My main hobby is reading textbooks, so I decided to go beyond the scope of the question posed. I took a look at what I have on my shelves in order to recommend particularly good or standard books that I think could characterize large portions of an undergraduate degree and perhaps the beginnings of a graduate degree in the main fields that interest me, plus some personal favorites.

Neuroscience: Theoretical Neuroscience is a good book for the field of that name, though it does require background knowledge in neuroscience (for which, as others mentioned, Kandel's text is excellent, not to mention that it alone can cover the majority of an undergraduate degree in neuroscience if corequisite classes such as biology and chemistry are momentarily ignored) and in differential equations. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology were used in my classes on cognition and learning/memory and I enjoyed both; though they tend to choose breadth over depth, all references are research papers and thus one can easily choose to go more in depth in any relevant topics by consulting these books' bibliographies.

General chemistry, organic chemistry/synthesis: I liked Linus Pauling's General Chemistry more than whatever my school gave us for general chemistry. I liked this undergraduate organic chemistry book, though I should say that I have little exposure to other organic chemistry books, and I found Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis to be very informative and useful. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take instrumental/analytical/inorganic/physical chemistry and so have no idea what to recommend there.

Biochemistry: Lehninger is the standard text, though it's rather expensive. I have limited exposure here.

Mathematics: When I was younger (i.e. before having learned calculus), I found the four-volume The World of Mathematics great for introducing me to a lot of new concepts and branches of mathematics and for inspiring interest; I would strongly recommend this collection to anyone interested in mathematics and especially to people considering choosing to major in math as an undergrad. I found the trio of Spivak's Calculus (which Amazon says is now unfortunately out of print), Stewart's Calculus (standard text), and Kline's Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach to be a good combination of rigor, practical application, and physical intuition, respectively, for calculus. My school used Marsden and Hoffman's Elementary Classical Analysis for introductory analysis (which is the field that develops and proves the calculus taught in high school), but I liked Rudin's Principles of Mathematical Analysis (nicknamed "Baby Rudin") better. I haven't worked my way though Munkres' Topology yet, but it's great so far and is often recommended as a standard beginning toplogy text. I haven't found books on differential equations or on linear algebra that I've really liked. I randomly came across Quine's Set Theory and its Logic, which I thought was an excellent introduction to set theory. Russell and Whitehead's Principia Mathematica is a very famous text, but I haven't gotten hold of a copy yet. Lang's Algebra is an excellent abstract algebra textbook, though it's rather sophisticated and I've gotten through only a small portion of it as I don't plan on getting a PhD in that subject.

Computer Science: For artificial intelligence and related areas, Russell and Norvig's Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach's text is a standard and good text, and I also liked Introduction to Information Retrieval (which is available online by chapter and entirely). For processor design, I found Computer Organization and Design to be a good introduction. I don't have any recommendations for specific programming languages as I find self-teaching to be most important there, nor do I know of any data structures books that I found to be memorable (not that I've really looked, given the wealth of information online). Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming is considered to be a gold standard text for algorithms, but I haven't secured a copy yet.

Physics: For basic undergraduate physics (mechanics, e&m, and a smattering of other subjects), I liked Fundamentals of Physics. I liked Rindler's Essential Relativity and Messiah's Quantum Mechanics much better than whatever books my school used. I appreciated the exposition and style of Rindler's text. I understand that some of the later chapters of Messiah's text are now obsolete, but the rest of the book is good enough for you to not need to reference many other books. I have little exposure to books on other areas of physics and am sure that there are many others in this subreddit that can give excellent recommendations.

Other: I liked Early Theories of the Universe to be good light historical reading. I also think that everyone should read Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Books - Chem Series

• Any AP chemistry book. Textbook or exam review book. They will only carry you to 1B and a little into 1C though.
  
• Any sort of general chemistry book....You can probably get a cheap used textbook that's older in edition (like this one) - I fucking LOVE used textbooks that are older editions because they are usually like 1 cent on amazon and generally have the same information.
  
• Might as well just check out the textbook on the syllabus which is this - any of the older editions work. If I were you and if you were REALLY interested in starting, grab one of the cheap older editions ALONG WITH A STUDY GUIDE for that same edition (such as thiis one)
  
  Books - Physics Series
  
  
• Any physics textbooks that you might have lying around from school....AP physics review books probably useful
  
• To be honest, I'd just pick up one that's similar / the same from the syllabus. They are currently using a new book, which is really freaking expensive. I use a ~1$ book that is written by the same teacher, but just has some calculus in it. Everything is the same otherwise. I also picked up a study guide for it for like 2 dollars on amazon. This will send you to an Amazon search for the book that I use - just add study guide if you want a study guide (the text and the study guide have to match editions, since the study guide just gives you answers and help for the problems)
  
  My Notes
  
  
• I don't really have any solid notes to give you for the courses; to be honest I doubt they would be of use to you. Learn to take notes for yourself so that they are useful to you
  
• Check out this guy - he has great advice for notes and stuff in college.
  
