5 comments about Physical Chemistry.

1. I recieved the top grades in a highly competitive and small P-Chem course taught by a brilliant p-chemist. I love P-chem and understand it well. I HATED Atkins. It was a ball-and-chain I could not escape. I like Atkins himself and I think he is a smart and excellent chemist, but his book is a soul-robbing torture that few could endure without being extremely conceited or being someone who loves boring, crappy books, like graduate Chem. Engineering students. Look, I love math and I get straight A's in it, I love physics and I'm good at tests. This book still SUCKED. Don't buy it. McQuarrie and Simon is a much better text and will take better care of you. After you've had most of your undergrad and are working on your grad, Atkins is good review. Atkins' general glazing over of theory, obsession with verbal description, and winding, cryptic language will require you to fill in the blank for the last 10 pages of every chapter. The problems are extremely difficult and often require the use of an unexplained, but necessary, engineering-type problem solving method, using numerical modeling and analogy to determine an approach to solving them. Learning anything from these problems was a nightmare. This book is acceptable for review, but get McQuarrie if you want to learn anything.



2. Firstly, it's interesting that most of the Americans reviewing the book thought that it was too mathematically rigourous. I wonder if this isn't a reflection of the American education system. Anyway, I found this book quite useful when studying for the olympiad. It was well organised and quite comprehensible (in contrast to the Quantum title by the same author). The book deals with most of the aspects of basic physical chemistry and it is a really good read when you have time to spare.



3. Atkins' text not only provides a great mathematical foundation to the equations that are used, but explains physically the events that lead to writing the equations. One thing is to right an equation that is mathematically valid. Instead, it is neecessary to provide experimental or physical support to these equations. Obviously, there are some of Leibniz' notations that is useful in dealing with the equations, but this should not be a surprise to a college student. Great book!



4. I took physical chemistry only two years ago and I must say that this text is one of the better introductions that you'll find on the subject. It is laid out very clearly and throughly and unlike Atkin's Molecular Quantum Mechanics, it's very easy to follow and understand the concepts. It takes a lot of work to understand pchem, especially for the less physics and mathemathically gifted chemistry student. But Atkins goes through every derivation until the very end unlike other writers who assume that you know how to do half of it yourself. The examples are very helpful and the text itself contains very little typos and errors. The margins contain enough white space to make little notes if you're into writing all over your textbook.
   
   Final word- If you're a biochemistry/chemistry student like I am, do yourself a favor and get this book as early as you can. It'll save you the trouble of getting a copy later on.



5. Hmmm... seems there are lots of people who don't like their phys chem book.
   
   The one you want is Physical Chemistry , 4/e by Laidler, Meiser, Sanctuary, ISBN 061815292X. It's the most student friendly text on the market.
   
   Description on their website says "With its clear explanations and practical pedagogy, Physical Chemistry is less intimidating to students than other texts, without sacrificing the mathematical rigor and comprehensiveness necessary for a junior-level physical chemistry course. The text's long-standing reputation for accessible writing provides clear instruction and superior problem-solving support for students." I second that.
   
   see my review here Physical Chemistry. I mention the alternatives as well.

5 comments about Physical Chemistry: Principles and Applications in Biological Sciences (4th Edition).

1. simply this book is terrible.
   
   despite the impression the publisher wanna impose on the readers by citing the authors' notable teaching positions, it immediately loses whole credibility it tries to establish as a decent book by failing too soon in every respect, begining from the chapter 2.
   
