Chemistry Books

This is an excellent book filled with great information in what I like to call a "pick up and read a little" format. It is logically arranged and well indexed but it lends itself well to random reading. Think of it as part Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, part chemistry primer, and part dictionary of eatables.

Since buying this book, I leave it within easy reach on the top of the bookshelf and typically pick it up and choose something at random and learn something new.

Very readable, well illustrated and a great value: you will not regret purchasing this book.

I looked for a book that would help me understand which variables can I manipulate to affect the outcome in my cooking of : meat, bread, eggs, sauces, vegetables ... etc. And would help me with food handling practice - bringing it out of habit in to understanding. Different cultures handle food differently - I wanted to understand what effects those habits have. How does food spoil? And what are the variables that one can control - and how do cultures control them?

This book responds to those questions, bringing real understanding to my kitchen. And it responds to them on both an overview level and a scientific level, and one can engage either or both.

The book really appeals to be because this isn't a scientist writing dryly about food, this is a food lover bringing the context of history and science to food preparation.

I am truly enjoying the depth of cooking knowledge in this book. I am a "down home" type cook. It is fun to learn the chemistry of the cooking procedures I use, and to learn the history of the ingredients I use. The book is well arranged and the style of writing is easy to understand. This is not a cookbook, per se, but an excellent reference for someone interested in the "how" and "why" of cooking.

I was concerned when the book started with flowery allusions to food and was prepared to be put off by the authors style. However, I was quickly sucked in to the detail that made sense of the chemistry and art of cooking. I've read other enjoyable books like the "Einstein's..." cooking series which have explained some of the chemistry behind cooking, but none has been as thorough in its blending of history and science to open my eyes to modern cooking. I recommend this to any Foodie or aspiring chef.

This is the most thorough scientific explanation on the subject. Excellent; should be re-published with clearer print.

To me Feynman is right up there with Albert Einstein. I love is fearlessness and is desire to see the truth. The Buddha and Feynman are probably enjoying a good laugh. I recommend his other book " What do you care what other people think".

This is the shortest book about quantum electrodynamics I've ever read, but it is still full of profound revelations (for instance, electrical charge is really nothing more than the square root of the probability that an electron will couple to a photon, etc)...

Feynman picks the thing that is simplest in the quantum world, a single particle, and explains it using no math. Instead of equations, the quantum theory in this book consists entirely of pictures. But this is not a popularization in the usual sense. This is not gossip about science. This actually is quantum theory in a very simple case. For anyone who wants to know how the universe is put together, this is an astonishing mind opener.

Feynman makes it easy for the curious amateur to understand. This book is accessible and mind-blowing. Everyone should read it. And there is little if any math so don't be intimidated.

In the Introduction to the 'Strange Theory of Light and Matter' Feynman tells us that what he likes to talk about is the "part of physics that is known, rather than a part that is unknown." And he goes on to give us a thumbnail sketch, a "physicist's history of physics," which shows how physicist's, in their quest to describe the world, continually reduce a group of seemingly unrelated phenomenon to a single phenomenon. So heat and sound were found, thanks to Newton, to be reducible to laws of motion, while electricity, magnetism and light were reducible to Maxwell's electromagnetic wave. In this way physicist's explain the world.

Here one is almost tempted to say that they proceed much as religion and ideology do. Religion has from the beginning of recorded history been taking phenomenon and feelings, like storms and suffering or aging and despair, and molding them into an internally coherent explanation of all that is and was and will be. They do this by separating the relevant from the incidental, then uncovering the essential by excluding the accidental. They simplify. In similar ways ideologues like the communists take what at one time were discreet incidents and disparate facts (for instance, the poverty of the third world and imperialism) and weave them into a grand general explanation. Is science merely the latest avatar of religion? - Or perhaps it is an ideology without tears?

Not so fast! Feynman goes on to show us that attempts to explain the atomic world foundered on the laws of motion. He shows us that the rescue of those shipwrecked on the shoals of classical theory involved the invention of a new, counter-intuitive theory, Quantum Mechanics. He then goes on, while discussing a small portion of that theory, to give us the (deliberately) hilarious and 'absurd' example of how physicists predict how many photons, out of a given number, will be reflected back from a surface. 'Draw little arrows on a piece of paper' and watch the clock, he tells us. And with no explanation as to why this procedure works! Of course, for physics, what matters is that it does work. Physicists have been forced "away from making absolute predictions to merely calculating the probability of an event." But where is the essential, the eternal, the necessary?