  Math34B and Writing 2
  
  
• I might offend some people out there but this is what I've heard: Math34B is for the mentally challenged (they dumb down the math way too much) and writing 2 is fine. If I were you I'd take Math3B - it's a little harder, but it's probably worth your time in comparison to 34B. Might want to look into that but yeah...a lot of people would probably recommend that you take 3B. Overall it sounds like a pretty chill FSSP schedule, and it might even be a little too chill. Maybe consider something else like Greek Myth or Dinosaurs?
  
  First/Second/whatever...
  
  
• If you're an incoming freshman, don't say you're "Sophomore standing" or "Junior standing." Generally (suuper general), some freshman think they are big shots because they are junior or sophomore standing. Truth is, its not that big of a deal and no one cares. Story time....
  
• My friend and I were at a party during FSSP. Totally new to the party scene, wtf is going on sort of mode. The party we were at was thrown at a frat house and it was super chill - BEST party experience I've ever had. The President of the Frat was talking to us and my friend says "oh I'm a freshman but I'm technically a junior because of my A-" Nope, the dude didn't even let him finish. Told him in a serious but chill way to not do that. Could've gone worse I guess.
  
  Carried away? hahaha
  
  
• Well....I mean there are some people that get carried away (I know a guy that parties all day every day....) but 99% of the people here don't do that, so I wouldn't worry too much. Keeping your future goals in mind is definitely a good way to set yourself on track in terms of academics (and if you don't have a solid goal yet, that's fine too - takes some time to learn). My advice is, assuming you don't know what you want to do after college, is to explore college life here and to go to the various seminars on campus that expose you to the different fields of study. You learn a ton from them - a lot that I can't really tell you all in one little paragraph - it comes, and you'll be ready when it comes.
  
  Chem1, Phys6, gen ed
  
  
• Sounds pretty awesome. Might consider some math as well - don't forget chem lab and physics lab. Consider your courses more after you've had some experience in FSSP with how heavy the courses are - that schedule sounds fine otherwise. There's a decent amount to learn and you'll definitely have work to do; however, that course load won't force you to stay in on Friday/Sat night.
  
  
  Let me know if you have any other questions. Sorry it took so long - had to catch up with my own courses

/u/another_user_name posted this list a while back. Actual aerospace textbooks are towards the bottom but you'll need a working knowledge of the prereqs first.

Non-core/Pre-reqs:

Mathematics:

Calculus.

1-4) Calculus, Stewart -- This is a very common book and I felt it was ok, but there's mixed opinions about it. Try to get a cheap, used copy.

1-4) Calculus, A New Horizon, Anton -- This is highly valued by many people, but I haven't read it.

1-4) Essential Calculus With Applications, Silverman -- Dover book.

More discussion in this reddit thread.

Linear Algebra

3) Linear Algebra and Its Applications,Lay -- I had this one in school. I think it was decent.

3) Linear Algebra, Shilov -- Dover book.

Differential Equations

4) An Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations, Coddington -- Dover book, highly reviewed on Amazon.

G) Partial Differential Equations, Evans

G) Partial Differential Equations For Scientists and Engineers, Farlow

More discussion here.

Numerical Analysis

5) Numerical Analysis, Burden and Faires

Chemistry:

1. General Chemistry, Pauling is a good, low cost choice. I'm not sure what we used in school.
   
   

   Physics:
   

   
   2-4) Physics, Cutnel -- This was highly recommended, but I've not read it.
   
   

   Programming:
   

   
   

   Introductory Programming
   

   
   Programming is becoming unavoidable as an engineering skill. I think Python is a strong introductory language that's got a lot of uses in industry.
   
   

2. Learning Python, Lutz
   
   
3. Learn Python the Hard Way, Shaw -- Gaining popularity, also free online.
   
   

   Core Curriculum:
   

   
   

   Introduction:
   

   
   

4. Introduction to Flight, Anderson
   
   

   Aerodynamics:
   

   
   

5. Introduction to Fluid Mechanics, Fox, Pritchard McDonald
   
   
6. Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, Anderson
   
   
7. Theory of Wing Sections, Abbot and von Doenhoff -- Dover book, but very good for what it is.
   
   
8. Aerodynamics for Engineers, Bertin and Cummings -- Didn't use this as the text (used Anderson instead) but it's got more on stuff like Vortex Lattice Methods.
   
