General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts Workbook (Third Edition)

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Summary: A Med student's perspective on the works of Chang
Review: There are some extremely ignorant people who tend to criticize this book. Well everyone is entitled to their opinions no matter how absurd it may be. Please note that this is GENERAL CHEMISTRY and its ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS. No way is this an overt generalization of Chemistry; rather Chang takes essential components that endow an astute comprehension of Chemistry, by outlining its predominant features and aspects. Therefore this book does not cover all of chemistry and how can it; it is one of the oldest sciences that's omnipresent in all other aspects of science. It is for the person who has no knowledge of chemistry whatsoever and takes them on a journey where they realize the essential skills and knowledge needed to venture in more applied tenants of chemistry. I especially like his chapter on Stoichiometry as it is the component of chemistry most have difficulty with. Chang really has done exceptional work, and for those imbeciles who think otherwise, I suggest you look at other works of Chang as he has written books such as organic chemistry and a few others which deal (in great detail) with those respective aspects of chemistry. General chemistry is designed to make the reader competent in understanding the FUNDAMENTAL BASICS of chemistry that are applicable to all the tenants of chemistry. Chang is a gifted writer and an exceptional chemist; many have found his book to be instrumental in their understanding of chemistry. Give this book a chance and you will see this. I myself had been prescribed a text by Malone which I didn't find appealing because he oversimplified most components of chemistry and therefore aspects of his book were scientifically incorrect when one ventures into deeper modules of chemistry. Chang is overall pleasant, accurate, simplistic and understandable. I adore McGraw hill texts and Chang is one of their best in terms of Chemistry textbooks, this is General Chemistry and that does not mean it generalizes all of chemistry. It is more so the elementary aspect and that is why the subscript states ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS.






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Summary: Another case of "too much for too little".
Review: This is a difficult book. Not as difficult as my Phys book, but difficult nonetheless. Perhaps that is the way with chemistry, but it was Chang's job to write a book that could be understood and comprehended. He failed. I resigned myself early in the semester to draw the depth of my chem knowledge from a supplements ("Chemistry", by McMurry and Fay and "Schaum's 3000 solved problems in chemistry"). This trully reminded me of physics in a way I had never before expected of a chemistry class - finding answers to problems out of thin air. The material is overly light and does NOTHING to sort through the jibber jabber in a clear and comprehensive way. Note to Mr. Chang: Sometimes it is not enough to be witty and write well; Sometimes students actually want to learn how to DO THE PROBLEMS YOU THEN ASSIGN TO US AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER! This book is written for people who have another book (or person) to fall back on for a REAL explanation. Raymond (if I may call you that), you should come down to the trenches and see the devastation in your book's wake.

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Summary: Horrible book, that is my personal view
Review: This is the book that was assigned to my general chemistry class. Personally I think this is one of the most horrible books ever written, not just chemistry but on any subject. Even though the book says "General Chemistry" there is NO general overview of chemistry whatsoever in the chapters. The only thing that even comes close is the one page "A Note to the Student" thing that says chemistry is percieved as difficult. If the subject is difficult then it is the authors job to make it as simple as possible, which he clearly doesn't. Every chapter I have read gets way too detailed right off the bat. The equations that are given rarely have an explanation of where they came from; they take on a view of, "Here is the equation, now memorize it." They don't try to explain the relationship of the specific subject of chemistry on hand. Also, I think the chapters are out of order. I think some chapters should come before others. Lastly, the book has WAY too much information to be called a general chemistry book. I have been swamped with more information from chemistry than all of my other classes combined. I AM NOT EXAGERATING! Less than half way through the book they try to teach quantum mechanics/physics. It is just a poorly planned book for the coarse. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU STAY AWAY FROM THIS BOOK!!!

Rating:
Summary: Horrible book, that is my personal view
Review: This is the book that was assigned to my general chemistry class. Personally I think this is one of the most horrible books ever written, not just chemistry but on any subject. Even though the book says "General Chemistry" there is NO general overview of chemistry whatsoever in the chapters. The only thing that even comes close is the one page "A Note to the Student" thing that says chemistry is percieved as difficult. If the subject is difficult then it is the authors job to make it as simple as possible, which he clearly doesn't. Every chapter I have read gets way too detailed right off the bat. The equations that are given rarely have an explanation of where they came from; they take on a view of, "Here is the equation, now memorize it." They don't try to explain the relationship of the specific subject of chemistry on hand. Also, I think the chapters are out of order. I think some chapters should come before others. Lastly, the book has WAY too much information to be called a general chemistry book. I have been swamped with more information from chemistry than all of my other classes combined. I AM NOT EXAGERATING! Less than half way through the book they try to teach quantum mechanics/physics. It is just a poorly planned book for the coarse. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU STAY AWAY FROM THIS BOOK!!!

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Summary: Another Amazing Chang Text
Review: This text serves its purpose perfectly. It is very well-written and succint. Prof. Chang realizes that there is more to chemistry than solving problems...he does a fantastic job of presenting the essential concepts and then solving many sample problems. There's no way that a chemistry book can show an example of every type of problem; that expectation is unreasonable. This text seeks to teach students chemistry with the examples falling into place.