Basic Inorganic Chemistry, 3rd Edition

Rating:
Summary: Best overall text
Review: I had the first edition of this book as a student and used it my first years teaching inorganic chemistry before I tried other books. The reason I left this text to try others is that there is just so much information here and not the best organization for the order in which I teach inorganic. However, that being said, I am now returning to this classic from Cotton, Wilkinson & Gaus. The main reason being I had fewer student complaints about the text when I used this book vs. the others. As other reviewers mentioned, the text is encyclopedic! And you end up jumping around to find what you want; however, Cotton et al. has the most complete volume for the undergraduate & beginning graduate course, so that you can pick & choose what you want to cover without much problem. For those with a descriptive bent, there are many descriptive chemistry chapters. For others who have a bit more physical inorganic bent, there is good coverage of those topics. I've used texts on both ends of the spectrum, and I found they only pleased a small portion of the students, while others struggled. This book has everything you want in a beginning course, and more (!) while being flexible enough that you can design your own course by picking chapters to cover. Finally, for the student, it is an excellent reference to keep for the future.

Rating:
Summary: Best overall text
Review: I had the first edition of this book as a student and used it my first years teaching inorganic chemistry before I tried other books. The reason I left this text to try others is that there is just so much information here and not the best organization for the order in which I teach inorganic. However, that being said, I am now returning to this classic from Cotton, Wilkinson & Gaus. The main reason being I had fewer student complaints about the text when I used this book vs. the others. As other reviewers mentioned, the text is encyclopedic! And you end up jumping around to find what you want; however, Cotton et al. has the most complete volume for the undergraduate & beginning graduate course, so that you can pick & choose what you want to cover without much problem. For those with a descriptive bent, there are many descriptive chemistry chapters. For others who have a bit more physical inorganic bent, there is good coverage of those topics. I've used texts on both ends of the spectrum, and I found they only pleased a small portion of the students, while others struggled. This book has everything you want in a beginning course, and more (!) while being flexible enough that you can design your own course by picking chapters to cover. Finally, for the student, it is an excellent reference to keep for the future.

Rating:
Summary: Good Reference and well written, BUT....
Review: Presents a good overview on most of the elements. The basic edition is realy the same as the Advanced edition but with some of the Transition Metal stuff tossed out... I wouldn't buy the Adv. Edition, unless the school was shoving it down my throat... Not that this is bad, but I think that there are WAY WAY WAY better books on the subject of Trz. Complexes and Mechanisms (Spessard comes to mind in the fantastic "Organometallic Chemistry"). It is undeniable that FA Cotton can really write well and that the man is a genius on the subject, hell the guy lived through the glory years of Inorganic, but the book never really shows people what really happens mechanistically in the book... Everything is presented in an encyclopedic fashion, which sometimes makes things ambiguous... I think that this is a landmark of a book, but one that is really a first reference on a particular subject...

Rating:
Summary: Not the Softcover Edition of Basic Inorganic Chemistry
Review: The buyer of this book may be mislead by its description. This is not the softcover edition of Basic Inorganic Chemistry, but the Solutions Manual for Basic Inorganic Chemistry. It is virtually useless without the pricey hardcover companion text. I would not recommend it unless you already own the companion text.

Rating:
Summary: Great text for introductory inorganic chemistry textbooks
Review: This textbook is written in an easy to follow matter unlike other inorganic textbooks in the market that is harder to understand.It gives good examples for an introductory course especially for first year University students.The only downside is that, advanced concepts are not or insufficiently discussed.But in the Advanced Inorganic Chemistry textbook by the same author,these concepts are discussed in more depth. I would recommend that any student who is interesed in inorganic chemistry should get both the basic inorganic and advanced inorganic textbooks .With these two books you should have no problem understanding the wide topic of inorganic chemistry.By using an introductory and an advanced text, the student is slowly introduced to the topic.Instead of being thrown headon into reading and understanding a single inorganic chemistry book