   
9. Modern Compressible Flow: With Historical Perspective, Anderson
   
   
10. Computational Fluid Dynamics, Anderson
    
    

    Thermodynamics, Heat transfer and Propulsion:
    

    
    

11. Introduction to Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, Cengel
    
    
12. Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Propulsion, Hill and Peterson
    
    

    Flight Mechanics, Stability and Control
    

    
    5+) Flight Stability and Automatic Control, Nelson
    
    5+)[Performance, Stability, Dynamics, and Control of Airplanes, Second Edition](http://www.amazon.com/Performance-Stability-Dynamics-Airplanes-Education/dp/1563475839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315534435&sr=8-1, Pamadi) -- I gather this is better than Nelson
    
    

13. Airplane Aerodynamics and Performance, Roskam and Lan
    
    

    Engineering Mechanics and Structures:
    

    
    3-4) Engineering Mechanics: Statics and Dynamics, Hibbeler
    
    

14. Mechanics of Materials, Hibbeler
    
    
15. Mechanical Vibrations, Rao
    
    
16. Practical Stress Analysis for Design Engineers: Design & Analysis of Aerospace Vehicle Structures, Flabel
    
    6-8) Analysis and Design of Flight Vehicle Structures, Bruhn -- A good reference, never really used it as a text.
    
    
17. An Introduction to the Finite Element Method, Reddy
    
    G) Introduction to the Mechanics of a Continuous Medium, Malvern
    
    G) Fracture Mechanics, Anderson
    
    G) Mechanics of Composite Materials, Jones
    
    

    Electrical Engineering
    

    
    

18. Electrical Engineering Principles and Applications, Hambley
    
    

    Design and Optimization
    

    
    

19. Fundamentals of Aircraft and Airship Design, Nicolai and Carinchner
    
    
20. Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach, Raymer
    
    
21. Engineering Optimization: Theory and Practice, Rao
    
    

    Space Systems
    

    
    

22. Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications, Vallado
    
    
23. Introduction to Space Dynamics, Thomson -- Dover book
    
    
24. Orbital Mechanics, Prussing and Conway
    
    
25. Fundamentals of Astrodynamics, Bate, Mueller and White
    
    
26. Space Mission Analysis and Design, Wertz and Larson

Preamble: Other people have pointed out your teacher is wrong. I decided, for whatever reason, to go a bit further...

Depends what you mean.

On the individual molecular level, next to nothing.^(1)

On the level of a molecule and it's neighbors, quite a bit more.^(2)

On the level of the entire ensemble of waters? Something just shy of magic.^(3)

***

More detail if you're interested:

1. If you were to zoom down so that you were, say, half the size of a water molecule and could only view that individual molecule (without the surroundings), you would be hard pressed to notice the difference in a molecule in liquid versus the gas phase -- particularly at temperatures close to the boiling point. There may be some aspects of the way the hydrogens behave, dynamically -- the angle between them may oscillate in a more unpredictable way in liquid versus gas, the oscillations of the hydrogen-oxygen bonds may be affected, etc. -- but all of these affects would be rather subtle. The covalent HO-H bond in water has an energy of magnitude ~500 kJ/mol, whereas a hydrogen bond in water typically has an energy somewhere between 5 and 15 kJ/mol. The energy associated with H-O-H bond angle is more complicated, but it is largely unimportant for liquid to gas phase transitions.
   
   
2. Water molecules are in contact with a number of their neighbors. As the temperature increases, these contacts don't get fewer (maybe slightly), but they do get more fleeting. Waters are jiggling around and bumping in to each other and a much higher clip, until they transfer enough energy to one or another in such a way as their energies on an individual molecular level (kinetic mostly) are higher than the energy of all the hydrogen bonds keeping them bound to their neighbors (e.g. for 8 hydrogen bonds, roughly 80 kJ/mol of kinetic energy is needed for an individual atom to break all it's contacts with neighbors and resist forming more). This is how water enters the gas phase, on an individual molecular level.
   
   
3. Thermodynamics (the theory by which we study phase changes like this), there are really only a few axioms (I'm borrowing heavily from Callen here).
   
   

• First, there exist states of systems called "equilibrium states" in which the properties of the system are entirely determined by only a small number of variables: The energy (U) of the system (Kinetic, Potential, etc.), Number of Particles (N) in the system and the Volume (V) the system occupies -- these are not the only states the system can be in, we only posit that states like this exist.
  
  
• Second, there is a function of these variables called the "Entropy" (S), which has a very important property: let's say we divide our system in to subsystems so that the energy now has two parts (e.g. for division in to two subsystems, U = U^((1)^) + U^((2)^) ), and so does N and V (similarly divided); the values that those variables U, V and N take on at equilibrium in the absence of a constraint (read: divider) are those exact values which maximize the entropy of the total composite system at equilibrium with the constraint.
  
  
• Third, S must be additive over the subsystems (S for composite system is the sum of over the subsystems), continuous and differentiable (just to save us all some headaches), and strictly increasing function of the energy (U goes up, S goes up).
  