   i have read two other p.chem books and personally do not like the babish differential appoaches all of them give out invariably and rather forcing the concept that differential operators are "infinitesimal quantities." I understand that authors chose this crude and uber-ancient interpretation(along with other mathematical nonsenses) to reach the widest audience possible but this sort attempt makes the book fraught with confusing junks. And this particular book does not fail to follow this safe yet confusing approach. However, unlike other p.chem texts(at least for the atkin's and levine's) it abuses the mathematical notations and forces equations by ignoring constraints to come up with formulas. For example, to derive the partials of the extensive functions(chapter 4) it just intergrate all the different partials(dual base coeffients and its corresponding dual base) and somehow comes up with definite integrals. Anyone who took decent calculus class would know that the inverse map of the differential map is not that simple unless the variables are not related to each other. Other texts at least offer the constraints, although not explicitly(this subsequently makes the unwary readers oblivious about the specific conditions in which the pertaining equation is applicable).
   
   anyhoo, the book is way too superflous with mathematical nonsenses and tries really hard to get rid of diffcult concepts by presenting concepts as "definitions." More frusrating than this is the fact that it completely lacks the proper motivation building-up before presenting particular concepts or formulas. Perhaps the authors of this book are truly convinced that all the future-biochemist/MD wanna-bes are faithful believers of the ubiquitous yet unspoken notion that all of our current scientific knowledges are nothing more than mere remnants of forcefully fed informations on a few chosen human beings many years ago despite their vehement refusals.
   
   Just buy another p-chem book and use a good biochem text(such as voet's) instead of using this book. Making connection between the physical chemistry and biological science is not that difficult. If you can't you always got internet.



2. When I received it, OH MY GOD, it had DETAILED ANSWERS to every single problem in the book. Whats more, my physical chemistry course had questions from the book on its test, and all I did was memorize the solutions and got an A+. I can't believe it!
   
   I even corrected my professor on a few problems; my professor didn't even know there was a solutions manual and I wasn't about to tell him there was.
   
   All in all, I just wanted to post my awesome experience. It was a great help. Just like in Physics, Chemistry, or biology, a solutions manual can only augment your skills. Plus it wasn't too long, about 100 pages.
   
   Also, the other reviewer who said the solutions manual was bad must've bought another edition (older one), because the solutions manual I received had ALL THE SOLUTIONS to ALL THE PROBLEMS in COMPLETELY WORKED OUT form.



3. Hello mates,
   
   I don't write any reviews, but when I got my first physical chemistry test back to day, I just had to write this out. THIS BOOK WAS IN THE COLLECTIBLE SECTION OF THE NEW AND USED SECTION. All my test had were questions from the book, and some that were very much like the book (only changed numbers). I procrastinated to study as usual, and all I did was study the solutions manual, and I was the ONLY STUDENT TO GET AN A+. THE ONLY ONE IN THE CLASS. My professor asked me to become a tutor, and now I'm getting paid.
   
   All in all, physical chemistry is tough, BUT you WILL GET AN A with the solutions manual! You have my word, and my experience to prove it.



4. Hi everyone, I just got my exam score emailed to me from Physical Chemistry (the one with some calculus involved). Guess what? I got a 96%. The class average was 45%. The professor told me my exam had the highest score ever in this class.
   
   I found that all the test had were problems from the book. I remember procrastinating and not getting any studying done. So the night before the exam, I just memorized all the solutions, and I got a 96%.
   
   The professor told me to get an A in the class, all I need to do is get above a D on the next 2 exams. Man, what a relief. My friends envy me, my professor worships me, and I owe it all to this solutions manual.
   
   I was at first skeptical about its price, but it was worth so much more. Can you put a price on getting an A? Can you? Can you really? Its going to be alot more than $120, which was how much I paid for the well-needed solutions manual.
   
   I just hope too many students don't get the manual, because then professors might figure out that there is a solutions manual (my professor has NO IDEA THIS BOOK HAS A SOLUTIONS MANUAL!).
   
   So if you do end up getting the manual, just use it for yourself, don't even show your friends or bring it to class. Just use it on your own, memorize the solutions, get your A+ in the class, tell all your friends and your professor that you just studied VERY HARD, and leave it at that.
   
   The less the number of people that know about this solutions manual, the better. Also, since this was my first time using amazon.com, make sure that when you add the item to your card, the description should say "SOLUTIONS MANUAL." I bought it from the collectible section, and in the description it said that it was the "complete solutions manual."
   
