chemistry

While I agree with the previous review that most people who have trouble with the book just have trouble with the topic, there are times where the text is much too concise to be useful. Much of the mathematics of thermodynamics and kinetics is more easily understood if the steps in deriving them are explained. Here, however, they are not. The illustrations in the margins greatly help imporve one's understanding of the material. Plentiful, rigourous exercises at the end of the chapters - in conjunction with the solutions manual or a good professor - really help to drive the concepts home. It may have been improved by being divided into several more expanded textbooks on specialized topics, instead of being a concentrated "everything there is about physical chemistry" text.

Professor Atkins wrote an excelent text about Physical Chemistry, covering the areas of this subjetc being extremely rigorous in the concepts and in the math explanations. In this book you will find Thermodynamics (First and Second Laws), Kinetic Chemistry, Kinetic-Molecular Theory of Gases, Equilibrium, Solids, Liquids, Solutions, Kinetic of Complex Reactions, Molecular Simetry, Molecular Struture, Electrochemical Systems, Quantum Mechanics (a very important subject that every student should know), Spectroscopy and many other things. I am really disappointed to define this book with 20, or 30 words. It's a really complex book, and it is for someone who wants to travel in the exciting world of Chemistry, to study and learn the truth about this science. You won't learn Physics or Chemistry without knowing, before, Derivatives, Integrals (Calculus), Linear Algebra. Phisycal Chemistry has an appendix (with bibliography) to cover this subjects in order to become clear the text. If you are an amateur, do not buy this book. I think that amateurs shouldn't send their comments to here: "Oh, it's difficult to read and understand..." ---> You should study before to read a book written by a member of the Division of Physical Chemistry of IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), instead of sending insignificant comments to here. I am fighting with this book, and if you buy it, you'll too.

Mathematicians would favor this book. The text is dense and dry. The material is presented in the most boring manner possible. Atkins prefers to explain himself with equations rather than words. The subject matter is not thoroughly explored. No concepts are placed into the "big picture." At best, this book could serve as a decent reference for a chemist or physicist already familiar with the topics and therefore only in need of review. Learning physical chemistry for the first time using this book is a serious chore. I honestly believe that physical chemistry can be a fun, exciting, and challenging subject that is worth learning. This book fails to deliver the material in a manner that does anything but annoy and frustrate. This problem is only compounded by the fact that there are numerous mathematical errors present both in the text and in the solutions of selected problems. If you are stuck using this book because it was required for a class, I suggest you find supplementary material that elaborates better on the many areas in which this book is lacking.