  From these three rules, and honestly very little more, all of Thermodynamics springs forth as a series of mathematical manipulations. For example, if you know any calculus, let's take the derivative of our entropy function, and to make things easier, let's assume the number or particles doesn't change (there are two independent variables that can change the entropy so it's rate of change will have two parts):
  
  dS = (dS/dU)dU + (dS/dV)dV
  
  We just decide to call that term (dS/dU) the "inverse temperature, 1/T" and we call that term (dS/dV) the "pressure over temperature, P/T". We decide to do this because if you investigate the properties of those differentials, in light of the requirements we laid out for the entropy above, they behave precisely as we expect our everyday notions of temperature and pressure to behave (it really is beautiful). So, rearranging, we have:
  
  TdS = dU + P*dV,
  
  which may be familiar to many first semester physics students. Also importantly, once you have a functional form for the entropy as a function of U, V, and N, you can rewrite the function in terms of these derived quantities (P, and T ^(and also one called the chemical potential which I'm too tired to mention))
  
  Importantly, all the properties of the system you are trying to model are consequences of the form of the entropy function S(U,V,N) (there are many functions for entropy that follow the rules laid out above.) Phase transitions arise as "jumps" or discontinuities in the entropy/energy as a function of temperature/pressure.
  
  All of this is very abstract, which is why I say that on the ensemble level, phase transitions are something close to magic. Indeed, thermodynamics still feels like magic to me, and I work with it every day.

Personally, I really like the Cambridge University Press ones, like this one for Chemistry. I only have them for Chemistry and Physics but they're much better than the Oxford ones in my opinion. I also like it because my school use the Oxford IB Diploma Programme Textbooks to teach the course in the first place, and having a study guide with a different brand to the textbook has been really useful for me to find extra examples of questions or different ways of explaining topics that I may not have wholly understood in the main textbook.



For Geography, I use this study guide, though I don't really know if it's the best one because we got lent them by the school. I think it's pretty good, but maybe there is a better one out there.


I don't think you really need them for the other subjects - you can always buy individual study guides for the books you study for English or, if you have to buy the books themselves, try and get the 'Methuen Student Edition' because it has lots of information at the beginning of the book. For French, you could buy a vocabulary book like this or a grammar book, like this, but there's loads on the internet anyway so I wouldn't worry about it too much.



And for Maths, I don't think a study guide will be that useful, as I think the main thing is practice, practice, practice!




Oh, and maybe hold off on buying anything just yet (especially for Chemistry and Physics) - the IB really like messing around with the syllabus and it won't be that useful to have an outdated version of a study guide

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

> I doubt that a psychedelic experience would spark or fuel interest in science for most - more likely the arts, if they used before deciding on their career or path of study.

I often hear psychonauts giving lip service to the sciences, but seldom see them follow through on their proclaimed interest. For me, trying lsd really did reinvigorate my interest in science, most specifically chemistry. The first thing I took away from the experience was how apparent it became that everything I ingest has an effect on the chemistry of my body and subsequently my physical and mental experiences, even if by 2nd or 3rd order effects. I picked up a copy of Linus Pauling's General Chemistry as a starting point, then read How to Live Longer and Feel Better and have since greatly improved the efficacy of my diet in supporting a robust mind and body. In retrospect, revelations that I've had regarding how to feel and live better seem like they should have been obvious... but at times before I had really given things reasonable thought I recall being quite overwhelmed and confused. I suppose one could say that the strength of the acid experience snapped me out of living in the world of ideas and renewed my awareness of the interdependence of my subjective "inner world" and my interaction with the objective "outer world".

Civil engineering to shipbuilding: Structures and The new science of strong materials, by J.E. Gordon. These are incredibly enlightening.

Physics (also some chemistry and biology): It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science is a collection of essays by great scientists - among others, it contains a very insightful discussion on the birth of the Schroedinger equation, which is rather different from the usual stories of cats in boxes, chicken crossing the road, gods playing dice, and the like.

Chemistry: The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, by Philip Ball.

Biochemistry: Chance and necessity, by Jacques Monod. Seems it's out of print, I guess my knowledge of the field is a bit out-of-date. There must be some other book out there that explains elegantly protein folding and enzymatic regulation, which are the base mechanisms of living matter.

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.

I'd recommend finding yourself two nice textbooks, and working through one methodically while referencing the second during times when the first doesn’t sufficiently explain things. Also, when studying the text, I would recommend solving as many of the “in-chapter” and “end of chapter” problems as you possibly can. You’ll be far more likely to understand the material if you have to apply the requisite knowledge, and it’s pretty established that long term recall will be enhanced by application of material (see the testing effect if curious--Roeidger and Karpicke’s studies were well done).


In fact, regardless of how you are initially presented with the material (be it Khan lectures, textbooks, guides online, people’s answers to your questions, etc.), the bulk of your understanding will likely come from working out problems yourself. This effect can not be overstated, and regardless of how you decide to engage the material, I cannot stress the importance of applying the material.


Assuming you follow the textbook plan, if you find a concept or problem that you just cannot comprehend, look to online resources for aid. Some examples include Khan Academy, MIT Open Courses, and of course, r/chemhelp or r/homeworkhelp.


