Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Recommend a chemistry text?

TheAppleCore - 7-3-2012 at 14:29

So, I'm fairly well versed in mathematics, know some basic physics, but don't really know the first thing about chemistry. My high school chemistry class was a complete disaster.

Can anyone recommend a chemistry textbook appropriate for introducing someone like myself to the field? I want it to start with the basics, but I also want to be able to branch off into organic chemistry after I've learned the material.

Thanks for any help!

disulfideprotein - 7-3-2012 at 15:02

For Study: General Chemistry by Linus Pauling
For experiments: Golden Book of Chemistry, http://chemistry.about.com/library/goldenchem.pdf

Does this help? I know plenty more.

TheAppleCore - 7-3-2012 at 15:19

Thanks! This will be mostly for study purposes. I'm not sure if I'm ready to actually start building an amateur lab for experimentation yet.

If anyone else has any recommendations, they would also be appreciated. =)

[Edited on 2012-3-7 by TheAppleCore]

zoombafu - 7-3-2012 at 16:05

A website that I find very helpful is
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/index.html#top
I've used it along with my chemistry textbook.

DougTheMapper - 7-3-2012 at 16:08

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/06185284...

Chemistry, by Zumdahl and Zumdahl


Used it for AP chem in high school, bought it to use for two years in college thereafter, and I continue to reference it occasionally. Seriously amazing fundamentals for a gen chem book.

It also features thousands of exercises, a solution manual, and a CD which grants access to libraries of both online and offline resources.

[Edited on 8-3-2012 by DougTheMapper]

entropy51 - 7-3-2012 at 16:17

Malm and Frantz, College Chemistry in the Laboratory. Discusses many basic chemistry principles as well as directions for experiments.

http://www.archive.org/details/collegechemistry032897mbp

barley81 - 7-3-2012 at 17:55

Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight by Peter Atkins. I bought a cheap copy off Amazon, 4th edition (for studying for USNCO). It has a few typos here and there but the newer edition might be corrected.

neptunium - 7-3-2012 at 17:56

if you want your hands on training i would sudjest Robert Bruce Thompson and the illustrated guide to home chemistry.

http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Guide-Home-Chemistry-Exper...

happy experiments! have fun !

TheAppleCore - 7-3-2012 at 21:07

So, right now I'm deciding between the previously-mentioned Zumdahl text, and Chemistry: The Central Science by Brown et al.

Any opinions on differences between the two?