Product Description

Text provides a self-teaching guide for those without prior formal training in chemistry. Covers the components of matter; symbols and naming standards used in chemistry; elements, electrons, and the Periodic Table; the composition of atoms; and solubility, boiling, and freezing points. Softcover.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119841 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-26
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780071410113
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
HERE'S A BREAKTHOUGH FORMULA FOR UNDERSTANDING CHEMISTRY

Forget dry presentations, abstract theory, and grueling homework assignments -- here's an entertaining and effective way for those without formal training or unlimited time to get up-to-speed on chemistry and the foundational components of matter.

With Chemistry Demystified, you master the subject one simple step at a time -- at your own speed. Unlike most books on chemistry, general principles are presented first, and the details follow. In order to make the learning process as clear and simple as possible, heavy-duty math, formulas, and equations are kept to a minimum. This unique self-teaching guide offers questions at the end of each chapter and section to pinpoint weaknesses, and a 150-question final exam to reinforce the entire book. You'll also find a host of "extras" such as Chembites, tips, scientific news, and cutting-edge industry applications not usually found in standard textbooks.

Simple enough for a beginner, but challenging enough for an advanced student, Chemistry Demystified is the painless alternative to learning or brushing up on chemistry.

Here's everything you need to:
* Understand the components of matter
* Grasp symbols and naming standards used in chemistry
* Learn elements, electrons, and the Periodic Table
* Discover the composition of atoms
* Comprehend subatomic particles
* Execute formulaic calculations
* Understand properties and reactions
* Comprehend solubility, boiling, and freezing points
* Discern surface tension

About the Author
Linda Williams is a nonfiction writer with a specialty in science and medicine. A resident of Houston, Texas, Linda's work has ranged from biochemistry and microbiology to genetics and human enzyme research. She has worked as a technical writer and lead scientist for NASA and McDonnell Douglas, and has served as science speaker for the Medical Sciences Division at NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Customer Reviews

Don't waste your money
This book is a horrible waste of trees. Aside from the errors and omissions, it is condescending, thin in content (filled out with quizzes that take up many of the pages), and generally useless for any meaningful introduction to or overview of chemistry. I would give it zero stars if that were an option. Try the old workhorse "Chemistry Made Simple" instead.

Good concept but badly flawed
The approach this book takes is pretty good, I think. It starts with a bit of history, a description of the scientific method, and then some important concepts like significant digits and the difference between accuracy and precision. Lots of quizzes and tests to help you gauge your progress.

But the errors! I can't believe how sloppy this book is. Typos and mistakes everywhere. And big topics are slurred over, leading to massive confusion. A formula is given in the text, 2n^s. It quickly became apparent that it should have been 2n^2. And there are brief references to the s, d, p and f electron shells, but the way these are referred to in notation is never explained. Awful! Maddening!

I finally gave up in disgust; this one is going back, and I'm getting a refund.

It seems that the emphasis on sloppy, hasty publishing is spilling over from the IT book industry into other books. The author mentions that suggestions for a future edition are welcome. Here's one: TRY PROOFREADING.

If you don't have time to do it right...
I'm reading up on the science I've forgotten from my school days, the science I didn't elect to take back then, and the science that didn't exist yet. I initially studied Chemistry as an adult through the John Wiley Self-Teaching Guide on this subject, which I highly recommend, by the way. I then chose to study Biology and Physics using the books in the Demystified series. Both of these books were jam-packed with enough information to bring me up to speed on these topics, and I also highly recommend them.

I decided to read Chemistry Demystified because the Physics and Biology books had been so great. But as other reviewers here have noted, it is jam-packed with errors! My copy is apparently a later printing than the one that one of the other reviewers had because it does have the Periodic Table on the inside front cover. Because I saw it printed there, I thought maybe I'd be getting a totally corrected edition, but the other mistakes are still present.

In several places, when references needed to be made to the B portion of the Periodic Table, the reference instead was made to the same-numbered column in the A portion.

How such a book managed to be released with so many errors escapes me. Author Linda Williams may be an accomplished science writer, as her biography inside the book states, but she must be embarrassed to have put out such a shoddy publication bearing her name. If they didn't have time to do this book right before a release deadline, they should have delayed the book. I hope that a later, corrected edition is planned, though, because the concept is valid.

Incidentally, both the front and back covers, as well as an editorial review quoted here, mention something called "ChemBites" as being included. That's one more error for this book, because I didn't see anything of the sort in the book.