No comments about Chemical Reactions and Chemical Reactors.

3 comments about Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena: Drops, Bubbles, Pearls, Waves.

1. Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena, like every text and paper bearing the name of de Gennes is intuitive, insightful, elegant, beautiful and extremely useful text. The names de Gennes, Brochard and David Quere are well known to the researchers in this area, and this book basically brings together their deep insight about a host of different phenomena in very simple words and equations. The described physics of wetting, surface tension, droplet spreading, instabilities, bubbles, etc. is developed in a style where qualitative arguments, dimensional arguments and experimental observations are used to describe a variety of complex phenomena. The apparent lack of mathematical rigor is a blessing to everyone interested in developing a taste and temperament for this extremely important field. While one can find several related texts in the field, none other is written in this delightfully insightful way. This is one of the rare gems that everyone from a high school student to most advanced researcher in the field can read, enjoy, learn from and be delighted to possess.



2. This is a great book for anyone interested in capillarity and wetting phenomena. What I like about it is that it gives the reader a grasp of how things work and it goes through a lot of practical examples. The equations are voluntarily simplified (constants often omitted) to only leave the important variables and reveal the "mechanics of how things work". However, although the equations look simple, they do capture the essence of the problem and they are always perfectly sound. This is an approach that de Gennes uses a lot and which I believe makes things easier to understand. Moreover, the 3 authors of the book are, like the previous reviewer said, very well known and respected scientist in their field, which adds to the scientific soundness of their approach. In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the physics of wetting.



3. I had the original in French, and got the English version trying to understand it faster. I was very dissapointed when I found phrases as:
   
   "The puddle is the seat of a certain internal pressure p_2>0"
   
   A puddle being a seat? I just don't catch the metaphore. The original in french says,
   
   "Il existe une certaine pression interne p_2>0"
   
   Which is, as you can googletranslate, "There is some internal pressure p_2> 0".

5 comments about Polymer Physics (Chemistry).

1. As a polymer physicist, among other things (mechanical engineer/tribologist) I can tell you that this is must for anybody trying to understand polymer physics. Whether you are a scientist or worked in applied sciences (engineering) this will make a great text book and reference.



2. Polymer Physics by Michael Rubinstein and Raplh Colby is a fascinating introduction to the realm of polymer statics, dynamics and phase behavior. It embodies the depth of Flory's classic text on Principals of Polymer Chemistry, classic delight of de Gennes' Scaling concepts in Polymers and the rigor of Theory of Polymer Dynamics by Doi and Edwards. The authors manage to do this with a textbook authority and clarity, which definitely makes this book a definite buy for anyone interested in polymer physics.
   
   The book has four main sections. The first part talks about the polymer statics: ideal and real chains and how their size and size dependent properties are characterized. Then comes thermodynamics of polymer blends and solutions, which includes a discussion on polymer brushes and adsorption of chains. The authors devote the third section to networks and gels and this part includes a very thorough discussion of gelation, rubber elasticity and swelling. The last section is devoted to the polymer dyanmics, where chain models and polymer relaxation ideas are developed and discussed. The last two sections of the book cover topics which are of immense current interest, and have had original and critical contributions from the authors. Most highly recommended, both for beginners and for experts.



3. My title tells everything. This book is one of the best one if you are new to the field. You need to know Calculus, Thermodynamics and Statistical physics and then read through the pages. Not too detailed nor too brief. I suggest the book to seniors and grad level students.



4. From the equations of Flory-Huggins to the fractal nature of polymer confirmations, this book covers everything you need to know about the physical nature of polymers.



5. The book is an excellent introduction to statistical polymer physics.
   Its great strength is that it offers a mathematical treatment of polymer
   physics with a minimum of mathematics i.e. only dimensional analysis and simple
   ordinary differential equations. In addition, one needs to have an introductory
   course in equilibrium statistical physics (statistical thermodynamics).
   