Perhaps this is what Feynman is driving at. Science describes, it doesn't explain why. We should all wonder at that. The great 'philosophical' questions that drive theology and political ideology are beyond the purview of physics. Science doesn't create worlds; nor does it 'interpret' or change them, it simply describes what it finds. (It is technology that changes the world.) Freud saw fit to end one of his books by saying that 'our science is no illusion, but it would be an illusion to believe you can find elsewhere what it does not offer.' But how much truer this is of physics! One is then perhaps not surprised to come away from this little book wondering exactly what the status of philosophy, psychoanalysis, politics and religion would be in a genuinely scientific world.

But of course there will never be, given human irrationality, an entirely scientific human culture. This book is a superb introduction to quantum electrodynamics. It's 'experimentalism' and agnosticism towards grand philosophical explanations I found very congenial and convincing. Feynman is an engaging personality and this is an entertaining book. While one doesn't need a degree in physics and math to understand him a lay competence and interest in math and physics is certainly necessary. For those of us still living in a Newtonian world, a dwindling number to be sure, this book will have several surprising moments. But that really is part of the show!

Everyone should read this book, even if they have no intention or ability to use a humanure composting system. It provides a wealth of information on a subject that has been ignored for too long...human waste - how to dispose of it in a sensible, sustainable, practical, useful manner. We haven't flushed a toilet in this house in eight months, since we got this book and built our own sawdust toilet and composting box out back. We had a serious drought here this summer and our well was REAL low, but we had no problems because we weren't FLUSHING FOUR GALLONS OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER UNDERGROUND each time we went in the bathroom. I always wondered why we eliminate in water, anyway. And it doesn't stink, the compost box doesn't stink, it's simple and straightforward and clean and the humanure toilet's time has come! Everybody who comes in our house gets dragged into the bathroom by my husband to meet our new humanure toilet! Then I drag them outside to meet my wonderful compost box! So far we've had one convert, a couple with a camp who were using a stinking old outhouse, and they are just thrilled with the idea of using a humanure toilet next summer when they move back to camp. As a bonus, our electric bill dropped substantially, just because the water pump doesn't have to kick on every time a toilet is flushed. Buy this book, read it, start using a humanure toilet, tell all your friends, lend the book to your friends, do it now! Then read Joe Jenkins' other book, "Balance Point."

This was our primary source material for building and maintaining our composting toilet. Works great, saves on water, makes for good plant food, and only smells like sawdust inside.

Wonderful book that I wish everyone would read. Great information.

Due to a plumbing fault in the house, my family have been composting in the back garden on a daily basis for over a year. What a bonus to stumble upon this book and find out that our actions have been helping to preserve the future of our planet! A number of residents in our street have complainined that the local environment has been suffering from some kind of unpleasant air pollution of late, so we feel proud to be putting something back.

This book combines humor, biology, humor, facts, humor, and specific instructions. Did I mention humor? ;-)

It is also incredibly thought-provoking. The author points out that we are one of the few countries that defecate in our drinking water.

We now have two composting toilets. The one we spent over a $1000 for before we bought the book and the $50 one we built after we bought the book. Guess which one is easier to deal with?!

As a physicist I rely on this book a great deal. It is written in an accessible informal style without sacrificing rigor. Many ideas are motivated and first developed using cute example systems, before the more general result is stated. Strogatz's deep familiarity with applications within physics, chemistry and biology is a real plus. Most of all, the book is fun to read and the author conveys a sense of enthusiasm for the subject.

Nonlinear dynamics and chaos is an excellent introductory book. It explains this complex looking subject in very simple and intuitive fashion. I recommend this book anyone who are interested in chaos/nonlinear dynamics. It even doubles as a fun book!

This book provides an exceptional introduction to nonlinear dynamics. Math books are often trapped in equating rigor with formalisms and in compromising intuition to generalities. Strogatz book provides an exemplary guideline how both intuition and rigor may be served to transform a difficult topic into fun reading and highly applicable set of ideas. Here are the key elements of what you will find in this book.