   Good luck in mastering physical chemistry;I won't need luck, I got the solutions manual!



5. The text is poorly written and hard to understand. The solution manual is even worse!! The authors do not explain which equations they're using or where the numbers are coming from.

5 comments about Quantum Chemistry (6th Edition).

1. I am amazed at the sheer depth of detail that Levine succeeds in conveying while somehow keeping the subject highly organized and extremely readbale. Like a good teacher, he has a knack for anticipating your questions and problems and addresses them. He also seems to know exactly which points deserve attention and emphasis, and which odn't. His constant referencing of previous equations even when not absolutely necessary minimizes the student's chance of getting lost or forgetting previous material and not remember where to find it again. Very mathematical, but all required mathematics are expertly reviewed before being introduced. My only complaints are a few critical typos in the angular momentum section, and the fact that that section and the section on symmetry could have been more clearly presnted (especially the section on symmetry!). But overall, nobody's perfect, and this is as close as you get. Definitely a class about Lowe's textbook.



2. writen by a teacher, with a great teaching art. As a beginner ( satellite engineer) , it provides me a clear first understanding of how atomic & molecular waves functions are computed. I appreciate the approach, very oriented to understanding the computation aspects. I agree that symmetry introduction should be more developped. References are systematically documented (in the text). Gives me understanding of "basic" explanations which are usually only shortly referenced in many other chemistry books I open.



3. quantum chemistry a special field of the quantum-mechanical theory has always been a very tricky course for all the chemistry students around the world, because of the demanding mathematical background they have to possess in order to comprehend the extremely difficult concepts and applications of
   the best - up to now - theory we have to understand phenomena at the atomic and molecular level.
   This textbook is the best i know in the field because Pf.
   Ira Levine provides the necessary Maths in a really instructive way which chemists will appreciate with a great relief!
   All the mathematics they will need is contained in this book
   so they won't have to study it from a different sourse , wasting time and getting disappointed!
   On the other hand, the order of the chapters is excellent
   and the problems at the end of each chapter solidify your understanding of what you have already read during the chapter.
   There are also answers to selected problems at the end of the book
   I higly recommend this textbook to all the chemists who would love to really understand Quantum Chemistry!



4. I'm a grad physics student, rather than a chemist. But I'm using this book in a Physical Chemistry class because my school doesn't have an Atomic & Molecular class. Now, maybe I'm saying this because I already have a background in Quantum Mechanics ... but this book is awesome. My instructor assigns all or nearly all of the end-of-chapter problems each week. And I'm able to flip to the back of the book and check to see if my numbers agree. It may be be Quantum Chemistry, rather than Quantum Mechanics, but aside from the chemical modeling which isn't as applicable for physicists, Levine just does a better job of conveying quantum mechnics than most Q.M. books I've seen. He's able to keep things simple, and not clog up the logic process with mathematical proofs. If you need a math proof, he gives you the reference. But the important stuff is proven, and he gives a lot of examples to help the process. As a bonus to physicists, a lot of the problems require some number crunching. And in this age of physical symbolism, it is easy to get rusty at dealing with real numbers, real units and real dimensions. I'll even go so far as to say that before I read Levine, I never really had a complete grasp of Q.M.. And I've used decent books before this; Merzbacher, Saxon, a little Cohen-Tenoudji, Ter Har, Lim and Griffiths. This one is my favorite, and imagine, it's not even officially a physics book!



5. This book is very well written until the section on many electron atoms and molecules, starting from the helium atom. The section on many electrons systems is not well written and is very ambiguous. It is not possible to follow the math that is written. The chapters of the book until this are very well written and could be understood easily. I don't know if the author himself is well familiar with the many electron systems mathematics or not or he intends to make it so unclear. In general this book is better than other quantum chemistry books that I have and with the only deficiency of the explanation of the many electron systems I think It is a good quantum chemistry.

