(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best chemistry books

As much as I absolutely loved that book, I would not suggest it for OP if they are not familiar with relatively end-stage calculus (there are a number of partial derivatives in there) and quantum theory. It is true that the thermodynamics might help, but even people within my own class of chemistry students at my university struggled to grasp the text. Again, this depends entirely on what OP's learning style.

If, on the other hand, OP is desiring some stimulation from the world of physical chemistry, especially from the aspect of organic chemistry (which I assume to be the next step in OP's studies) would be the Anslyn text Modern Physical Organic Chemistry. It is advanced mind you and assumes some understanding in organic and physical chemistry, but it is a very stimulating approach to both and I would highly recommend both as future reading and as a book simply to keep around - it is quite good.

Again, if OP has a solid mathematical background, the McQuarrie text really is great - one of my favorite texts until my current program.

If OP is looking for something truly interesting that, again, will help to solidify everything they learn as they progress, I would recommend (against most everyone's opinion, partially including my own due to Housecraft's overabundance of fluff) the Inorganic Chemistry by Housecraft. Again, some of this is relatively advanced, but it contains information that is extremely satisfying and, personally, helped to solidify many of the concepts I had learned leading up to that point in my undergraduate career.

If you have some desires, please post more, OP! Nice to hear people in those years are interested in stimulating their own education! Best of luck!

This is a great list but for mathematics, I would add sections on geometry somewhere before calculus and maybe also discrete math. Use the UCSMP Precalculus books for sets/logic, basic algebra, trigonometry, and discrete math. Alternatively, use Paul's Online Math Notes to learn everything you want about math.

If you can afford it, you'll benefit tremendously by trying to follow the Art of Problem Solving curriculum located under "Using AoPS as a Primary Curriculum". Start from prealgebra and work your way up from there. Use [Khan Academy] as mentioned previously (https://www.khanacademy.org) to supplement. Optional: Read Art of Problem Solving, Volumes 1 and 2. Only do this if you want to get really good at math

When you're ready to move on from math, you'll need the links to The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volumes I-III to complete your physics education. Try to find a copy of Schaum's Outline of Physics for Engineering and Science in a bookstore or read an old edition online. If you decided not to do calculus, use the Outlines of College Physics instead. Do as many problems as you can to truly solidify your physics knowledge. After doing physics, find a good chemistry textbook and read the entire thing. If you want to learn even more advanced chemistry, read this. The key to learning math and science is to do lot of problems.

I wrote this as a note to myself as well. But I hope it can help you too. If you can pirate textbooks, do it. Try to not move on to one science without being well established in the field listed before it. Good luck and feel free to PM me if you want to converse with someone who is trying to follow a similar path as the one listed here.

edit: typo

Yeah, sorry about that. I'm an idiot. I was reading on my phone and didn't scroll before I replied.

For organic, Solomons is good. I learned on that first and liked it quite a bit. I've also TAed using Carey/Giuliano which is a good book too. I liked Solomons more, but probably because I was more familiar with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-T-Graham-Solomons/dp/0470401419/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346010987&sr=1-1&keywords=solomon+fryhle+organic

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Francis-Carey/dp/007735477X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346011101&sr=1-1&keywords=carey+giuliano+organic
Prices are steep, so maybe look for an old edition, unless you're positive you can use a new one wherever you go.

If you're pretty confident in your organic stuff, you can look at Dave Evans organic class (he is a professor at Harvard and posted some great notes here http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k7863 )

It might also help to read up on some organometallic chemistry. I this book
http://www.amazon.com/Organometallic-Chemistry-Gary-O-Spessard/dp/0195330994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346011303&sr=1-1&keywords=organometallic+chemistry
It was ok, but there might be better out there. Maybe some other people will have some input.

A good physical organic book is http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Physical-Organic-Chemistry-Anslyn/dp/1891389319/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346011407&sr=1-1&keywords=physical+organic+chemistry
It's a dense book. This book also doesn't focus a whole lot on reactivity if I remember correctly. It does a lot of explaining the underlying physics of what happens in organic reactions.

For biochem, I can't help you. I took intro bio and ran the other direction, so more power to you.

Atkins' Molecules and Why Chemical Reactions Happen? are great reads, The latter requires A2 knowledge at least, but it's an interesting read, it introduces a few first year topics but you should be fine anyway. Atkins' Molecules is a much easier read and written so well, there's some pretty interesting molecules you'll encounter in the book as well.