   It is valuable to both academics and industrial practitioners, since it represents
   a very complete picture of polymeric solutions, gels and networks
   given with remarkable intuition. Certainly it does not go deep into
   more advanced analytic (e.g. functional integral or numerical approaches),
   but it is a necessary background to these fields.
   
   The only negative aspect of this book has nothing to do with the authors,
   but with OUP that produce such difficult to use book formats. I do not
   understand why the book has to be so large in dimensions making any
   handling difficult and awkward. I hope that soon is reissued in a more
   compact and usable format that is made for the joy of reading.

3 comments about Solutions Manual for Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics.

1. Don't get your hopes up too much. Not all of the problems are solved. The problems that are solved are solved OK but not always in the best way. Still, I'd buy this book all over again, since "Intro to stat mech" by Chandler is pretty cheap to begin with. Just think of it as paying for 1 book.



2. This book is really one of the better book on statistical physics. It is short and concise but it is impressive the amount of physics discussed in this book!
   And the presentation is really modern.



3. This manual provides solutions to select problems only. I recommend the internet over buying this manual; you'll find more solutions there. Even Chandler recommends using other sources at the beginning of the text book.

5 comments about Crystallography Made Crystal Clear, Third Edition : A Guide for Users of Macromolecular Models (Complementary Science).

1. When it comes to this field of research, you get two types of references: (1) the 2-5 page quick intro that leaves you with the most basic overview of crystallography and (2) the 'hard core' books that go into such detail as to leave you breathless. This book is, in my opinion, the best transition book.

   For non-crystallographers, this book will teach enough about crystallography to allow you to read crystal structure articles and understand what is meant by all of the used statistics and such.

   For apprentice crystallographers, this is a wonderful intro into the field. Master the book, then move on to harder books to master it.

   Highly recommended. I still go back to it, when I teach people, to help me explain in the way that Gale Rhodes does!




2. This is the best introduction to crystallography I have ever come across. Which is quite an achievement, because its a difficult subject to understand. In crystallography, its very rare to find a book which does not deal with either a totally descriptive approach or a totally mathematical approach. Rhodes' book bridges the gap between the two and gives the reader the right dose of jargon and explanation. He illustrates every point with plenty of figures as well as real life computer models of proteins. Before I came across this book, I was struggling and failing to understand Isomorphous Replacement, MAD, Solvent Flattening, Maps and Models, as well as the iterative refining of models. I think no other book comes even close to this book in explaining all these concepts in simple format. This, I think is as clear as it can get without becoming oversimplified. A must have for all researchers and students whose work is even remotely connected to crystallography.



3. This book is a good one. Explains every aspect I always want to know about crystallography. In my first class of biochemistry I discover that I really like the macromolecular models, but my biochemistry book doesn't content much information about this subjet. When I discover this book I bought it, and read it, and I must to say that this book explain every aspect of the process of create a molecular model.
   After read this book I thinking about to become a crystallographer.



4. Crystallography Made Crystal Clear does clearly explain the principles of X-ray Crystallography. I used this book for a graduate class in introductory x-ray crystallography when I deemed that the assigned book for the class, Principles of Protein X-Ray Crystallography, unhelpful.
   
   Crystallography Made Crystal Clear presents the theory behind crystallography in the most straightforward way possible. Whenever possible, concepts are explained in words and by examples instead of with equations. This elimates derivations that are not necessary to understand key concepts.
   
   Although explanations in the book are clear, they are often too brief. The book also does not have any practice problems, which is a major drawback. If you are taking a crystallography class, I would take a look at this book but focus more heavily on the lecture notes and problems from class. Honestly, I haven't found a really good crystallography book, but this one at least is not too confusing.



5. The delivery was prompt and in the item was in an excellent condition

5 comments about Chemistry of Powder and Explosives.