3 comments about Thermodynamics, Statistical Thermodynamics, and Kinetics.

1. Buy Levines book on physical chemistry that is a much better text. I am not saying that is is the best because I have not read every thermo book but if you want good advice, then take my word and buy Levines book. It seems as though engels text has not been edited or proofread enough or maybe not at all. I think he just solved all the problems once and published it. There a numerous times in which he trys to make problems tricky by wording it unclearly, thinking he is smart or something, and the numerical answer he has in the back will be completely wrong. There is one problem I remember where he asks you to find the atomic weight of an atom and his answer is 1235 kg/mol or something ridiculous like that. Most of the time I can see where he made his mistakes, and notice that he tries to trick students and ends up fooling himself. Some people like texts because they are not thorough and make it easy to read a hard subject, so they don't care. But this guys just leaves things out completely.



2. This book is suitable for a themodynamics course in physical chemistry, in that gives a basic thermo course without the quantum portion in it, leaving that for a separate book. This book is a long way from the mathmatic rigor found in the Atkins text. The Atkins text was famous for its detailed proofs and brilliant math, but lacks a user-friendly feel. This book was user friendly but did not give details that could lend itself further study or understanding. If you are using this text, Mcquarrie's text is dated but is a wonderful suppliment to this text, it gives more detail where needed filling in the gaps where this text generally errs toward simplicity.
   The best thing about this book is its simplicity and its readability. The worst thing about this book is its simplicity because it does not explain in detail why the mathmatical model is the way it is because of the physical interactions.



3. As an undergraduate chemistry major, this is the first of my textbooks that I have sold after the course was over. The book does an adequate job of explaining the basics of thermodynamics and the macroscopic view of physical chemistry, but has some severe limitations. Equations are poorly organized and can be very difficult to find when you're searching for them, and the relationships between equations are often difficult to discern (a concept that seemed to me very central to undergraduate Pchem). The worst part of the book, however, is that it is a poorly edited first edition. Many of the problems in the back (and their accompanying answers) have been pulled from an out of print book by Gilbert Castellan, but the tables in the back have been updated with current numbers. This results in occasional correct answers that do not match the answers in the book.
   
   If your professor requires it, you're probably going have to buy it anyway, but if you're interested in a basic physical chemistry reference you're probably better off with Atkins.

5 comments about Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Materials, Fitfth Edition.

1. not timely delivered, the condition of the book is not good



2. I used this text in a thermo of materials course after using the Gyftopoulos text for a general thermo course. In comparison, I found the Gaskell text horrible. For a 4th ed, there are a tremendous number of typos and equation errors, the nomenclature is a little odd, and the equations aren't general, they inherently assume P = 1atm etc. I don't recommend this text.



3. Thermodynamics is one of those topics covered in multiple branches of science such as physics, chemistry, geology, materials science, chemical engineering, etc... This book approaches the subject from materials science and is meant to serve as the book for a one or two semester course in thermo. First of, it is not meant for beginners to thermo. I used this book in a course taught by one of the best instructors in my department, after having taken two easier courses in thermo. Yet I still found it difficult. Second, the math is advanced enough that one should not take the course without having differential equations. Third, the example problems can get quite difficult real quickly; and not all have solutions. But overall, the text is a good reflection of the subject; difficult and time-consuming to master.



4. I used this book for my course in Materials Thermodynamics, and I must say that it's got some pretty good material and also some poor parts. In particular Gaskell usually does a good job of explaining his derivations, but there are times when the typographic errors get in the way and you sit there for an hour, until your teacher finally tells you that Gaskell made a mistake.
   
   Another annoyance is that Gaskell's solutions in the back of the book are sometimes wrong, which means that it may be difficult to use a self-teaching book. In addition, Gaskell's solutions to some configurational entropy problems are just completely unconventional and nonsensical from an intuitive standpoint -- my teacher told us to disregard his method entirely.
   