There's also this textbook called A-level Chemistry by E.N. Ramsden, this textbook is pretty old most school libraries have it (my secondary school and 6th form both had it). I used it during A2 as a reference book and it has some really good questions if you want a proper challenge, only problem is that it doesn't have all the answers to the questions so you will have to go to your teacher (this is good anyway, you'll get a better UCAS ref) for the answers.

Well I posted this in another thread, but here you go.

Greenwood and Earnshaw Chemistry of the elements - This is pretty much prefect for main group chemistry.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chemistry-Elements-N-N-Greenwood/dp/0750633654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345966730&sr=8-1

Atkins Physical - This is okay and pretty useful as it is full of questions. There's a smaller version called 'Elements of Physical Chemistry'
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atkins-Physical-Chemistry-Peter/dp/0199543372/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345966803&sr=1-1

Clayden Organic Chemistry - A very good guide to organic chemistry, however the lack of questions in the new edition is a bit annoying.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Organic-Chemistry-Jonathan-Clayden/dp/0199270295/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345967204&sr=1-2

Hartwig Organotransitional Metal Chemistry - Very good but goes a little beyond most chemistry degrees if not focussing on organometallic chemistry.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Organotransition-Metal-Chemistry-Bonding-Catalysis/dp/189138953X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345967182&sr=1-1

For cheap and detailed books on a very specific subject the Oxford Chemistry Primers are extremely useful.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=oxford+chemistry+primers&x=0&y=0

I have always enjoyed Isaac Asimov's non-fiction. He wrote numerous history books, including the excellent
Asimov's Chronology of the World: The History of the World From the Big Bang to Modern Times.

The Near East: 10,000 Years of History

The Land of Canaan

The Egyptians

The Greeks: A Great Adventure

The Roman Republic

The Roman Empire

Constantinople: The Forgotten Empire

The Shaping of England

The Shaping of France

The Dark Ages

Christopher Columbus: Navigator to the New World

Ferdinand Magellan: Opening the Door to World Exploration

The Shaping of North America

The Birth of the United States

Asimov also wrote excellent histories of science and mathematics:

Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology

Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery

A Short History of Biology

A Short History of Chemistry

Most of Asimov's non-fiction was aimed at the masses (as was Sagan's Cosmos), so they tend not to go into great depth. However he was excellent at showing how an event or discovery would have direct or indirect impact on a future event or discovery (standing on the shoulders of giants and all that). Most of these were written in the 1960's and 1970's

Basically, all sorts of things happen because the atoms, molecules, or whatever, want to be stable, i.e to achieve lowest energy. Forming ions, i.e. removing or adding electrons to the atom, is a way for atoms to achieve lowest energy (stable).

The spdf orbitals do come into play. An atom's electronic configuration can be described with its shells, orbitals, and the number of electrons in the orbitals. For example, iron's configuration is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 3d^6 4s^2 . The electrons has another property, its spin. Spin is an intrinsic form of angular momentum, thus carries energy. Electron can spin two way (that is the up and down arrow you see in orbitals). Pauli exclusion principle says that there cannot be two electrons in a single orbital that have the same spin (since the momemtum is the same direction, it will add up and increase energy). For the similar reason, the pairings of all electrons in a degenerate orbital (i.e. 2p, 3p, 3d, etc. orbitals with the same energy) decreases the energy (cancelled out spins in a way). However, the pairing of electron also increases energy because it decreases the distance between electrons. So, the degenerate orbitals is more stable when it is half filled or fully filled (the latter is more stable). The orbital can be more stable: just don't have the orbital. The energy of an atom is lowered when a specific set of degenerate atomic orbitals is empty, fully filled, or half filled.

Now consider the iron atom again. When it ionizes, it will want to be mroe stable. An obvious option is to take off 4s orbital entirely, losing 2 electrons, thus creating Fe^2+ . Now the ion's configuration is 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 3d^6 . To become more stable, we can make 3d orbitals (take ten electrons at most) half-filled to 1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^6 3d^5 . Compared to the neutral atom, the ion loses three electrons, making it Fe^3+ . But the energy difference between Fe^2+ and Fe^3+ is not that big. External energy and chemical environment can convert them to each other. For example, oxidizing agents, a category of chemicals that love to rob electrons from others, can make Fe^2+ become Fe^3+ by accepting an electron from Fe^2+ .