1. I didn't like it. First understand that this book was written in two parts in 1941 and 1943. That in of itself does not make it a bad book. After all as the author state "Principles of Chemistry do not change." Very true, but the knowledge of safety and better compositions do change.
   Secondly, I estimate the book is approximately 30% history. And some of that is very ancient history indeed, giving compositions dating back to the 1500's. Of what use are these? It wouldn't be so bad if all the history was put in one chapter, but all this history is intertwined within the technical explanation so as to make studing very tiring.
   I give it 3 stars because there is enough technical information in the book for the price. But digging it out will be quite a chore.



2. I'm still reading the book. The truth is that its not what I was expecting, because the book was written about 194X during WW2, I had no idea until I recieved it! But its a very good introduction to the subject as it details the evolution throughout the years (of course, until 194X)



3. First, realize that this book is a fairly technical organic chemistry text about explosives. Under the heading of explosives also fall black powder and some pyrotechnic compositions, but the bulk of the text is about high explosives. This was one of the first texts I read on explosives, and it is one of the best. That being said, I am a synthetic organic chemist by training, so I have a very different perspective on the material.
   
   As one reader mentioned, there is a lot of history in this book. Davis was the chair of the historical section of the ACS (American Chemical Society) for many years, and it shows here. Much is written about the discovery and the industrial processes used to manufacture explosives. Their uses throughout wars and some commercial aspects are also noted. The history of black powder and pyrotechnics are a very informative read.
   
   This is not a formulations book (i.e., the Anarchists' Cookbook, etc.). While it does have some laboratory procedures in it, they are written at a technical level, and without some knowledge of chemistry, it may be difficult to reproduce them.
   
   The material is a little dated, as many of the explosives discovered after 1943 are left out (HMX, CL-20, etc.), but the explosives field is a very mature one, and the material herein is still quite good.
   
   The pyrotechnics are of the 1940s vintage, where mercury, lead and arsenic salts were still in common use, and some other safety considerations were not in place. This book isn't a great place to try and build a library of formulations from, but it is good for the historical aspect.
   
   Overall, the book is very well written and an interesting read. I enjoyed reading it both for the quality of writing and the witty humor interjected by Davis at times. I would highly recommend it to any chemists in the energetic materials world, as well as those interested in the history or chemistry of explosives.



4. I've been an amateur pyrotechnician for years, and this book is a good addition to any newcomer to the hobby. Although I'd recommend you take a college course in chemistry before you even try to attempt anything in this book, if at all. You really need to know what you're doing, or you're going to get yourself hurt or killed, and that's not an exaggeration. You'll also need a BATF license to legally carry out any of these procedures in the United States. If you're going to start up the hobby, read and learn as much as you can, get a license, and you will be granted to practicing a very rewarding hobby. Or on the other hand, if you don't plan on embracing it as a hobby, and if you're just reading this for informational purposes, read away. Highly recommended.



5. the bok is the master bibel bok on all explosives substans in history from black powder to RDX. if you are an explosives expert or a amature pyrotecnictian entusiast this is the bok fore you.!!

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.

3 comments about Computer Simulation of Liquids.

1. It's the book to have if you want to learn computer simulation. It covers both Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics, from the start for the beginner. It also includes more advanced topics, but is definitely focused on studying fluids and not solids. The code is written in Fortran. If you program in C I suggest Rapaport's book, but this one is a definite must read.



2. It is a good book in general, but i feel it assumes an intermediate to advanced level of knowledge of the subject.

   Quite often the explanations are not elaborate enough to understand the method discussed. A slightly more elaborate treatment would make this a first rate book.




3. One of the most influential books on MD and MC, a little outdated by the year, a second edition would be welcome.

5 comments about The Periodic Kingdom: A Journey Into The Land Of The Chemical Elements (Science Masters Series).