A. The book builds up intuitive understanding of the key ideas of the field
from simple one dimensional dynamics to complex multi-dimensional behaviors.
B. Each chapter contains fascinating applications -- from fireflies synchronization and josephson junction to population dynamics and chaotic laser behaviors-- which are
fun to read and useful if you need to apply dynamics to solve research problems.
C. There are ample exercises and solutions to render this ideal book for self-learners. It provides a relatively broad coverage of the key ideas of the field, without taxing the reader with far corners of little interest.

I think this is one of the best books for understanding the Phase Spaces and Bifurcations. It is really easy to follow and understand, even for people without background on nonlinear subjects. Yet, it is not the right book for engineers to read and start to solve their own detailed problems. People who seeks for a book to get into the subject or who wants to have a nice reference; BUY THIS BOOK. By the way, its price is reasonable.

I bought this book as a textbook for a class, and I have to say that it is a surprisingly readable math book. The class only used the first few chapters, but I find myself flipping through the rest of the book and trying to understand more advanced material. This is a good book for a scientist who needs to learn linear and nonlinear dynamics but is a little intimidated.

Keep in mind, this is a math book, and no writer can turn math into something it isn't. Still, the writer gives lots of relevant examples (especially in the problems--the only complaint I have is that the solutions in the back don't give any explanation, and these solutions are a bit sparse), and milks as much storytelling out of the subject matter as is possible. I thoroughly recommend it--it brings out the closet math geek in everyone!

Spectacular, but not a quick read! If you or someone you know has cancer, then this is a must read. The author did a marvelous job of chronicaling the research path to great discoveries for cancer. Unfortunately, Dr. Folkman passed away last month but after reading this book you will have a better understanding of the legacy of important research he left behind and how it is continuing by the minute

This book is great gives a good understanding of the research community and the search to understand angiogenisis.

This book is a very well done documentary of the trials Dr. Folkman went through to have his ideas on cancer treatment considered. His ideas are now becoming the new approach, offering much needed hope for patients and their families. For anyone interested in cancer, this book is worthwhile.

This book by Robert Cooke is incredible! Mr. Cooke is able to explain to the average layperson the medical concepts of angeiogeneis conceived by the most under-valued person of our time: Dr. Judah Folkman. Dr. Folkman is to cancer what Salk was to Polio! Personally, Dr. Judah Folkman is my hero! A real hero, deserving of the Nobel Prize....and I don't speak lightly. I am a cancer patient that has recently learned that my cancer (thought was beat) has advanced to my lungs. The ONLY therapy for me is in an ANGIOGENESIS drug therapy program for a drug currently in study and labeled as "PI-88." I am just so confident this drug will work. I am the only patient with my type of cancer cell (adenoid cystic carninoma), so I am a little bit more of a lab rat for this program.

God Bless Dr. Folkman and h is incredible perserverance! His story should be a movie----a tale better than SeaBiscuit! He is my SeaBiscuit!

LHH

Chances are someone close to you has succumbed to the ravages of cancer, while you and the medical establishment could only sit by and watch the process reach its inevitable conclusion. The good news is, for nearly 40 years, Dr. Judah Folkman has been pursuing a cure for cancer -- or at least a way to fight tumors more effectively than chemotherapy or radiation -- that only until very recently has garnered serious attention. Dr. Folkman's theory is called angiogenesis, the process by which cancer cells emit an agent which triggers the growth of blood vessels to feed the growth of the cancer itself. For years Dr. Folkman's idea was basically scoffed at as the flailings of an amateur researcher, but Cooke shows how Dr. Folkman has perservered -- while maintaining his brilliant career as a physician -- and eventually, through a slow accumulation of experimental evidence, as well as the discovery of several antiangionesis agents, turned opinion around. Throughout this engaging and fascinating retelling of Folkman's journey, Cooke also provides an eye-opening account of the workings of academia, medical research, and their relationships to those Orwellian biotech companies you keep hearing about. The science is clear and vivid, the battle to defeat cancer inspiring, and the promise of victory -- thankfully, finally -- just around the corner.

