5 comments about Understanding Molecular Simulation (Computational Science Series, Vol 1).

1. This book is how I bootstrapped my way into being a molecular simulationist. Anyone who can program in some language can get started writing simple routines for the basic MD and MC simulations.

   I do Monte Carlo simulations at Princeton, and found this book to be the most helpful available for getting my research started. It is my most common reference, and is used extensively in writing background information for various research documents.

   However, after you have written your first few codes, you will pass the level of this book and need to move on. I use it less now than I did my first year.

   Every student in my group (Panagiotopoulos) has this book I think. And like me, they started with it, but moved on.




2. Its an excellent book for those who are just beginners in MC & MD simulations. everything is very clearly explained with lot of examples and some related unsolved problems. the text explores this topic indetails with advanced chapters in later sections. Good for anybody int hsi field be it in materials science, physics or related fields.



3. There is a very strong bias to MC methods in the book. What they have to say about Molecular Dynamics methods is not really new, most of it is virtually copied from the classic by Allan/Tildesley, and many MD techniques which they consider "advanced" (such as cell list methods, verlet tables, etc.) are shifted to one of the many appendices. They do not talk about ghostparticles for instance or give a detailed account of parallelized algorithms which is really state-of-the art today.
   The code examples for download for the exercises, contain subtle errors, are not optimized for performance (which is THE most important thing in simulation business) and worst of all, are written in Fortran. The fact that they publish Fortran code must reflect the fact that at the time they learned how to program a computer there was no C, C++, JAVA, etc. and no object orientation in sight. Nowadays, probably no expert in programming would start a scientific and readable code in fortran. Also their definition of an algorithm is simply technically wrong. The authors are very sloppy here, have obviously no training in theoretical computer science and are obviously no experts for writing optimal code.
   Scientifically, as far as physics is concerned, the book is sound, they give good arguments pro and against certain methods, but when you have already worked with Allan/Tildesley or Rappaport for many years you have the eery impression that they simply repeat many arguments from these books or from other research articles (They keep citing Allan/Tildesley a lot) Those things that are not more or less copied from other sources seems to reflect their own experience in this field which seems to be strongly limited to MC methods.
   Although this book is sometimes praised I cannot really recommend it. Allan/Tildesley, and in particular the book by Rappaport are superior in stlye and in particluar as code examples are concerned. With Rappaport you get working code right away in proper C (albeit in Fortran-Style C -- again, the reason for this being the fact, that all these authors of Simulation books learned programming probably in the late 70's when Fortran was state-of-the-art). I nevertheless would recommend Rappaports book instead. The authors even offer scientific workshops based on their book (and probably make a lot of money with that). One can only hope that those are better than the coding examples of the exercises. Therefore only 2 stars.



4. I was especially delighted about the Monte Carlo methods and the free energy calculation techniques.



5. This book is goof for studying molecular. For beginner, this book is easy to understand how to do.

2 comments about Exploring Complexity: An Introduction.

1. Since non-equilibrium science and complexity theory where actually shaped and influenced by the Brussels school, anybody interested in a concise -yet readable- introduction would do well to start with this book. Written by Nicolis and Prigogine, it will enlighten and entertain you. Some knowledge of math helps when reading this book, but the level is intermediate, thereby making it suitable for a rather large group of interested readers. I found myself reading the book in stages, taking the time to ponder various topics and issues before continuing again. It really made me wonder, and I learned a lot from it (ironically, I actually learned more from this book than from the -much- more advanced books by the author(s) that cover the same material).



2. It explains, mainly through examples in chemistry and physics, what are the required components for "complex behaviors" to occur within dynamical systems. It does not insist on the technicalities proper to the examples but rather tries to gather what one can learn from specific situations concerning the necessary components for complexity to arise.

   Focus is on intuition and global understanding, not on mathematical aspects. However, some knowledge in math would certainly help...a first course in probability theory and some background in dynamical systems is a good idea (at the level of undergraduate courses in pure and applied sciences).

   All explanations are not rigorous but the objective is to provide a good intuition about the mechanisms driving complexity. Recommended for all people interested in stochastic modeling and chaos theory.

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 Physical Chemistry.

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. The book is in excellent conditions, it looks like new, just like the description said.



4. Book was a little worn but no more than I expected. No pages were torn out and the highlights were good for study and review! Thanks a million!!!



5. This book is great for the second half of physical chemistry. The book explains Quantum Mechanics well and provides good practice problems.

5 comments about New Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home and Microbrewers.

1. Although this book has a lot of useful information in it, I was disappointed to find it was not about lager at all. It is simply a general purpose brewing book with a lot of emphasis on all grain brewing. This makes it hard to rate because as a lager book it gets zero stars, which is why it was on my Christmas wish list.