If you absolutely need some direction and find that a textbook isn’t cutting it, then the MIT series has a number of explicit instructions and lectures to steer you along. If you can catch them when they’re available, Coursera has some courses as well, with actual feedback systems that would likely prove useful.


For book recommendations, I’d check out this thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/1xzi9t/general_chemistry_book_recommendations/ There seems to be a good discussion there with lots of options. I personally used Chemistry: the Central Science, but it’s worth mentioning that the math used is pretty low level and isn’t representative of further chemistry study. Still, the concepts are explained fairly well. A note: textbooks can be found for much, much cheaper than is initially seen on listings. Used copies of older textbooks often go for almost nothing. You can even sometimes find PDFs of books, but the legality of that is questionable (even if they’re way easier to navigate and manipulate).


Still, your best course of action likely depends on your individual learning style, so take these suggestions with a grain of salt.

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!

Some excellent starting books for the above subjects is as follows:

Pre-Calculus by Cynthia Y. Young:

https://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Cynthia-Y-Young/dp/0471756849

Provides an excellent summary of elementary Algebra up to starting concepts of calculus, such as the difference quotient, etc.

Campbell Biology (10th edition):

https://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Biology-10th-Jane-Reece/dp/0321775651/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483427728&sr=1-4&keywords=Biology

Covers pretty much every form of Biology you'll cover throughout your middle school/high school days, up to freshman year of university.

Chemistry 9th Edition: by Steven S. Zumdahl (Author), Susan A. Zumdahl (Author):

https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/1133611095/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483427816&sr=1-12&keywords=Chemistry

A bit more complex, however once you've gained a grasp of Biology/Algebra, this is a fine novel illustrating all the workings of chemistry you'll cover throughout high-school-freshman year university.

That's all I can really recommend as of now. I'm inclined to believe you're 1-2 grades ahead of your peers, and it shouldn't be too long until you finish up basic arithmetic, and starting learning higher maths. If you intend to develop a higher understanding of these fields, seriously try these books out.

Despite their expense, if you can find a way to rent, study, and complete them, you're basically set til' college.

Also know that these books are the most recent editions of their respective categories: These books are used in a multitude of schools/universities, not just random textbooks delving into irrelevant subjects: Nearly everything encapsulated within them is pertinent.

Based on your post, I think you need more knowledge of biology and chemistry before you can really approach pharmacology. Gotta walk before you can run, if you will. But you're taking organic this year and hopefully biochem and a biology class next year so that will come with time.

If you're really excited about PK though, check out this youtube primer on the subject (~30min total). I also suggest checking out Derek Lowe's blog (/u/dblowe) In the Pipeline. There are over a decade of posts and especially since it's become associated with Science Translational Medicine, he does a great job introducing topics for those not directly in the field. He's made 73 posts tagged PK, and it may also give you insight about what your future career will be like and controversies in medicinal chemistry.

My undergrad med chem professor sadly passed away shortly before the course began, so I bought Richard Silverman's "The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action." Amazon has the 2nd edition (the one I have) for $13 and you may enjoy flipping through it when you take organic. However, it's a pretty advanced book (probably for folks who have already taken a med chem class) so you can also consider the legend EJ Corey's short book "Molecules and Medicine" or Patrick (the standard med chem textbook) if you want to see medicinal applications of organic while you take the course.

> Books with awesome pictures on the front and terrible stories.

In fairness to Scholastic, we picked this up at the last book fair:

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Visual-Exploration-Every-Universe/dp/1579128955/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417794573&sr=8-1&keywords=the+elements

and it is AMAZING. Gorgeous pictures and lots of scientific data and interesting facts, written in a conversational tone. We ended up buying the author's followup book, Molecules, which is frankly a good supplement to a lot of college chemistry textbooks.

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.

In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important

Here is a thing... about elements!. Elements hang out in space! xD

I once went stargazing with my now-fiance. There was a meteor shower and it was soooooo beautiful! I'd never seen that. I had a great time - and it paid off for both of us! I'm so glad i went :)

Covertly scope out their coffee table to make sure they don't have a copy of Theodore Gray's The Elements. If they don't, get him a copy, it's an entertaining yet beautiful and informative book.

If you want to be safer, get a copy of Gray's Molecules or Reactions because it's much less likely they'll have a copy and I presume they're nearly as good.

From which background are you asking this? Because from a chemistry point of view this seems like a silly question because the knowledge growths and changes each day.
From the perspective of an interested citizen with the goal of an broad education a single good general chemistry book like Zumdahl/Chemistry contains enough knowledge about chemistry for a lifetime.

If you want to build a doomsday proof bible of chemical knowledge or want to bolster your library as a scientist from another scientific branch like biology or physics you could alsocome quite close to capturing the most important knowledge. For this approach I would take the existing "bibles" for subtopics of chemistry like organic chemistry like Bruise/Organic Chemistry. I would at least take specific books from organic, inorganic, physical, analytical chemistry aswell as biochemistry. Most of these bibles have 1000+ pages so this "book" with 6000+ pages could maybe contain something like 50% of the knowledge about chemistry by todays standards.