March never leaves my desk. It covers everything. From functional group transformations to mechanisms to FMO theory - you name it it's there. Highly recommended for any advanced undergraduate, graduate or post-doctoral researcher. It's a bookshelf staple that any organic chemist should have available.

I'm pretty sure that you _must_ have this book if you are studying advanced organic chemistry. Maybe it's not the best one to use as a study guide, but it's extremely helpful as a reference book both for undergrads and graduate students. However, one can argue that this edition is a bit out-of-date.

I bought a copy of this text (2nd Ed) after finishing my sophomore year of college, and it proved to be the best single investment I've ever made in chemistry. I used it so often, I had to duct-tape the book together.

I think the happiest moment of my career was when my name appeared in the index of a later edition. Anyway, buy it and treasure it.

This is by far the best text I have found. Although it is considered a text book, it is more handy as a reference tool. I have seen no other book that contains more information than March's. This book is actually worth the price.

I paid more for my 4th ed. new, and find it to be worth even more. It is not a cookbook per se, but it is a very comprehensive textbook that details general reactions by functional group. It outlines every way known to remove, add to, or otherwise modify every functional group. There is as much commentary as is needed, if not more, and every pathway is mentioned regardless of how exotic or primitive and low-yielding. The corresponding OS synth refs for specific cpds. are given for each type of reaction, along with a total of 15,000 other refs in footnotes. This was cutting-edge in 92, with much updating of the 3rd ed. The index will take you to the section that shows how to make the manipulations you want - if it doesn't, it probably can't be done.

I haven't finished reading this book yet but it seems very good. It is very easy to read and it is very informative. I would recommend this book to anyone who has taken organic chemistry, is going to study organic chemistry n graduate school, or as a supplement to any mechanism class.

This is a great book. It is a "must have" for any organic chemist.

For people who love organic chemistry, this book provides a basic guide for people to learn some basic but fundamental details of organic chem mechanism.The fourth chapter is expecially worthy reading. Moreover, Chapter 6 provides people with a rough idea of what's going on in organometallics filed.

This book is excellent for reaction mechanism. This book is helpful for the undergraduate's organic chem 2 and the grad school's reaction mechanism class. I learned how to move the electron in reasonable way. So in one word, this book is awesome book that I ever read for practicing reaction mechanism.

I bought this book to practice mechanisms because I'll be taking a physical organic class in the spring that uses them heavily. I used this book instead of sitting in on a sophomore organic class, because by job as a TA conflicted.

Anyway, this book is extraordinary. Dr. Grossman has taught me so many things about how to write a correct mechanism and how to recognize a bad mechanism when I see one. The book is written in a very clear and friendly manner and it's really quite hard to put down when you start reading it.

The book also has practice problems and the book's website has the answers, giving even more incentive to practice mechanisms.

I do not understand...I thought when you go on an anti-depressant it was suppose to help balance your unbalanced hormones and chemicals? I thought it was suppose to give us more serotonin, not less?? I was first put on an antidepressant when a doctor told me it would help give me energy (I was not depressed, I had a long battle with mono and still had fevers and fatigue). I gained about 60 pounds, did not get any energy, felt "odd", not quite myself. It was not fun. Eventually went off the pills for a few years. Then started having anxiety and not feeling very good (blood work showed my hormones were really unbalanced, had me in "post-menopausal" in some areas, even though I was only 30 yrs. old and still menstruating, but just my hormones in general seemed all out of whack),so I was put back on another antidepressant. I thought these meds were suppose to help us feel better, more calm, less stressed, sleep better, put us in balance, etc. Why do they seem to do little other than cause major weight gain? I am considering buying this book. If you follow the diet, does it help you more than antidepressants? Anyone gone off their antidepressants after following the diet for a while? (I'm not talking about those with bi-polar and major depression for whom the meds have truly helped and been benefical, but for anyone who has had doctors pop them on antidepressants when you weren't really depressed?).

