Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Decent Chemistry books

Picric-A - 18-8-2008 at 13:58

I couldnt realy find a proper thread dedicatetd to this so i decided to start one.
Could someone give me a list of decent chemistry related books, like books on synthesyzing information, laboratory teckniques ect...
I find this book extremly usefull, despite its name it does concentrate on the chemistry side aswell:
A Laboratory History of Chemical Warfare Agents By Jared Ledgard
This can be previewed here:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?ei=zO-pSPG_PJycjgHYrYysBw&am...
Thanks,
Picric-A

[Edited on 18-8-2008 by Picric-A]

chloric1 - 18-8-2008 at 14:14

I am not 100% confident on the quality of Ledgard's writings. There are several blatant errors and most of his synthesises are rehashes of patent literature. Worse yet he does not specify what patent he gets his different synthesis proceedures from.

Good quality chemistry books that will give you detailed synthesizing techniques where published in 1970 or before. One way to get books on specific topics that you really like is too find peer reviewed journal articles on your subject and peruse the list of sources at the end. This will get you hitting the ground running.

ScienceSquirrel - 18-8-2008 at 14:38

Having read through your posts I would recommend a decent A level text book.
There is a lot of important theory to get right when you start thinking about chemistry.
Without theory chemistry is just cooking!

chloric1 - 18-8-2008 at 16:06

Quote:
Originally posted by ScienceSquirrel
Having read through your posts I would recommend a decent A level text book.
There is a lot of important theory to get right when you start thinking about chemistry.
Without theory chemistry is just cooking!


Science Squirrel- I don't know if you meant that cooking is some offhand, throw it together activity but in case you did I resent it. I put as much attention and care in preparation of a buttermilk biscuit recipe as performing a thermite reduction. My interest in cooking stemmed from what I learned in chemistry, planning and executing a proceedure to obtain a very useful result or product.

ScienceSquirrel - 18-8-2008 at 16:25

My apologies.
There is intelligent cooking and there is recipe following.
Too many people involved in cooking and chemistry fall down in the following ways;
1) They do little or no research themselves.
2) They kick off on a message board with a how do I make XYZ, pls tell me hw?
3) Their questions are answered and no more is heard from them.

Picric-A - 19-8-2008 at 04:24

I agree with ScienceSquirrell, i have about 4 A/A2 level chemistry text books,
The best of these has to be my CGP A2-Level Chemistry, The Revision guide.
I call this my synthesis guide becuuse it has about two pages of how to synthesis various organic compunds ( Acyl Chlorides, Primary Amides, Diols, Nitriles ect...) and the rest of it gives you information seperatly onwhat these groups are, prperties ect...
I highly reccomend it :)

jokull - 19-8-2008 at 07:23

Hi!

As some people say: "First things first".

I also agree with ScienceSquirrel, but I'd like to know how deep do you go when get interested in a reaction(s). I mean, are you only interested in "how to's" or even try to know about mechanisms?

Picric-A - 19-8-2008 at 07:53

When performing a rection i do like to know whats going on and if that means a little more research before i get to do the 'practical' then so be it.`
In my opinion these are some good text books to have:
1.Collins Advanced Modular Sciences Chemistry AS
2. Heinemann Chemistry for AQA (this one is slightly basic.)



[Edited on 19-8-2008 by Picric-A]

Destruction - 20-8-2008 at 09:12

Picric-A where do i buy books wich tell us how to make things?

woelen - 20-8-2008 at 09:59

Quote:
Originally posted by Picric-A
When performing a rection i do like to know whats going on and if that means a little more research before i get to do the 'practical' then so be it.`
In my opinion these are some good text books to have:
1.Collins Advanced Modular Sciences Chemistry AS
2. Heinemann Chemistry for AQA (this one is slightly basic.)

[Edited on 19-8-2008 by Picric-A]

If you want really practical information about the properties of lots of common chemicals, then try to find a book of the 1950's or even before WW II. These books are amazing for their practical contents, such as reactions of many common chemicals and methods of how they can be prepared. Such books frequently can be found in antiquariats for very nice prices.

Newer books put more emphasis on theoretical chemistry, such or quantum mechanics principles, reaction mechanisms, structure of molecules, and lots of complicated coordination chemistry with very strange compounds, which the home chemist never will handle. Unfortunately these newer books hardly cover the properties of common chemicals and I think that is a serious omission.

Arrhenius - 20-8-2008 at 11:04

Brown/Foote/Iverson - Organic Chemistry
A good thorough book on organic chemistry. This will get your theory covered, and you'll have a solid knowledge base of organic chemistry. Doesn't feed you experiments, but lots of real reactions that will work.

