Principles of chemistry /
Michael Munowitz.
- 1st ed.
- New York : W.W. Norton, �2000.
- 1 volume (various pagings) : illustrations (some color) ; 27 cm
Includes index.
Fundamental concepts -- Atoms and molecules -- prototypical reactions -- Light and matter-waves and/or particles -- Quantum theory of the hydrogen atom -- Periodic properties of the elements -- Covalent bonding and molecular orbitals -- Some organic and biochemical species and reactions -- States of matter -- Macroscopic to microscopic -- gases and kinetic theory -- Disorder -- order and phase transitions -- Equilibrium-the stable state -- Energy, heat, and chemical change -- Free energy and the direction of change -- Making accommodations-solubility and molecular recognition -- Acids and bases -- Chemistry and electricity -- Kinetics-the course of chemical reaction -- Chemistry coordinated -- the transition metals and their complexes -- Spectroscopy and analysis -- Worlds within worlds-the nucleus and beyond -- Nomenclature vocabulary -- Pertinent mathematics -- Data -- Glossary.
Read a few pages, and you'll see what all the excitement is about. Intended primarily for college freshmen, this exceptionally lucid, carefully paced, elegantly designed, well-illustrated volume will appeal to curious readers of any age who want to know more about the innermost workings of the "central science." In the words of another advance reviewer, the Munowitz book "reveals the beauty of chemistry in an unusual, graceful, narrative style. Compared with standard textbooks, it is poetic.