Are they structurally different? Yes, other than the configuration difference (I think it can count as structure), the atomic radius is different. Fe^3+ is smaller because it has fewer electrons obviously, meaning less repulision between them, and thus stronger attraction to the nucleus.

Textbooks include the one given in the sidebar by Oxtoby and Chang's one. You may be able to find these books in your local post-secondary library. The edition doesn't matter. Oxtoby is a little hard, but it is good for in depth explanation. Chang is great for AP and other high school studnets.

Sure you can. Here is a link to a book on it You could also build your own lab if you aren't worried about someone else telling you that you know something. You could spend the $200,000 you otherwise would have spent on tuition on funding your own research, which is more than most research grants are.


MIT is better because they have a lab? Sounds like charging for equipment. Why don't they just say that? Are their experts better because they're at MIT or is MIT better because their experts are there? If these same experts worked at a community college would they be less respected? Would the community college be more respected?

This is the magic of marketing and you are eating it up.

EDIT:

You can also do MIT's coursework on organic chemistry for free.

Here is one example.

> What happens if the crystal is not cubic? I assume the circular dichroism cancels in some way, but why?

Cubic crystals tend not to alleviate the degeneracy of the M_J quantum numbers (I'm just talking about atomic transitions here, not crystal states or molecular states). There are situations where imperfections cause symmetry breaking that leads to alleviation of degeneracy, but not in a perfect crystal. This only applies to insulators by the way. If you have a metallic crystal, free currents in the metal can cause circular dichroism.

> In what way do things get complicated, exactly?

You can have chiral molecules, but floating in solution their relative orientations are random. As a result circular dichroism is not measurable in the ensemble unless you can cause macroscopic alignment of the molecules (like in a chiral nematic liquid crystal).

Also, it's complicated because molecular wavefunctions are not as intuitive as atomic wavefunctions. It's tough to figure out whether a molecule will exhibit certain optical properties without doing molecular orbital calculations. Though, group theory can give you a reasonable intuition for many cases.

> Are there any handles I could use to understand things better?

This is a pretty complex topic that requires an understanding of quantum mechanics and group theory. I didn't fully understand all of this until the last year of my Ph.D. You should take some classes in condensed and soft matter, for starters.

There are some books I guess I could recommend:

• Bransden and Joachain
  
  
• Tinkham
  
  
• Bishop
  
• Powell
  
  
• Henderson and Imbusch (my favorite)
  
  As for what keywords to use in a literature seach. I couldn't tell you. There are quite a few situations that lead to circular dichroism which require different physics to understand. Without knowing exactly what domain you are working in and the details of what you are trying to do, I can only suggest you look for "circular dichroism" on google scholar.
  
  I posted a comment a while ago describing, in detail, my workflow for understanding a topic. Maybe it will help you figure out what you are trying to figure out.

You could try Collman's book, http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Applications-Organotransition-Metal-Chemistry/dp/0935702512 that was sort of the classic for a long time, but of course it's missing the past 20 years or so of progress.

Hartwig's more recent text book http://www.amazon.com/Organotransition-Metal-Chemistry-Bonding-Catalysis/dp/189138953X/ is sort of supposed to be the successor to Collman's book but it's extremely dense and a bit hard to just sit down and read.

This book http://www.amazon.com/Synthesis-Organometallic-Compounds-Practical-Inorganic/dp/0471970700 could be fun for you if your library has it.

Another classic: http://www.amazon.com/Problems-Solutions-Organometallic-Chemistry-Kegley/dp/0935702237 that one's fun to go through.

In all cases if you find examples, etc that are interesting to you, go to the references and read the original paper!

I would also definitely recommend starting to follow relevant published research, the ACS journal "Organometallics" being an obvious starting point (http://pubs.acs.org/journal/orgnd7)

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Book-Gunpowder-Graphene-Milestones/dp/1454911808

Derek Lowe's "Chemistry Book!" Great example of good science writing, covers topics of historical and scientific interest, and would introduce your student to one of the most influential chemistry writer in the world right now. And his best work is free online!

I'd pick up an instrumental analysis textbook. If you're at a university, their library may have one in circulation, saving you a few bucks. I've used Skoog's text.

That said, I'll give a few pointers to get you started. Of course, a little context on the details of the separation you're trying to accomplish would focus this discussion some. Maybe this is just a classroom exercise. That is, maybe you're not actually trying to perform a separation in the lab. Regardless, I'd follow TurkFebruary's advice and google it. Wikipedia has some good info, too.