Vollhardt/Schore - Organic Chemistry
Excellent and up to date o-chem text.

C.F.Wilcox - Experimental Organic Chemistry - A Small Scale Approach
Not brand new, but covers lots of experiments you can probably do at home. Discusses ALL common organic laboratory techniques from distillation to TLC, crystallization, trituration etc. Plenty of safety tips too.

Petrucci/Harwood - General Chemistry: Principles and Modern Application
Good general chemistry book as far as learning bonding, geometry, simple thermodynamics, simple kinetics, and inorganic.

These are favorites of mine, a couple of which I look to for reference often. While all 'textbooks' are dense, I promise that they are the fastest way to get your footing in chemistry. Theory will not help you invent a new reaction, maybe not even develope a new synthesis, but it will help you understand published literature, and will help you quickly rule out what will not work!

People on this forum will haze you unless you sound experienced, and I will say that textbook smarts will NOT help you stay safe in the lab. I don't think either of the 'organic chemistry' texts I listed even use the word 'safety'. Book smarts don't save you in the lab, but they will help you understand what's happening during the experiment. Common sense and good planning are probably the two most fundamental pieces to lab safety. Oh, not to mention safety glasses and gloves.... you'd be amazed how many astute professional chemists get hurt without these.

If you have a hard time finding afordable books, check near your local university/college... college chemistry students usually hate chemistry so much they either sell or burn their books! ;) Good luck.

[Edited on 20-8-2008 by Arrhenius]

[Edited on 20-8-2008 by Arrhenius]

12AX7 - 20-8-2008 at 11:45

Brown, Foote, Iverson- that sounds familiar. In fact, that's the textbook I had for O. Chem. I can vouch for its technical density, plenty of stuff to cover.

Tim

[Edited on 8-20-2008 by 12AX7]

HydroCarbon - 20-8-2008 at 13:03

This book may be too elementary for some of the folks here but I, currently at the beginning of my chemistry studies, have found it to be a very well written and helpful book. And it's quite cheap if bought used off amazon.com.

Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity
by: John C. Kotz, Paul M. Treichel, Gabriela C. Weaver

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/053499766X

It goes over what you would find in any gen-chem text book but provides great descriptions, many examples/problems, real world applications, and has lots of pictures and diagrams.

chloric1 - 20-8-2008 at 15:29

Quote:
Originally posted by Destruction
Picric-A where do i buy books wich tell us how to make things?


Please learn to spell and write before you read chemistry literature. Read chemistry literature before you TOUCH chemicals.

Picric-A - 21-8-2008 at 03:12

I bought myn online however you can buy them at any good bookshop.
but yes i agree with chloric1, so far all your posts have been vulgar (rude ) and innappropriate,
please learn the forum rules and respect other members,
Picric-A

Arrhenius - 21-8-2008 at 07:32

Respecting other members ought to go to Chloric too... regardless of whether he's flaming someone the forum deems 'rude'. English is not the language of chemsitry.... please respect that spelling on this forum has nothing to do with intelligence nor merit.

TIETSE - 21-8-2008 at 10:18

A fine book of organic chem is the gattermann.

Picric-A - 23-8-2008 at 13:48

very very true Arrhenius, we have plenty of very intelligent members on this forum who are not English.

vulture - 24-8-2008 at 01:03

Quote:

very very true Arrhenius, we have plenty of very intelligent members on this forum who are not English.


English is certainly not my mother tongue, but still I maintain an effort to write and speak it as good as possible. Plain courtesy. Most internet browsers have a built in spell checker these days, so life is easy if you're willing to make a little effort.

Sauron - 24-8-2008 at 04:59

I have not seen any mention of the forum library in this thread, which is odd.

That resource is free and open to all even non-members. There are many fine chemistry books in there.

For active forum members there is also References, and the FTPs/

HUNDREDS of chemistry books.

Picric-A - 25-8-2008 at 01:46

Yes very good point Sauron, i find using the forum library extremly usefull, and not to mention it saves you a couple of hundred quid on buying books yourself :P

Sauron - 25-8-2008 at 05:02

One time I bought two of the three volumes of THE THIAZOLES in hsrdcover and was scanning them to post on the forum when someone sent me the link to pdf's of all three volumes.

The combination of the FTPs and the forum library as well as References represents a truly massive chemical library to meet most any requirment,

Nick F - 25-8-2008 at 09:07

I'd recommend "Organic Chemistry" by Clayden, Greeves, Warren and Wothers (Oxford University Press) for a decent introduction into organic chemistry theory. It's well written and well laid out, making it easy to understand.