1. As a physicist, I have always felt I understood the basic concepts of atomic structure, the Bohr atom through the Dirac treatment of relativistic electrons and that was enough about chemistry that I needed to know. Of course, that was a very shortsighted point of view and did nothing for a practical understanding of how the elements interact. This book gives a wonderful introduction to just that topic. It starts off with an overview of how the basic properties of the elements vary, in a systematic way, across the periodic table. The books metaphor of a new land, makes it amazingly easy to remember these properties. Nothing else I've read has been as successful as conveying this. I would buy this book for the first four chapters alone. There are, of course, some problems with the book. For one, the author seems to have gotten a "new word a day" calendar and seems to feel the need to use them. ("Complexity can effloresce from subtly different consanguinity.") But fortunately, these are few and far between. Could a non-technical person read and enjoy this book? I have no idea but I would recommend they try.



2. As someone who teaches first year undergraduate students about periodic trends and attempts to give them an underlying cause that isn't physical chemistry heavy, this book has been an excellent source of discussion fodder for me. I enjoyed reading it the first time, though it didn't present anyting new. What it did do, for which I am very grateful, is present the material in a different, and visualizable way - a way that can be modified to the classroom.
   
   The metaphor gets a little heavy-handed towards the end, and at times I wished Atkins would lay off it a little, but this is likely due to my previous immersion in the material and not a problem with the book. Were it my first or second time through the material, or if I were a gen. chem. student struggling with the concept, I wouldn't feel so "let's get on with it" about it at all.



3. I agree with the review by Publishers Weekly, which stated that this book is "remarkably tedious." The concept of likening the periodic table of chemical elements to a landscape is near brilliant. It could have worked so wonderfully well, if only it had been better done. The author of this book was... at the time of its writing... a middle-aged British university professor, and he writes like you would expect him to talk. It takes forever to dredge through the written material to get to a gleaming nugget of knowledge. It's rather like watching an English movie from the 1940s. Another GLARING deficiency of this book is the lack of adequate visual representations. There are a few black and white line drawings of the "landscape" of the periodic table, with the components thereof very poorly labeled. What this book needs is a quite thorough editing and modernizing by an American editor. It's sad that this book could have been so very much more than it is. And it is not too late for that potential to be fulfilled. I hope against hope, that the publisher will update this book and thereby enable it to be the effective teaching tool that it could be.



4. Peter Atkins has written a moderately interesting chemistry book for a generalist audience in which he explains the relationships between the elements of the periodic table in a pseudo-geographical method in which the periodical table is analogized to a map. I have had numerous collegiate chemistry courses, and while I personally found Atkins' approach occasionally unsatisfying, I can understand how someone new to chemistry would find the book interesting and useful.
   
   Atkins strives long and hard to explain various characteristics of the elements (and later ionic and covalent bonding) via his geographical metaphor. I think his insight to write this book was utterly brilliant, but unfortunately the book is frequently troubled with extremely flowery and obfuscating prose, as well as a tendency to drift into tedium. The other major problem with the book is the lack of illustrations: for a book claiming relationships based on a graphical understanding of the relative positioning of elements, the almost total absence of illustrations is an obvious problem. To be completely fair, there a few black and white illustrations and a basic periodic table included, but the illustrations are inadequate, and few and far between.
   
   Overall I found the book to be a quick and modestly enjoyable volume to read, but wish that the brilliant promise of the concept had been fulfilled more completely.



5. Don't buy this book if you are looking for interesting facts, anecdotes, or history about the elements and the development of the periodic table. Oh, they might be in there, but they are completely obfuscated by the most protracted and stilted analogy I've ever encountered. The author starts with the proposal that the periodic table is a kingdom and then beats that analogy into submission for the next 160+ pages. Soon the reader has trouble figuring out what is real and what is some goofy idea presented by the author to make his "story" float. For example, in the first chapter the author presents a map of the "kingdom". Some areas have labels like "Halogens", "Alkali metals" while others are simply marked "Western Desert."
   I teach high school chemistry, so I thought I would like this book. Sometimes I pick it up hoping I will find something interesting, but soon I drop it wishing the narrative was less "cutesy" and more straight forward. It's too bad, because there is obviously some good stuff in this book.
   If there is an award for a book that can take interesting material and make it inaccessable and mundane, this book wins.

No comments about Problems and Solutions for Mcquarrie's Quantum Chemistry.