanks to that book, I happened to learn quite a lot, and I used it for 4 semesters in Analytical Chemistry. If you don't like this one, you probably won't like any other Quantitative Chemical Analysis textbook. Now that I'm a practicing chemist, I'm still amazed that this book has never abandoned my desk because is an excellent reference work. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Analytical Chemistry.
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: You simply cannot ask for a better text. The book explains introductory analytical material with great detail and even incorporates a sense of humor to the material. I use the book to study and I've gotten an A on every Analytical test this semester.
While some people may consider analytical chemistry to be anal, this book is in direct contradiction to that. It shows the relevance and teaches the theories that basic undergrad classes require.
I wish every book (especially PCHEM) was written this well!
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