I found Judith Wurtman's book The Serotinin Power Diet to be the only book that deals with what I consider, really counts: Hunger control.
Through their year's of research at MIT they have learned what triggers binging and hunger and teaches you what to eat, before attending social events etc. It teaches you how to control you appetite so you can go into any situation and control yourself and not overeat. So you loose weight easily.
I don't follow her diet I just follow her concept and principles as to how to feed myself for not being hungry, particularly when I have social events.
Being at home it is easy to follow any plan; it the going out with friends etc that makes it difficult. But that's the key; She has taught me how not to be hungry.
I have lost 15 pounds in a little less than three months and I am on my way to normalize my body weight and speciallly, lower my glucose.
First time something works for me.
R Hirst
Miami Fla

I ran across the Serotonin Diet recently in a magazine article. The magazine gave a Cliff's Note version of the "pure carb" snacking concept. I at first dismissed this concept, me being a Low Carb convert. But, I have always struggled with binge eating. Even after losing 60# recently (low carb dieting) I was still not in control. Although I have maintained my weight loss it is a constant binge then diet cycle. I live in constant fear that I will lose the battle. I read this article on the second day of a 2-day binge. The next day I was resolved to be good on my diet to recover from the bingeing I had been doing. In the afternoon (my binges always hit in the afternoon and/or evenings) I could feel a binge coming on (uncontrollable urge to go get something "bad" out of the work vending machine). I remembered the article I had read and instead I bought a bag of Rold gold pretzels and ate those. I was astounded at how it filled me up and took the binge urge away - nothing has ever worked like this before in my life!! Absolutely amazing. The following day I again had the binge urge and again I bought the pretzels and again another binge was averted. It seems as though it takes time for these urges to go away (maybe they never do) but I now have a tool for fighting back other then willpower (which has never worked on binge urges)

I have just ordered the book and hope to learn more about how to make this a lifestyle and never have to worry about binging again.

This is fabulous. I find myself feeling much healthier by following the simple steps and regulated snacking. It really shocked me the difference this diet (now a lifestyle) made in my life. I feel better, my body functions better and in conjunction with yoga, the overall quality of my life has improved.

We've all done it- eating a whole bag of potato chips or more cookies than we'd like to admit when trying to deal with stress, anxiety, fatigue, or sadness. The thing is that it works. After eating that comfort food, we feel like we can face the world once again. So food becomes a refuge and the scale reflects it.

Then, along comes the Atkins diet. No carbs. Truthfully, how long did it take you to cheat during your first bout of PMS? Even when you were being "good", how bad were the carb cravings?

The Serotonin Power Diet makes carbs permissible once again, in moderation and at the right times. One small carbohydrate filled snack, eaten about an hour before a meal can actually reduce your appetite allowing you to eat appropriate portions of healthy foods without cravings or feeling like you are actually on a diet.

Unlike many diets, I can see The Serotonin Power Diet actually fitting into my everyday lifestyle. Craving carbs during PMS or when I'm tired often derails my nutritional efforts. Having a small snack seems to alleviate that feeling that I've failed in my efforts and relieves my cravings.

A "must read" for anyone in manufacturing. It is the basis for all modern manufacturing, and for any business process or flow. The author describes the two pillars of the Toyota production system as autonomation and just-in-time. He explaines the six rules associated with the kanban. He also describes the seven wastes and the value of asking "Why" five times. The book is very easy and quick reading, and provides a complete backgroung to the Toyota development and success.

Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production
Great tool for understanding basics and roots of TPS

I got this as a present for my father for his birthday last weekend. He has already started reading it and making notes. It is everything we hoped it would be and met his expectations. I would recommend it for marketing students, teachers, and anyone interested in that type of thing.

"Toyota Production System" was published in 1979 in Japanese and, in English in 1988. It is the source material on the toyota production system and, in my view, it is often good to go back to the source. Sadly, I found this book disappointing. The writing style is clunky (perhaps a poor translation) and the book lacks structure; being more of a semi-random collection of points than a development of ideas. Nevertheless there is some interesting stuff in here. The honesty that this is a long slow process (taking Toyota 30+ years) is refreshing, and I hadn't realised that Mr Ohno ranked kanban (with quick changeovers) as the core of the system and essential to success. Often in lean kanban seems to be a bit of a side issue: here it is vital. Also there is an interesting analysis of some of Henry Ford's early writings compared to TPS. This would be good material for a student essay. However, for the philosophy of TPS you will get much more out of "The Toyota Way" or "The Toyota Way Fieldbook"; and for the tools of lean go to "Lean Production Simplified" or the many other books in this area. Overall this book is a bit of a let-down I am sad to say.