• Column/stationary phase type. Depending on the nature of the analytes you're separating, the choice of column packing material is an important one. It seems that reverse-phase is becoming the standard, as it takes advantage of relatively polar mobile phases, in which case water is one of your components. Anyway, you can get polar (normal phase) and nonpolar (reverse phase) columns. Further, if your analytes can be easily separated by size, you may choose a size exclusion column. Also, ion exchange columns are particularly useful for separating charged species or species with charged moieties.
  
  
• Column size. HPLC columns generally fit into 2 categories depending on the scale of the separation to be performed: analytical and prep scales. Analytical columns are shorter, narrower, and as such, contain a smaller volume of stationary phase. Analytical columns provide higher resolution, but have low sample loading capacities (micrograms or even nanograms of solute). Preparative columns are used for larger-scale separations, are greater in length and diameter, and are may effect up to gram-scale separations. The terms are not mutually exclusive, and there are grades between, sometimes called semi-prep.
  
  
• Mobile phase composition. Generally, whether employing normal or reverse phase, some time must be spent developing a method with regard to mobile phase composition. In either of these 2 phases, you're taking advantage of differences in affinity of solutes to both your stationary and mobile phase. If your mobile phase is too strong, all solutes will elute simultaneously, effecting no separation. If you mobile phase is too weak, you'll get effective separation, but will waste time. In some cases, gradient elution is used, which takes advantage of a a proportioning valve and a time program, and begins a separation with a relatively weak mobile phase, and gradually alters the composition to provide improved resolution of early eluting components, and speed up elution of late eluting components.
  
  
• Analytical wavelength. Most HPLC systems use a UV-Vis absorbance detector. Obviously, you need to select a wavelength at which your analytes absorb. This can usually be determined by gathering a UV-Vis spectrum of standard samples of your analytes before beginning any chromatography. Of course, if you're using a photodiode array detector, you can gather a full spectrum of analytes as they elute from the column, generating much richer data. I should note that other detection methods exist, like fluorescence detection. In some configurations, HPLC eluent feeds directly into a mass spec, which is a powerful method for separation and identification.
  
  
• Flow rate. Generally, this will be determined by your column choice, as columns typically have suggested maximum flow rates. Larger columns can typically handle faster flow rates. The concern here is pressure. Faster flow rates require larger system pressures. High system pressures may overtax the mobile phase pump and lead to shorter pump life. In addition, theoretical plate height, and therefore resolution, depends on flow rate. The Van Deemter equation and plot can be used to determine the optimum flow rate for a given column.
  
  This is what comes to mind off the top of my head.

Well, it is a combination of organic chemistry (questions IV,V and VI) and inorganic chemistry (II). Question I is a basic chemistry question.

Question III is maybe inorganic, but could be thermodynamic as well. It depends on where you get the question. I have gotten similar questions in courses about thermodynamics and inorganic chemistry.

I'm not sure what basic books could be useful for you. For my bachelor I use the books organic chemistry and Physical chemistry. These books are quite advanced, I don't know if it helps you in anyway. But this is at least a start.

Sorry, couldn't find a book for inorganic chemistry. (don't know the writer and I can't get to my books unfortunately)

Good luck with learning chemistry!

If anyone's taking general chemistry, I have this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Molecular-Approach-2nd-US/dp/0321651782/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377655240&sr=1-2&keywords=tro+chemistry

in perfect condition. It's not the same edition used this year but they don't actually assign homework from it (they do hw on mastering chemistry and blackboard - at least they did when I took it).

It's 100 bucks used on Amazon and I'm willing to sell it for 70 bucks.

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I also have this organic chemistry solution manual:

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Student-Solutions-Manual/dp/047047839X/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1377655506&sr=8-11&keywords=organic+chemistry+solutions+manual#selectedObb=rbb_ubb_trigger

also in good condition. Amazon sells it used for 87 bucks. I'm willing to sell it for 60.

---

PM me if interested about either of them. I'm at south campus every day. =]

I found that Clayden was an excellent resource to learn organic chemistry and get an intuition/deeper understanding of why reactions proceed in the directions that they do. I did not find the typical textbooks that are used in classes, such as Organic Chemistry by Bruice to be nearly as useful, as the emphasis was on covering a wide range of reactions and not focusing on what they have in common.

I would not recommend one of the classic higher-level bibles, such as March's Advanced Organic Chemistry to you at this stage.