   The text does have some pluses: it has plentiful diagrams, excellent thermodynamic appendicies, and in general does a good job of rigorously explaining every concept. It's definitely not a beginner's book, but Thermodynamics is a complex topic and there are certain assumptions made of the reader in any Thermodynamics textbook.



5. Great Resource. There are a few typos that have been addressed in the later edition, but overall this edition flows well and is well organized.

No comments about Physical Chemistry.

3 comments about Physical Chemistry.

1. This is not everyone's physical chemistry text. It is the intellectual's source for both the fundamental and advanced canon of physical chemistry. They must be great teachers, the book is clear, thorough and challenging.



2. If you read the reviews of the 3rd edition of this book you'll see lots of people really dislike it.
   
   If you want a decent, student-friendly text get Physical Chemistry by K.J. Laidler, J.H. Meiser, B.C. Sanctuary (ISBN 0618123415). See my review at Physical Chemistry
   
   See my other reviews for other chem books.



3. Discussions in this book are not in depth as it may seem from complex text. Text focuses on basic concepts and pours excessive amounts of water around them. too much unnecessary words and sentences.
   
   if you are forced to deal with this book, it's best to look up topics online and then do the problems. I found several texts online which do a much better job in presenting material of this book. you can definitely find a much more simpler and compact text, which will cover much more than this watery text.
   
   what I liked about this book is amount of exercises they provide. about 50 problems per chapter.

5 comments about Experiments in Physical Chemistry.

1. Students were asked to purchase this textbook, and most students in the class agreed that it was more or less a waste. In six terms of lab, we did no more than three experiments out of the thirty or so in the book. The discussion is often at such
   a high level that the 'trees in the forest' are hidden
   by the surrounding fog. If you're taking the 300 or 400-series
   lab courses at OSU, just stick with what's in the
   handouts...that's what I did, and I got A's on about 90%
   of the reports. Even if the profs tell you to read S-G-N,
   don't waste too much time on it. As a research or reference book, S-G-N is fine and probably very useful (today I'm
   an industry chemist, not a researcher). But if you're
   an undergrad student taking labs at OSU or any school,
   put S-G-N back on the shelf for a rainy day or
   return it and get a refund.



2. One of the most comprehensive physical chemistry lab text, SGN discusses about calculations and presentation of data, uncertainties in data and results, background and theory for each experiment. Experimentals are extremely clear and detailed, though individual instructors might develop modifications. The uncertainties section might be supplemented by John Taylor's "Introduction to Error Analysis" for more in-depth reference.

   Experiments are groups into topics like Gases, Transport Properties of Gases, Solutions, Electrochemistry, Kinetics, and Spectroscopy, etc. The text also devotes incredible amount of pages on electronic devices, vacuum techniques, instruments and lab procedures for reference. Many lab texts are published, yet SGN might be the best for students.




3. (...)IN ORDER FOR MY CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERS TO MAKE USE OF THIS TEXT SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES NEED TO BE REVIEWED (OR IF THE STUDENT HASN'T HAD P-CHEM LECTURE THEY WILL ALSO NEED A GOOD LECTURE TEXT).

   AS AN EXAMPLE LET'S TAKE SPECTROSCOPY AS A TOPIC...STUDENTS COME INTO MY COURSE LARGELY QUITE CONFUSED ABOUT HOW ALL THE PARTS IN THIS BROAD, BUT VITAL AREA FIT TOGETHER. OUR STUDENTS TAKE THIS COURSE AS JUNIORS AND LESS OFTEN AS SENIORS (ENGINEEERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SENIORS) AND MOST WILL NOT HAVE HAD DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.