There are many myths around the Toyota Production System (TPS). Ohno Taiichi merits my deepest respects, considering he was able almost a half century ago to observe and learn from others. Considering the simple target given to him, to "catch up with America" he studied in-depth the work of Ford and recognised the idea of copying the US supermarket system for his operational purpose.

The book describes very well what constraints he was given from the owners when Toyota started to get into the automotive business and what path they followed until the first fully operated TPS plant went operational at the 60s.

Many thinkings of Ohno Taiichi are still actual. He is capable of bringing key problems to the point: efficiency gains are worthless until they really lead to cost reduction. Unfortunatelly we all now the opposite from this wisdom - and many "growth-strategies" of companies today are nothing else than to try to increase business with the same workforce. Furthermore the author gives good examples how Toyota handled different issues, as e.g. the syncronization of production with final assembly.

The reader will not find any operational theory or formulas in this book and if you are looking for books teaching you about designing and sizing Pull-systems you should look for books as "Kanban made simple" or similar. TPS is not about installing software than about eliminating everything which is waste and does mainly not contribute to the succes of your business.

Anyway this book is a must read for any readers interested in first hand information about the basis that made TMC what they are today - a business model developed by smart people many years ago and dearing to ask simple questions, to find sound and robust solutions and to steadily develop the system and its people working in it.

My deepest respect to Ohno Taiichi,
Domo arrigato,

Oliver

Rooted in both vigor and simplicity, this chemistry text will amaze you. Pauling is very mindful of how the student ought to recieve information and in that he carefully picks the order of topics. Too often people disreguard the importance of the presentation of information. It's a shame because they are being willfully ignorant to techniques that catalyze and promote learning. Our brains are more responsive to associative learning because biologically that's what goes on in neural circuitry. Anyways, it's best I don't spur off into a tangent. Buy this book. It taught me chemistry.

Nothing to say about this well known book as a hi level introduction to general chemistry.
What it's amazing is to buy such new book at such price !

This book will never look old. Its still much more clear than many (college) chemistry books. In my opinion this volume should be suggested as a reference for a general chemistry college course.

This is an interesting, if somewhat dated and eccentric textbook by the man who was probably the leading chemist of the twentieth century. It is full of interesting insight, and written with real flair, so much unlike the typical textbook today produced by the textbook publishing machines.

Let me give a couple of examples, good and bad, of what makes this book interesting, but also exasperating.

The book is the only freshman chemistry text I know of that has a derivation of the Boltzmann distribution P ~ e^(-E/kT), a very basic relation in the kinetic theory of gases and in fact in all of statistical physics. The derivation is simpler than most, which makes it a real jewel especially at this level, where most people would think it doesn't belong.

On the other hand, the section on chemical bonding, which is actually where Pauling made his reputation, is very eccentric, like the author, so much so that it makes the book unsuitable as the sole text for a course. It is all based on sp3 hybrid orbitals. As far as I can tell, sp2 and sp hybrids are never mentioned. With the sp3 story, Pauling is able to account surprisingly well for some systematics of bond lengths. Whether this is fortuitous or not, I don't know, but it is interesting. On the other hand, without sp2 and sp hybrids, he is completely unable to give the standard, very simple, beautiful account of bond angles. A student learning introductory chemistry from this text who then went into organic chemistry would soon be at a disadvantage without knowing the theory of hybrid orbitals that everyone else would get from any of the standard contemporary texts.

My recommendation: use this text as a very insightful, quirky supplement. The price is certainly right.

The text that comes closest, in my opinion, in seriousness, if not eccentricity, is the contemporary text by Oxtoby and coauthors. It is too highbrow though for most college introductory chemistry courses.

This is by far the best introductory book I have seen so far. It is very concise and thorough. There are no flashy pictures or cool sidenotes with the practical applications of the concepts. But the basic concepts are very well explained with lots of helpful diagrams. Also, the price of the book is very good. Hooray for Dover Publications for publishing this masterpiece as such reasonable price!