If you plan on continuing to study organic chemistry after this first course, I would recommend that you take a good course (or multiple courses) in physical organic chemistry. You will develop a much better understanding of reaction mechanisms and chemical kinetics if you do. Good texts for this field are Carey and Sundberg's Advanced Organic Chemistry Parts A and B, and Anslyn and Dougherty's Modern Physical Organic Chemistry.

took pchem else where but honestly it's a different beast.

I loved it but if you're not proficient in calc try to take a biophysical chem class instead or else it's going to be miserable.

I've been told we use McQurrie's (which is good because it's the best Pchem textbook) here. so if you take it Buy McQurrie's answer manual it's expensive for a non-required book but it'll be worth it.

Just pick up an older edition of a well-reviewed genchem text. For example, the sub suggests the seventh edition of Principles of Modern Chemistry, available for under $40, but the sixth is available for is little as $5. If you want something free and easy, I believe khanacademy usually gets reviewed pretty well, although I prefer find it to be too slow, especially for review.

Organic Chemistry by John McMurray is very very good if you haven't got it already, I had this before I got Clayden and I found it a little easier when starting off.

Also, if you feel like a challenge a great question book to get is: Designing Organic Synthesis by Stuart Warren. It's a question text book that teaches you how to break down large molecules into easily synthesizable subunits and is invaluble for any synthetic course.

Yes, that's a very good book to read.

I think something like Classics in Total Synthesis would also be a good introduction to a bunch of reactions and the art/science/whatever of advanced synthesis to a budding Organic Chemist. I'd say it a bit less dry than your standard textbook too, but I may be biased there. You can almost definitely rent it at a university library. If you don't want to do that, there are tons of reviews that have similar themes.

But if you have tons of time during a summer, the best thing to do would be to get involved in research. You might even just sit in on some group's group meetings if you live near a research university. And then ask to be more involved.

It entirely depends on what you want to do. Everyone here so far is suggesting QM techniques, I use molecular dynamics for free energy simulations and algorithm development. If you are looking to use classical mechanics, i would suggest this and this.

Also a good understanding of Statistical Mechanics is a must, so check out this (google it). If you are looking for a free MD engine GROMACS and NAMD are free and would suggest on NAMD over GROMACS because the code seems to cut a lot of corners, but I use neither.

If this is more along the lines of what you are looking to do, feel free to pm me.

Chandler's Intro to Statistical Physics serves well as a first text in that subject. I found it easier to follow than other texts at that level.

UCSD provides an excellent, free ebook for their quantum courses.

The relaxed T1 energy is always going to be lower than the relaxed S1 energy, so T1 will lie somewhere between the S1 and S0 states. Once you cross over to the T1 state and the molecule relaxes to the T1 minimum, there will be an energy barrier that will keep it from crossing back to the S1 state. Here is a picture of what I mean.

There are lots of good books on photochemistry and photophysics. Modern Physical Organic Chemistry has some good chapters on it. Turro wrote several popular books, but I'm partial to Klessinger and Michl.

I used McWeeny in my graduate Group Theory course. Not sure if there's a pdf floating around, but you can get it for under $10. It was a rather good introduction. Another mentioned Dresselhaus, which I've heard good things from as well.

> organic chemistry book for .50

If it's this one, you can trade it in for $29.53 credit, free shipping. This one will net you $30.48. This one will net you $35.97. And this one will net you $39.87.

Always check www.amazon.com/tradein - you'll save on fees, shipping, and time.

With textbooks I would sell ASAP, because new editions come out every year or every few years.

I learned GT from this book. Very focused on solid state physics.
This is also quite good.

Here are my top three textbook choices:

This is a great book for how to actually do organometallic syntheses. I've followed several procedures in the book, and they work well / are quite descriptive.

I''ve taken two organometallic courses that use Crabtree. So I think this is a great book to learn organometallics. Definitely more organometallic than Miessler and Tarr.

A few of my friends have the new Hartwig book which looks awesome. I haven't read it yet, but in my opinion its going to surpass Crabtree as the textbook of choice for organometallics classes in the next few years.

Bozeman Science (http://www.bozemanscience.com/ap-chemistry/) videos and getting a review book such as Barron's or Crash Course can help you greatly. Good luck!

Ken Dill has the easiest to follow stat mech book I have encountered. McQuarrie has lots of good problems to work through. David Chandler is the shortest, and simultaneously most brilliant and difficult work on the subject I have read. His brief review of thermodynamics in the first couple chapters is fantastic if you only have a day or two to get back on the horse.