   WHAT S-G-N REALLY LACKS ARE SIMPLE CLEAR EXPLANATIONS OF BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SPECTROSCOPY (OR KINETICS ETC.)INCLUDED IN THE TEXT. NOT ALL THE DETAILS, BUT THE BIG PICTURE E.G. RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY... THIS IS THE FIRST MULTI-PHOTON EXPERIMENT MOST UNDERGRADS HAVE HAD AND, SADLY, THE LECTURE TEXTS OFTEN DO A POOR JOB (HERE I AM NOT COUNTING THE NUMEROUS CONCEPTUAL ERRORS THAT HAVE CREPT INTO SOME OF OUR LARGEST SELLING TEXTS) GIVING A SIMPLE EXPLANATION. TWO PHOTONS STRIKE A MOLECULE (SAY THEY ARE GREEN) AND A BLUE ONE AND A YELLOW ONE ARE EMITTED IN SUCH A WAY THAT ENERGY IS CONSERVED. IF POSSIBLE EACH EXPERIMENT NEED THIS.

   P-CHEM LAB TEXTS GENERALLY DON'T GIVE A SIMPLE PICTURE OF THE CONCEPT (WHAT IT IS AND WHY ARE WE DOING THIS EXPERIMENT, HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO IT) IN SIMPLE BROAD TERMS FIRST BEFORE WE GET TO THE DETAILS. S-G-N, AS WELL AS OTHER P-CHEM LAB TEXTS NEED THAT.
   YES, THERE ARE REFERENCES, BUT IT IS WISHFUL THINKING THAT STUDENTS WILL GO TO THEM WITH THE FOUR OTHER ADVANCED UNDERGRAD COURSES THAT THEY ARE TAKING. IT STILL IS THE BEST AROUND, BUT AS AN UNDERGRAD REVIEW NOTED HANDOUTS ARE OFTEN CRITICAL BECAUSE OF THESE KINDS OF PROBLEMS. I LECTURE FOR HALF THE SEMESTER TO OVERCOME THESE AND OTHE PROBLEMS; SHOULD THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN?




4. I felt the book did a great job explaining the labs from the perspective of the applications to the PChem theory learned in other classes.
   
   This book lacks good explanations of theory, so hold onto your pchem text if you need this book for a class!!!



5. I bought this item from A1Books. I searched around for the "Experiments in Physical Chemistry" book by Shoemaker/Garland/Nibler that I needed for my chemistry class at college that started October 24th. I ordered it on the 24th, because it said it would be mailed within 2 days. It wasn't mailed until the monday after I ordered it (6 days), but I recieved it that Thursday (9 days after I ordered). I was a little bit dissappointed by the slow transaction.
   My main complaint is that instead of recieving what I was looking for, which was the 7th edition "Experiments in Physical Chemistry," I recieved "Customized Experiments in Physical Chemistry, 6th edition: For Rutgers State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick Campus." As I do not attend this school, and NOWHERE ON ANYTHING DID IT EVER SAY that it was 6th edition, or customized, or for any school. There were about 4 items in amazon with the same label, so I went with the cheapest one. They were all described EXACTLY THE SAME (word for word copy/paste), and I recieved a book that is different from the rest of the books that amazon was selling with the same name/description. Be wary of A1books, because there is no way to return books for a refund (all sales are final), and they don't seem interested in hearing from you (they send spam to the e-mail you give them, and say that replies to the sender will not go through).
   Don't Date Robots!

5 comments about Physical Chemistry.

1. Thomas Engel's Physical Chemistry is a book full of mistakes as well as stupid problems... The Quantum chemistry part is horribly explained(about 10 chapters). Which makes me think... perhaps the author can not explain the material because he does not understand it. Engel take some more quantum classes or repeat them, and then write a book about a subject you have not mastered. I want my money back.



2. I've used half of the book now. The layout is not very organized. I found the graphical representations useful.
   
   ok, 2nd semester in work. I'd prefer to downgrade this rating to negative 5 if I could. This book has turned into a major disaster. It is so riddled with errors...the derivations are never right. Everytime something doesn't work out right it's because the book is wrong. flat out.
   
