Chemistry for Dummies

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful for the chemistry-challenged nursing student
Review: I am a nursing student, and I wish I had purchased this book earlier in the semester, instead of waiting for it to become available at the public library. After reading, what I am studying makes so much more sense. Chemistry is less of a black hole now. I like the quirky way it's written. The author does a good job of making the information feel a lot more friendly. My chemistry textbook this term does a fairly good job of explaining things, but I was still lost. Chemistry for Dummies was the 'lightbulb' I needed to make everything clearer. I am algebra-challenged and this book was quite a helpful adjunct to the class.

As an aside, it's true... you will almost never need this much chemistry unless you are a chemistry major. And this is just the baby stuff! I have queried nurses and they tell me they simply don't use it. Very frustrating, and a huge mental stumbling block for me, especially since schools in my area which are geared toward two year RN degrees don't require Biology I & II, which is far more applicable to nursing than chemistry.

Now I just have to figure out a good book to help me muddle through the next level of chemistry (required for a master's degree). .. General Chemistry and Qualitative Analysis. Gack!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful for the chemistry-challenged nursing student
Review: I am a nursing student, and I wish I had purchased this book earlier in the semester, instead of waiting for it to become available at the public library. After reading, what I am studying makes so much more sense. Chemistry is less of a black hole now. I like the quirky way it's written. The author does a good job of making the information feel a lot more friendly. My chemistry textbook this term does a fairly good job of explaining things, but I was still lost. Chemistry for Dummies was the 'lightbulb' I needed to make everything clearer. I am algebra-challenged and this book was quite a helpful adjunct to the class.

As an aside, it's true... you will almost never need this much chemistry unless you are a chemistry major. And this is just the baby stuff! I have queried nurses and they tell me they simply don't use it. Very frustrating, and a huge mental stumbling block for me, especially since schools in my area which are geared toward two year RN degrees don't require Biology I & II, which is far more applicable to nursing than chemistry.

Now I just have to figure out a good book to help me muddle through the next level of chemistry (required for a master's degree). .. General Chemistry and Qualitative Analysis. Gack!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Useless, just like any "dummies" book
Review: I bought this book because I was having a tough time in Chemistry last year (high school chem no less). On the rare occasion when I actually understood what was going on enough to try and learn more about it; I would turn to this for just that purpose. However, the answers I received were never what I was looking for; as the differences between my Chemistry book and this thing were so different that this book was rendered utterly useless. For example, this book was obsessed with the unit called "torrs". Well, we never, EVER, used that unit in my Chem class. There was also no conversion formula mentioned anywhere in here either, and even if there was, do I really have the time to be able to convert EVERY little thing that I do into another unit?

Also, as with any other "dummies" book, this book tries to be funny. Frankly, after I've just spent the last two hours trying to figure out just what the heck I'm doing, the last thing I want to see is humor. If they spent as much time getting good information in this book as they did making it "cute"....

This book also likes to get into exactly what being a chemist entails; or, if not that, they like to get into how Chemistry is "applied". We all know that, if you're just taking a Chem class because you have to, and you have no interest in pursuing a career in that field, then you're never going to have to deal with it again. Therefore, why would you CARE about how the properties of Viagra (to pick one useless subject) were discovered? Don't they realize no High School OR college student is going to care about that? Why doesn't the author, instead, spend more time on subjects that you're actually going to NEED to learn?

Overall, the only "Dummy" here is the author of this book, John T. Moore. He does a very poor job of explaining even the most basic concepts; concepts that you will need if you wish to be successful in this area of study. If you want a helpful guide for Chemistry, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Even I learned Something
Review: I have a B.S. in chemistry and am currently working on a M.S. in chemistry. I also help high school and college students in chemistry. I bought this book because I am always looking for more ways to explain the same topic so as to get my point across. I felt this does just that. Plus, I was very pleased because I learned some information that I did not previously know and this is an entry level book!

I am not going to say this book is perfect; its not. But I find the only flaws are the typos and the content is great. This is the type of book I read for enjoyment (I admit others will not) and I got something out of it. It assumes you know very little about chemistry and it teaches you how to apply chemistry in the real world. It is a fun read, and very very informative. I would not recommend this for taking an AP course in high school as your only source of information -- this is a supplemental information, not a text book. But it will teach you a lot the sometimes text books do not.
This is a great book to help you expand on your everyday knowledge to learn more about chemistry and how it effects your life. If you are looking for chemistry content and clarity, this book may be just for you.

Rating:
Summary: English!
Review: I have learned more in the first 30 pages than I have from an entire year of high school chemistry!

This book is really great because it explains chemistry in ENGLISH!

Rating:
Summary: First class book
Review: I've tried to read various "beginner" books on chemistry since coming back from a twenty-one year science sabbatical. This one is by far the best.

The author takes you from the very basic "what is an atom" and "how to read the periodic table" to more advanced concepts such as Nuclear Chemistry, with consumate ease. The book throughout is structured for the (nearly) absolute beginner, with few assumptions being made about your beginning level of knowledge.

My only gripe is that he doesn't quite explain chemistry symbology in as clear a manner as he does most topics - hopefully this can be rectified for the reprint.

In short: an excellent book for the beginner. The only "pre" knowledge you'll need is the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. If you can't do that what are you doing trying to learn chemistry?

I've yet to take General Chemistry I at college but this will probably act as a good primer. I'd expect you'll need to do some more work and look at a textbook before going onto studying at college. This book will, however, give you the basic information you need to get going.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: This book does a good job of explaining basic chemical principles and application. While it might helpful to those who have weak background in chemistry and math yet are required to college-level chemistry courses, it was not written to be a textbook or study guide. Do not blame the book for what it does not intend to do. Many students today in this country cannot handle simple algebra that 7th grade students in many other countries have no difficuties with. Any books written above 8th grade reading level are difficult for even many college students to understand. It is unfair for them to blame this book for their failure in studying chemistry. It takes a lot more than a good book to be successful in any classes. This book, nor any others, is not a replacement of your positive attitude and hard work. Overall, this book is well written and easily understood.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This book is very informative and to the point. The examples and analogies are perfect to the content explained. The author actually makes it fun to learn chemistry, and makes you want to pursue a future in it (I'm going into Chem. Engineering). Like most books this doesn't put you to sleep with boring facts after facts. This is recommended to any high school student or beginner of college, and will give you a good head start.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This book is very informative and to the point. The examples and analogies are perfect to the content explained. The author actually makes it fun to learn chemistry, and makes you want to pursue a future in it (I'm going into Chem. Engineering). Like most books this doesn't put you to sleep with boring facts after facts. This is recommended to any high school student or beginner of college, and will give you a good head start.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: Whether or not you should buy this book really depends on what you need it for.

If you're interested in learning more about how chemistry is used in everyday life, this book is excellent. It does a very good job of explaining how chemistry is used in a variety of consumer and industrial situations. This is an interesting book in this sense, and very complete.

However, if you're taking a chemistry class, this is not such a good book. The explanations of chemical topics are a little fluffy, and certainly not what anybody would consider complete. While well-written and lively, it's just not "chemical" enough to give the serious student any real help when studying.

My conclusion: If you're looking for a fun book about chemistry, buy this one. If you're a student who needs help, go elsewhere.