Weyl's symmetry is what you're looking for. The next step up from this would require some group theory, since mathematicians interested in symmetry usually study symmetry groups of objects or spaces. I have not read it but this book looks like a good next read, at least the first four(ish) chapters. Another possibility is Armstrong's book, though I'm not familiar with this book either.

We used McQuarrie and Simon and I loved it. Not sure if the fact that I was a ChemE major makes a difference in my preferred textbook, but I thought it was great.

It also has a solution guide that I found to be helpful many times for learning how to approach problems.

This is a great practical book on working in an orgainic laboratory. He's added a bit of humor, too, and makes for an interesting read. It helped me through organic lab.

The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual: A Student's Guide to Techniques

Hi, don't mean to bug you, but could you point me in the right direction? I've been looking for this book that was published in '97, but I can't find it on any of the popular torrent sites. Thanks!

I believe in you and take you seriously. I love chemistry, I have been trying to get this book for a while now. It's highly recommended :) http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Chemistry-Science-Series/dp/0313207690

I took an NMR heavy course as a senior that used this textbook: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471393622

its not totally amazing, but it was a pretty good reference for NMR and other spectrometric methods.

What kind of organometallics?

Why Chemical Reactions Happen by Keeler and Wothers is a very readable introduction to the theory underlying all of chemistry: Molecular Orbital Theory. I read it before starting my undergrad, and its what swayed me to chemistry over physics! All the fundamental theories of chemistry are rooted in quantum mechanics, using some really neat concepts! Well worth a read if you're familiar with high school chemistry!

I took an entire course focused on this topic. A link to the textbook we used is below. It is an excellent book that explains each analytical technique as well as how to interpret the resulting spectral data.

http://www.amazon.com/Spectrometric-Identification-Organic-Compounds-Silverstein/dp/0471393622

https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Course-Online-Advanced-Placement/dp/0738611549
If your looking for a resource to actually teach you the content you need, this is also a really good one that is very organized and has great practice tests and questions.

I don't believe he's made a book of his 'Things I won't work with,' which is a real shame, but he did put together a more serious Chemistry book aimed at teaching the history of the field to non chemists. I bought it after reading his blog posts, and I thought it was well worth a read. Not as focused on humor, but the same good writing.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - on reading and education as the door to escaping poverty. Might be a little young for them.

The Grapes of Wrath - on the humanity and the inhumanity humans and industry are capable of in harsh times. Might be a little long/dry/boring.

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Basically any science fiction novel by Greg Bear, because they are probably mind-blowing in vision to a teenager who hasn't had exposure to ideas of such scale (at least, they were to me. But I don't know how the parents would react to them, or if these girls like science fiction)

Blood Music- themes of nanotechnology and perception changing humanity

The Forge of God- on the destruction of earth once it becomes noticeable enough to aliens. And its sequel

Anvil of Stars- on whether revenge can be justified, how libertarian/cooperatives groups break down or are usurped, and an unusual alien race.

Queen of Angels- on psychology, consciousness, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the beginnings of an internet (before there was an internet).

Eon- an asteroid suddenly appears in orbit, and its unusual history and construction destabilizes earth during the Cold War, but opens the door to alien technologies and civilizations. And its sequel

Eternity- the far future of humanity, conflict with an alien race, travel in space and time.

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But to be honest two books that would give them a fundamental understanding of how the world actually operates, if they aren't being exposed to it, would be:

Campbell and Reece's Biology

and

Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

They don't require too much math other than algebra, and though they're kind of expensive, they're worth it. The utter logic of how scientific thinking is done can be easily introduced with biology and an understanding of the atomic framework chemistry teaches is invaluable because it explains so many behaviors in our world. Maybe in e-book format or something, so they're not as obvious.

First of all, I loved Harris's book.

Secondly, take a look at Skoog, Holler and Crouch's Principles of Instrumental Analysis.

Tip: It's not worth buying at its current price ($258). It should be available in good condition in your department's library.

Back in my day, we used this for Gen Chem and this for Principles of Bio. Don't buy textbooks until you make it to campus because they will most likely be using an updated version. Although which edition you get won't matter for the content, it will matter for the end of chapter questions.

Good luck!

Chemistry: A Molecular Approach by Tro is my favorite gen. chem book. Really well-written and easy to understand.

