The F Elements (Oxford Chemistry Primers, 76)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent introduction to f-element chemistry
Review: Scott and Kaltsoyannis have done a really fine job of preparing an entry-level textbook which deals with the chemistry of the lanthanide and actinide elements. It is written at a level suitable for advanced undergraduate and upward, and the authors are to be commended for their clear and concise explanations of some difficult concepts. This is a highly readable text that should be recommended to anyone wishing to obtain an overall picture of the physical and chemical trends within this often-neglected group of elements.

Rating:
Summary: Written in the best of the modern tradition
Review: Too many treatments of the lanthanides ends up with lists of data or a main focus on spin mulitiplisities and terms. I'm not sure how many there are that understands the last topic, and can apply it to anything. This book take a broader and more coherent view of the chemistry of the f-group. Many parts are eminent. And the only I could wish more of would a be some few extra sentences about the molecule orbitals in the actinide complexes, ...just to make it even smoother to read.