2. DO NOT get this book if you are a beginner looking to start brewing, I recommend How To Brew by John Palmer for that, a truly excellent book to start with. This is more of a reference guide for the advanced brewer ( being a beginner myself I have yet had a chance to use it ).



3. I enjoyed the book however the technology is outdated and most people ferment lagers at 9-11C, secondary ferment then filter at -2C. Nothing on force fermenting or Hermes systems for infusion mashing. OK reference book for the shelf.



4. I hesitate giving this book a bad review because it's clear that anyone who does so must not be "advanced" enough in homebrewing to appreciate it. (We might not be altogether different from those who couldn't see the emperor's new clothes.)
   The book certainly isn't about brewing lagers (as opposed to other styles.) The author says as much in his introduction. That was a disappointment. More disappointing was the tone. It read more like a textbook than what I've come to enjoy in "homebrewing books." (Books like Papazian's and Palmer's among others.) It screams with the message that brewing is just too serious of a matter to have fun with. I disagree. I guess that means I'm just a beginner.



5. This is one of the few book on brewing that I would recommend to everybody who is truly interested in art of making beer. Everything within the book is logically arranged and is layered from baseline topics to more advanced ones. This makes it very easy for Advanced brewers to skip the child's play and move right along into the good stuff, and for beginners to read all they need to know and skip through the scientific mumbo jumbo.

5 comments about Quantum Chemistry (6th Edition).

1. 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.



2. 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!



3. 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!



4. 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.



5. As a 44 yr old taking Quantum I needed some review of calculus to help me understand the later language. This book did that very well in a manner consistent with the later material.
   The problems expanded on the work in the chapter and extended it.
   For a very difficult subject it is very well written.

5 comments about Schaum's Outline of Physical Chemistry (2nd Edition).

1. The over-five hundred pages that make-up this "Schaum's Outline of Physical Chemistry" were dedicated to giving overview of every aspect of the subject. The book's presentations and analyses are easy-to-follow; and would be appreciated by any Physical Science undergrad.
   I valued its exploits in the fields of: Thermodynamics, Equilibrium Properties, Chemical Kinetics, and Intermolecular Forces. Its information are concise; yet, detailed enough. There are both tutorials and worked examples in every chapter: hence, making it a fine revision tool.
   However, bear in mind that the contents of this book are more or less obsolete. The fact that it has not been revised since 1988 is discouraging. In view of this, I am reluctant to recommend it!



2. The examples are from a different planet! The text is very general in the important concepts and too detailed in the obscure stuff; this is definintley not intended for someone new to PCHEM. Stick to you textbook, like Atkins, which probably has better explanations and problems.



3. For as cheap as it is, this is a great value. It reviews every concept in physical chemistry very well. Obviously it won't replace your textbook, but it will at least cover subjects that maybe your textbook omits. The outline was last updated in 1989, but, honestly, physical chemistry has not changed in at least the last twenty or thirty years. Conceptually, all of physical chemistry has remained the same, so I would not say that this book is obsolete.



4. I bought this book because I had a deficiency in physical chemistry owing to a bad teacher at my undergraduate study i chemistry. This book although cheap is garbage and is not useful at all. so do not buy it. If you are outside the USA don't buy books published in america because mostly they are for commercial purpose and not intended to teach you.



5. I have found the book to be fairly helpful. This book covers a lot of things not covered in class and I feel it depends on the course and who and how they are teaching it will be a factor in whether the book is helpful.

5 comments about Chemical, Biochemical, and Engineering Thermodynamics.

1. For a consolidated science as thermodynamics is, a concise textbook is a must. I consider Sandler's one as a top quality study material carefully conceived to give the reader a serious chance of really understanding the power, beauty and applicability of thermodynamics. However, to study from this book is a long-haul task and may not be wholly appropriate to undertake it as a part of an undergraduate course in chemical engineering thermodynamics, not unless you specially like the subject.
   On the other hand, for the graduate student set to perform research on the area, it is definitely a good starting point. Indeed, that is my current situation, having studied only the first starting chapters so far.
   In any case you better borrow it from the library and have a look on the book beforehand, otherwise chances are it will stand on your shelf unread until the entropy attains a maximum.



2. As already indicated, it has mistakes throughout, from the differential equation derivations to the data in the steam tables.
   
   The book is not very redeeming, the author(s?) seem to have a very difficult way of conveying even the simplest point. The book goes much more in depth than any engineering student would need.
   