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Molecular-Approach-2nd-US/dp/0321651782/

If you have never taken college level chem courses (or don't remember them clearly) I highly recommend picking up a cheap used copy of this:
https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chem-Lab-Survival-Manual/dp/1118083393
It will show you how to carry out all the basic procedures you will need to know, and it is written in a way that is actually really fun to read. I think even someone who hates chemistry could appreciate this book

Not sure if there's a test coming up, but just for studying, this book is a godsend and covers virtually all the content in both Chem101 and Chem102, with the exception of the final ligens chapter in 102.

Also this one is pretty nice since you can work through it from the beginning to the end and afterwards you'll understand retrosynthesis.

You can find pdfs of it on the internet.

For pleasure:

• The Disappearing Spoon
  
• Periodic Tales
  
• Stuff Matters
  
• Molecules of Murder
  
• The Elements of Murder
  
• The Elements
  
• Molecules
  
• Molecules that Changed the World
  
• The Chemistry Book
  
  Undergraduate
  
  
• Organic:
  Organic Chemistry as a Second Language, The art of writing reasonable organic reaction mechanisms
  
  
• Inorganic: Inorganic Chemistry, Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory
  
  
• Analytical: Principles of Instrumental Anlsysis, Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry
  
  Graduate
  
  
• Organic: Advanced Practical Organic Chemistry, March's Advanced Organic Chemistry, Greene's Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis, Purification of Laboratory Chemicals, Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis
  
• Inorganic: Advanced Inorganic Chemistry

This book is a good introduction to group theory and representations. It specifically has sections devoted to crystallographic groups.

Very interesting, comprehensive, and informative book: "Short History Of Chemistry" by Isaac Asimov

http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Chemistry-Science-Series/dp/0313207690

Classics in Total Synthesis: Targets, Strategies, Methods Paperback
by K. C. Nicolaou
http://www.amazon.com/Classics-Total-Synthesis-Targets-Strategies/dp/3527292314

Organic Synthesis: The Disconnection Approach Paperback – December
by Stuart Warren
http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Synthesis-The-Disconnection-Approach/dp/0470712368

And the best collection of total synthesis what is found on the internet: http://chemistrybydesign.oia.arizona.edu/app.php

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Edition-Paula-Bruice/dp/0321663136

also standard deviants deep fried organic chemistry for fun ;)

Zubrick's Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual was an awesome resource for me during my first semester of orgo. Much of the stuff in the school's own lab manuals was taken from this resource.

I loved Principles of Instrumental Analysis by Skoog et al.

Following-up on the blog/book suggestion, if you don't have examples in mind, here is one from a medicinal chemist, Derek Lowe. His blog, and his book. (I don't know the guy personally). It's not quite wetlands... but you might find it interesting nonetheless.

There are a few books, such as The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action by Silverman (a medicinal chemistry textbook) and Classics in Total Synthesis by Nikolaou and Sorenson that would be very specific things. Silverman is very what are inhibitors, what does LD50/ED50 actually mean, SAR analysis, combi-chem, etc. Nikolaou and Sorsenson cover the classic synthesis of things such as erythronolide B, progesterone, strychnine and cocaine (the inactive enantiomer, of course).

There are obviously other resources, but I do really appreciate these texts as they are a part of my personal library.

Source: I have a BS in medicinal chemistry and am a PhD candidate in chemistry (focus in bio-organic for drug design)

also Chandler and Hill which are pretty cheap

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Modern-Statistical-Mechanics-Chandler/dp/0195042778

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Statistical-Thermodynamics-Dover-Physics/dp/0486652424/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VYM9N447YW74GGJ4ZEBE

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Amazon Smile Link: http://smile.amazon.com/Group-Theory-Quantum-Mechanics-Chemistry/dp/0486432475


|Country|Link|
|:-----------|:------------|
|UK|amazon.co.uk|
|Spain|amazon.es|
|France|amazon.fr|
|Germany|amazon.de|
|Japan|amazon.co.jp|
|Canada|amazon.ca|
|Italy|amazon.it|
|China|amazon.cn|




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My undergrad research advisor reccomended this book when I asked him a similar question. It's incredibly useful.

Yeah, amazon does

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https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Course-Online-Advanced-Placement/dp/0738611549

There's a lot of good questions in there. As far as determining the structure, that has changed a lot over the years. I suggest you read up on Woodward's cholesterol synthesis, or check out the book Classics in Total Synthesis for more detail into how these molecules are discovered and then synthesized. If you're at a university, that book should be available in the library.