Your best and safest bet is always buying a textbook and it's solution manual and just go through the book and do the problems
I recommend chemistry by zumdahl, it's a bit expensive but you can always rent and and pay a lot less
Book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1133611095/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1407886305&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40
Solutions: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1133611990/ref=pd_aw_sims_1?pi=SL500_SY115&simLd=1

You might be able to find cheaper solutions manual, you just have to look around

Also this book I recommended is slightly higher than a level you asked for but you will definitely master high school level chem plus a lot more interesting stuff through this book

I just want to second "General Chemistry" by Linus Pauling that /u/kslusherplantman suggested. It's a very readable classic that will do a lot for your understanding. Also, it's like 15 euros: http://www.amazon.de/General-Chemistry-Dover-Books/dp/0486656225/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404581980&sr=8-1&keywords=general+chemistry+pauling


Personally I'm kinda ambivalent on the programming issue. It's useful to differing degrees depending on what you do. That said, unless you get into hardcore synthesis, it's probably going to come up at least a few times in a career. On the other hand, unless you get into computational chemistry, it's not going to come up all that much. If you really want to learn one to get ready, learn python. Most stuff you do will be data processing related outside of more serious computational work, and python should be more than up to any of those tasks. It's also generally marketable if you decide to study something else and easy enough to learn that you won't waste too much time if you don't end up ever using it.

Other than that? Just relax. Graduating from German secondary school (Gymnasium?) you're probably fine mathematically. The rest of it will come as you take your classes. It's great that you're enthusiastic, but right now you probably want to focus on the non-academic changes in your life so that you don't get overwhelmed on that front when school starts.

Wes is in love with this book. it is amazing. and while he mostly just looks at the pictures and reads the larger text on the pages, he'll pick an element that he has heard of and we'll read the whole page and talk about it. mostly metals because he loves minecraft.

Are you local to your college or near it? Go browse through the library in the chemistry section and look for related materials/textbooks. They'll often have the same textbook from a year or two ago (so a few editions out of date) and they'll be good on concepts and the like.

Also just look for books that are useful and informative. I found a guide for the perplexed organic experimentalist in the library and it had a TON of great tips for organic synthesis that was never covered in any lab manual or textbook. And it was a fun read.

Browse the library, it has a TON of interesting resources that I wouldn't even begin to think to look for. The library saves my ass in research all the time because I'll track down a book that I didn't even know existed.

Joy of Chemistry by Cathy Cobb is a great primer.
https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Chemistry-Amazing-Science-Familiar/dp/1591027713/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472746012&sr=8-1&keywords=Joy+of+Chemistry

Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks is a great read if you want to geek out on chemistry among a bunch of factoids (as opposed to a cohesive pedagogy)

I've never had the willpower to just sit there and read a college textbook. Textbooks are really meant to accompany lecture and lab instruction.

Nobel laureate in one field?? Did you miss the bit about the other Nobel prize?

Francis Crick called him the father of molecular biology: http://articles.latimes.com/1986-03-01/local/me-13101_1_crick

.

Textbooks written:

General Chemistry

The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals: An Introduction to Modern Structural Chemistry

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Chemistry

.

Vitamin C vindication:

The trouble with most vitamin C studies is usually too small a dose. Also the oral vs intravenous thing. You know animals produce grams and grams per day, humans have a genetic deficit. This is my favourite article to explain: http://www.hearttechnology.com/1992-v07n01-p005.pdf

http://scienceblogs.com/gofindyourowndamnlinks/2009/02/18/vitamin-c-and-cancer-has-linus-pauling-b/

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/linus-pauling-vindicated-researchers-claim-rda-for-vitamin-c-is-flawed-71172707.html

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/aug/05/cancer.medicalresearch

http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2008/4/newly-discovered-benefits-of-vitamin-c/Page-01

.

Heart disease is scurvy:

http://nutritionreview.org/2013/04/collagen-connection/

http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/pdf-files/heart_book.pdf

.

Also, here's an interesting read on nukes (remember that peace prize?) and free radicals (that other one was in chemistry): http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2011/6/optimize-your-internal-defenses-against-radiation-exposure/Page-02

.

I hope this helps! My personal random-guy-on-the-internet recommendation is several hundred milligrams a few times a day, preferably away from food, increasing dosage during illness.

You're very welcome! I'm glad you liked it! It's called Periodic Thoughts (link goes to the product page on Amazon - it's currently $7.86 for a set of 30).

I'm not sure how much background knowledge you have, but Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight by Atkins as well as Chemistry by Zumdahl are good general chemistry books (AP level and beyond). Zumdahl is probably better if your knowledge is starting from scratch, although I prefer Atkins.

Also, buy the older editions - they're a lot cheaper and are basically the same.