   Don't even try to read through it either, this simply has proven itself to not be one of those kinds of books. To me, its a nice introduction to concepts, then you have to read the practice problems to actually understand whats going on.



3. The book level is indeed a little bit high for an undergraduate student, in the other hand, it's very practical in representing how to perform REAL and USEFUL calculations. I have two degrees in chemical and Process Engineer, and if you are a person who must work very often with process programming and simulation, this book is essential. If you're looking for more common information, basic concepts and definitions (enthalpy, cycles, steam tables, etc...), maybe you should try other books first, like Smith and Van Ness', or Van Wylen's book. It's mostly a book for chemical and process engineers, I wouldn't recommend it for mechanical, electric or other engineering fields.



4. I cannot believe that some people have given this book a bad review because they think that this book goes to in depth, covering areas that any engineer would not need. This book is extremely important for chemical engineers, dealing with 1st and 2nd law, cycles, chemical equilibrium, and reactors, areas of extreme importance for chemical engineers.
   
   What I like about this book is how the author starts from the big picture, and from there specific examples are derived. Let's put it this way, if you are a chemical engineer, this book will definetely help you understand one of the hardest classes in our curriculum; ChE thermodynamics.
   
   I should also emphasize that the understanding of this class is also going to depend on who teaches it.



5. This is a good book on chemical thermodynamics. However, it has relatively little to say that most biochemists, bioengineers or biochemical engineers will find interesting or useful. The title of the new edition is therefore a curiosity. It may be an echo of the recent change of name of many a university chemical engineering department. A book that integrated chemical thermodynamics, chemical engineering and biochemistry would be nice to have, but this book is not it.

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.

5 comments about Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics.

1. This was a great book. It covered the important material and left out all of the extra garbage that most books carry on for pages about. The presentation was done using clear mathematics and modern, easily followed notation. The book is short making it practical to actually read the entire book if you are extremely busy. We used the book in conjunction with Hill. I don't recommend Hill because it is hard to follow.



2. A clear, concise explanation of statistical mechanics. Some people may complain about the "concise" part--in many cases, mathematical exercises are left as exercises to the student. However, this practice allows the reader to really understand the material by doing, not just reading. I learned stat mech for the first time from this book, and only examined other texts (mcquarrie or hill) afterwards.



3. I used this book while taking the course for which this book was designed, Prof. Chandler's stat mech course for first year graduate students.
   
   I agree with the reviewer who wrote that this book avoids a lot of filler that can distort the main thrust of the material at hand.
   
   I disagree with the reviewer who wrote that this is not the book for a beginner. I used this book having studied undergrad p-chem but essentially no stat mech. Being a concise text, one must read carefully to extract the point of each paragraph. I sometimes found myself re-reading certain sections a few times in order to understand them. The abundant prose should be evidence that the author is trying to provide a physical picture to improve the scientific intuition of the reader.
   
   This doesn't mean the book isn't for a beginner. It just means what you should already know: you will not learn stat mech by skimming any text just once with a pint of beer in your hand.
   
   I constantly return to this book for review of thermo and stat mech concepts. For my grad qualifying exams I mostly used McQuarrie for general p-chem overview, but switched right back to IMSM for thermo and stat mech review.
   
   If you're looking for a reference book with every possible stat mech problem worked out to help with your problem sets, this is not it. If you want to understand stat mech this book is the first step.



4. The book cover is in worse condition than I expected, but the contents are all there, and it came within a week of ordering.



5. After learning almost nothing in my graduate course on stat mech taught by a famous physicist, I decided I would have to teach myself Stat Mech over the summer. When I found this book, I really started to make progress. Right away I got the big picture on what statistical mechanics is all about, and that made all the difference. I was able to work my way quickly through the book, doing the problems as they came along in text and understand almost everything.
   
   I wasn't able to make it through the denser chapters at the end on nonequilibrium stat mech on my own, but the book was well worth the price and is one of my favorites. The explanations are pure gold.
   
   A few tips for the reader:
   1. Do the problems as your read. The best place for the problems in a textbook is in the text itself, not at the end of the chapter.
   
   2. Get the solutions manual
   I purchased the solutions manual so that I could check my solutions. It had about half the solutions and only half of them worked out in detail, but it was still very useful for getting started on some of the problems I wasn't sure how to approach.
   
   3. Make a notation conversion chart
   Some of the greek letters are different than the usual notation for physics courses, so I had to make a notation conversion chart on the front inside cover and that was very helpful.
   
   4. If you find the book too hard, use Schroeder's book as an introduction.
   
   5. Be prepared to see a missing spot on your shelf.
   I'm constantly loaning this book out to people in my research group and other students.