   This book gets my strongest disapproval possible. Buying this book is throwing away your money. Thanks engel. Thanks for all those hours lost trying to figure out what mistake I had make working out the derivations in this book only to find the book was wrong all along.
   
   I'm still a little bitter about the false advertising when I got it...re: spartan software student copy that wasn't included.



3. A modern, clear, and extensive physical chemistry text. It does break tradition with the heavyweights in the field (Atkins, McQuarrie), but does so for good reason: there aren't enough computational background or computer computation applications in the others. Those books do a great job with the theory and mathematics, but this book show's you how to use that mathematics to really understand chemistry. It focuses heavily computational chemistry with actual software and the Spartan Quantum chemistry software that book's authors use is very inexpensive if you buy the student version. As a bonus, this book is the most colorful and well laid-out and edited one available today.



4. I used this book for my pchem courses and found it to be completely worthless. While it does focus on computational crap that's not very important the first time around. The quantum chapters are pretty poorly done, and well the thermo stuff is just boring. All in all, I found this text to be useless. The derivations include many errors, and often are presented before the text introduces what they're trying to derive thereby further confusing you. You're better off not buying this book, unless you need for class, and buying one of the more used books like Levine's or Macquarrie's.



5. Let me begin by saying - I love chemistry. I love math. I'm a total nerd. But this book turned me off to both. Taking a year of physical chemistry is hard - but this book makes it even harder. This is the first year my professors have used this book, and I think it will be their last.
   
   The key points aren't covered in detail. The math is overly complicated, and the problems don't hit the right points. I don't have a lot of P.Chem textbook knowledge, but there has to be something better out there.
   
   I wouldn't recommend the text at all - but if you buy it, you ABSOLUTELY need the solutions manual.

5 comments about Spectrometric Identification of Organic Compounds.

1. This book provide a the basis of the fundamentals of Spectroscopy in many fields (IR, HNMR, CNMR, DEPT, COSY, HMBC, HMQC, TOCSY, MS, and much more) It has many real problems in an special chapter. And the most important, it has a lot of important tables and spectrums.



2. The book is subdivided into only 3 of the 4 classical methods for spectrometric identification of compounds: IR, MS, and finally NMR (covering 1H, 13C and very little of 19F and 31P). UV is left out in this edition, so maybe getting a hold of the old edition's UV chapter (which is extremely well-written) might be desired. The MS and the IR chapters are also well-written and explained out. It is in the main technique (NMR) that the author fails to deliver the subject in a straightforward manner and lacks what I think is most important in this field: a large number of exercises and problems.



3. This book has wonderful charts and tables for quick referencing, however it is sorely lacking in demonstrations and worked out examples for students new to the subject. The chapters are painfully slow and complex when explaining the theory behind the spectrometric methods and effects on classes of molecules. In short, don't use this book to learn the material unless you already know it. It is a comprehensive reference, but not an effective textbook to teach from.



4. It's an OK book if you are a novice in the Spectroscopy determination area, but a very nice book if it's going to be used as a reference book. It's very handy and explains the principles of the Spectroscopic and Spectrometric determinations in a very understandable way. Moreover, the excercises are challenging, making this book and excellent tool for those students interested in learning how to determine structures out of some spectra, although the spectra sometimes are so clean that they don't correspond with the one's that are taken by routine. The weak points of this book are the IR chapter and the lack of a UV chapter explaining various useful techniques for structural determination such as ORD and CD. The NMR section is just OK, but there are more details to be explained in the 2-D NMR NOESY, TOCSY and ROESY. I think the Mass Chapters are the best that any single book has offered to me so far to understand quite easily how powerful is the GCMS as a tool for the Structural Determination of Organic Compounds.



5. it is our required textbook for organospectroscopy course. it provides a series of useful databases, which is good for future resaerch.
   
   however, the explaination is not so detailed with some information or some typy of coumpounds missing.
   
   and i wish it can provide soft-cover edition and therefore, be much cheaper.