Highly recommend the Why Chemical Reactions Happen book.. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0199249733/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_muitDbJVEXVQ4

Found this useful during my undergrad

I agree about Carey's books: lots of good information, and there are journal references to the problems. I'd also suggest Silverstein's Spectroscopy text http://www.amazon.com/Spectrometric-Identification-Organic-Compounds-Silverstein/dp/0471393622
You can find an older edition for less money, and learn much more about spectroscopy than what's in most organic texts.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Organic-Synthesis-Disconnection-Stuart-Warren/dp/0470712368

I think this is the one I have, it's definitely by Warren anyway.

Edit:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Designing-Organic-Syntheses-Programmed-Introduction/dp/0471996122

This is the one I have, you might have to shop around to find it a bit cheaper. I think I ended up with the Indian edition or something.

I've been using AP Chemistry Crash Course to self study. The Princeton Review Cracking the AP Chemistry Exam 2015 edition also got good reviews. If you have a textbook I would recommend really going through it and doing all of the chapter questions.

https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Course-Online-Advanced-Placement/dp/0738611549

This is a good recap, I used it and cannot recommend it enough. The Barron's book for chem seems to also help people, but I haven't used it.

Them, plus Janeway's Immunobiology, Carey and Sundberg's Advanced Organic Chemistry part A and part B, Anslyn's PhysOrg, Ptashne's A Genetic Switch, Gilbert's Developmental Biology, Fersht's Structure and Mechanism in Protein Science and the NEB Catalog form a reference shelf for Biochem/Chemical Biology that I don't suspect will need updating for another decade or two.

EDIT: Except, of course, for switching out the NEB catalog every year for the new edition.

I really liked Spectrometric Identification of Organic Compounds. It has sections on basic MS and IR interpretation, but most of the book covers all of the 1D and 2D NMR techniques you'd come across (unless your a structural protein chemist).

Turns out it was about 300 in our bookstore. The other books I had to get with it for the class would have been the other 100. Here is the actual book on amazon now.

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Edition-Leroy-Wade/dp/0321768418

I would suggest "Modern Physical Organic Chemistry", but it isn't limited to just radical reactions. It'll go deeper into many of the reaction types in organic chemistry including radicals.

http://www.amazon.com/Group-Theory-Quantum-Mechanics-Chemistry/dp/0486432475

This book got me through my sr capstone and grad school.

https://www.amazon.com/Spectrometric-Identification-Organic-Compounds-Silverstein/dp/0471393622/ref=nodl_

Anybody else ever think of complex nmr as Sunday paper puzzles?

The example of a $400 textbook is not at all extreme. Consider Principals of instrument analysis, which is $381 new, $120 used, and the previous edition can be found for $9.

This is intended for junior and senior level chemistry students, and covers concepts that have been largely unchanged for the past few decades.

Are you correctly using td and tc glassware? web.centre.edu/che/che131_lab/volumetricGlassware.htm

I found this book helpful in college. It's very detailed. I think it has a section on ph probes. www.amazon.com/Organic-Chem-Lab-Survival-Manual/dp/1118083393/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406770734&sr=1-11&keywords=organic+laboratory+techniques

John Hartwig's "Organotransition metal chemistry: from bonding to catalysis" (https://www.amazon.com/Organotransition-Metal-Chemistry-Bonding-Catalysis/dp/189138953X)

Smith book?

Leroy book?

$201 for Wade's Organic Chemistry, 8th edition on Amazon
Used ones are $180+
A new international copy can be had for under $70 on eBay.

Here is the mobile version of your link

AP Chem is one helluva ride—but provided you have the right resources, you’ll get through it. A lot of the chem relies on building off of the basics—stoichometry, periodic trends, etc—and the rest is pretty self-teachable.

The AP Chem crash course book really helped me. It’s best to read it when reviewing, or after you’ve finished a unit and are not quite sure. You can get is here. The same company makes a killer APUSH book, too.

Edit: if anyone wants my APUSH and chem crash course books for like $7 shipping hmu

Sorry Skoog A chem book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0495012017?pc_redir=1412086803&robot_redir=1

It's hard to say without more specifics. The idea is usually that you propose a mechanism and look for evidence that will prove that way.

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Physical-Organic-Chemistry-Anslyn/dp/1891389319

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\^ covers most of the basics