Reminds me of a book I received several years ago, The Elements, by Theodore Gray. Amazing pictures and some fascinating descriptions.

Surprisingly cheap on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Visual-Exploration-Universe/dp/1579128955

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.

This book by Theodore Gray is super good. It is one of the books that sparked my interest in chemistry to begin with.

Buy a revision guide.

This is the one I bought for HL

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chemistry-Diploma-Exam-Preparation-Guide/dp/1107495806/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1456745322&sr=8-2&keywords=IB+Chemistry+Revision+guide+2016

I basically was the same as you. I got straight A's pre-IB, but when I started the Chemistry HL course, I died. I wasn't able to grasp simple concepts (it took me months and months to understand moles lmao), but with this revision guide, I was able to bring up my grade from a failing 2 to a 4. It basically saved my diploma. Make revision notes using this book, and then make them into flashcards.

I also stuck up important concepts, equations and definitions around my room. Memorising the synthetic routes map is also very important to do. Make your own, stick it up on your wall, and read aloud the routes to yourself every day. Trust me, it will stick in your brain.

Good luck, you got this

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.

While it may not be quite as engaging as the Feynman Lectures, I liked Brown, LeMay, and Bursten's general chemistry textbook enough to read it cover-to-cover, on my own time. I thought it was very accessible. Plus, older editions are pretty cheap.

This is the edition I read.

And the current edition

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'd like to say something fun, but it's probably this chemistry textbook.

I'm in my last class (a fun 4th year nutrition class) so I applied for graduation, and they are making me take another 100 level lab course because I have too many senior (200+) lab courses and not enough junior (100). I know, I know, it's so stupid, I couldn't believe it. I don't have a lot of cash, and I didn't expect to have to take another course, so I thought I could get away with using one of my old chem books but it's not working so well.

Don't be put off with the general chemistry concepts. While they can be interesting, I found chemistry extremely boring until I started learning organic chemistry. Try and mix in some of the early organic videos once you have a good feel for how atoms can come together to form molecules. There is a lot of general concepts to learn but they are important.


Also I hear that Linus Pauling's book is a good place to start if your not going the traditional way.

yay! and I got it on Amazon! :)

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.

Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik is a nice way of looking at chemistry from a materials standpoint and isn't completely bogged down in diagrams of formulas.

The Chemists' War: 1914-1918 by Martin Freemantle shows how chemistry changed warfare forever and is published by the Royal Society of Chemistry

The very short introduction to the elements and the very short introduction to molecules by Philip Ball are interesting reads that will provide a good basis of where to develop your understanding.

Chemistry is a very broad discipline so i wouldn't say this list is exhaustive.

You might want to investigate physical chemistry if you're into thermodynamics, or organic chemistry if you like lipids and plastics, pharmaceuticals if you want to be useful, and then there is inorganic chemistry if you don't.

I hope you find something that resonates with you.

You can definitely get the book cheaper on Amazon, used. That listing on the bookstore's site is for a "bundle" which includes the physical textbook, pdf of the book, and online homework code. Looks like CHEM1P is doing a trial online homework website this quarter. That will be completely separate from the textbook. As for the textbook, Randa's syllabus does state to get the 7th edition, although there may be some leniency, as we were allowed to use the 6th edition last fall quarter. However, if you're going to complete the gen chem series (CHEM 1A, 1B, 1C) it may be worth the investment.

Also, for beginning a solid understanding of food chemistry, I recomend starting with chemistry. Find a copy of this book. https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Principles-7th-Steven-Zumdahl/dp/1111580650 and its solution manual (its not hard to get the PDFs online cough cough libgen cough cough). Go through the chapters and do the problems until you actually understand how the solution works. I have a syllabus for the book I can send you if you'd like. All in all, it should take about 3 months if you give it 2-3 hours 4 days a week. Then you'll be able understand chemistry speak and diagrams with a certain authority.

barron's review book is good, it's also the only one I have ever used so I can't actually give a fair comparison to others.

Zumdahl & Zumdahl is a very excellent textbook (not review book). I borrowed this textbook off my Chem H teacher and read it over the weekend before the test and got a 5 (didn't take the ap chem class). It can probably be used as an alternate to a review book

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!

I use An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry by Patrick Graham when I teach my Medicinal Chemistry course. https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0199697396

There's also a good free online EdX Med Chem course you could check out. https://www.edx.org/course/medicinal-chemistry-molecular-basis-drug-davidsonx-d001x-2

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

"Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering" by Fogler (4th edition) sells on Amazon for $87.64. (https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Chemical-Reaction-Engineering-4th/dp/0130473944)

"Physical Chemistry" by Atkins, 8th edition sells for $31.50 on Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/Physical-Chemistry-Peter-Atkins/dp/0716787598)

"Separation Process Principles" (I think 3rd edition if my image enhancer is working properly) sells on Amazon for $65.

