Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

Rating:
Summary: Good while on Quantum Chem & Spectroscopy
Review: This is the best book for teaching undergraduate Quantum Chemistry and fundamentals of spectroscopy, from this point it gets weaker in style and you should complement your teaching using other books. You'd have to do this anyway as McQuarrie didn't cover phase diagrams and electrochemistry. Even that it is far superior to Atkins

Rating:
Summary: SUPERB!
Review: This P.Chem text is outstanding in several ways: 1. It is a textbook, not simply a monograph, i.e. the level of difficulty increases as chapters progress. Equations are carefully derived step by step so students are not lost. 2. The math behind the physical phenomena is no longer the limiting factor, i.e. it is not more difficult than it should be. 3. The authors must be physical chemistry lecturers, not simply researchers. They seem to know the areas students struggle with, so they have strived for clarity at any price (even if this makes the text a bit too large). 4. The text is a self-contained system of logic, physical phenomena, and math -- you do not need to turn for help to physics, calculus, or other p. chem texts all the time. I just can't see what a second edition would add to make things better than they already are.