"Chemistry" by Zumdahl (I think 7th edition) sells on Amazon for $25.77. (https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/061852844X)

So $209.91 less shipping fees but these would mail via USPS Media Mail which runs like, at most $3.75 per book so take that out and you're left with $194.91.

I suggest you go ahead and read Joys of Chemistry(along with this month's book). I wish someone would have showed me this book when I was in school. Better late than never.

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

As the book was written in 1861, it is in the public domain which means you can get it for free electronically.

Scans of old different old editions: https://archive.org/search.php?query=The%20Chemical%20History%20of%20a%20Candle

E-Book (epub, html, mobi): http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14474

Amazon Kindle: https://www.[direct link bans this post].com/Chemical-History-Candle-Michael-Faraday-ebook/dp/B00846ZKHK/

Info on the book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chemical_History_of_a_Candle

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.

This is one of my favorite books. I have a bookshelf hard cover copy, and a carry around soft cover copy. Nobody escapes looking at it when I'm out and about.

I really liked Callen.

Yes, this will work for you. Older editions will also work and be much cheaper:

• 5th edition
  
• Solutions manual

Here are all 4 books for less than $170 total

• Book 1
  
• Book 2
  
• Book 3
  
• Book 4
  
  You are in college, be a smart consumer.

A standard chemistry textbook runs you about $300. Multiply that by four or five classes students usually take, and take into account many professors require two or three books. That's easily $2,000 in a semester, just for textbooks.

People have this idea that textbooks are cheap. They are not.

I'd recommend Zumdahl's Chemistry (http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/061852844X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409839212&sr=1-2&keywords=zumdahl) as a good introductory text. It's relatively straightforward for someone approaching the subject outside of class.

I'd ask you to remember also, Chemistry is a messy subject, it just isn't as concise as mathematics by nature. If the text isn't to your taste it is probably a reflection on the haphazard nature of the subject, not the author.

That said, if you want the original gangster, old school text, Pauling's Chemistry is the die that all modern chem texts have been cast from, and it's cheap, printed by Dover in their classic style (http://www.amazon.com/General-Chemistry-Dover-Books/dp/0486656225/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409839362&sr=1-1&keywords=pauling+chemistry)

I taught myself general chemistry in high school using Pauling's General Chemistry text. It's a whopping $11.52 on Amazon right now.

There is an electronic version on iTunes for $20, if your students would prefer that.

Access probably refers to access codes. Some courses require access codes to let you do homework online. You can either get the code with a new copy of the textbook or separately online off of the publisher's website. Out of the classes you listed, I've only taken Chem 1331, which didn't need one. I'd wait to see if your courses actually need them before buying them though.

As far as the textbooks go, I've only had one course where a physical copy was required, and that was because the tests were open book. PDFs work well if the textbook isn't used much for the class, but I personally prefer physical copes of my most used books.

One trick is to buy one edition older than the required text. Take chemistry for example. You guys need to get the 6th edition of Silberberg's Chemistry book I presume. Instead, you can get a used 5th edition book (that was actually the required text when I took the course) starting at $15 on Amazon.

Usually you can get away with getting an older version of the textbook with out a problem. It should be fine for Chem, but you can double check with your other professors as well.

This is the one used in CHEM 202 and 204:
https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Principles-7th-Steven-Zumdahl/dp/1111580650
The study guide and answer book is kind of a waste though; the answer guide only has odds, but the CLC in Davenport has the answer book with all the answers.

If you have Decoste for 202, you'll almost certainly use it

Those are the full names
Here are links
Zumdahl:
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/061852844X/ref=la_B001ILMCPG_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406049265&sr=1-2
Chang:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0073402680?pc_redir=1405946005&robot_redir=1
Buy them used and you don't need the latest edition (This saves a lot of money)

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

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/061852844X/ref=sr_1_1


|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|




This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting).

Found all these books for less than 250, don't buy books at the bookstore
first, second, third, fourth

On the contrary. You can buy Chemistry.

Last time this was posted someone pointed out that all these books could be purchased for significantly less than $1000.


https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Chemical-Reaction-Engineering-4th/dp/0130473944

https://www.amazon.com/Physical-Chemistry-9th-Peter-Atkins/dp/1429218126

https://www.amazon.com/Separation-Process-Principles-Applications-Simulators/dp/0470481838

https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/061852844X

Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering, $135 new

Physical Chemistry, 9th edition (newer), $74 used (out of print)

Separation Process Principles, $121 new

I have a hard time believing that basic Chemistry book is $670

edit: someone beat me to it, the chemistry book is not $670, its $50

I don't have either of those, unfortunately. But my suggestion, as a biology major, is not to buy the BIO201/202 text. I never used it and did well in both of those classes. Do buy the access code, but don't buy it through the bookstore. Wait until the professor gives you the URL to purchase the access code directly through the publisher.

You can buy a used copy of the CHM101/102 text here. This book is the full textbook. The publisher just cuts the book in half and bills it as a custom edition for UNCW.