General Chemistry I as a Second Language: Mastering the Fundamental Skills

I purchased General Chemistry I as a Second Language about 1/4 of the way through the semester, when I realized I really would need as much help as I could get for this course. The textbook we used, Chemistry: A Molecular Approach, isn't bad, but my professor was awful and wouldn't offer any additional insight into what we were learning. I wanted to make sure that I mastered the core concepts necessary to excel in General Chemistry I. This book really stood up to the challenge. I had already seen the glowing reviews for this and the two Organic books by Klein, so I figured it was a safe investment.I worked through the entire book, but where this book really was a masterpiece and was worth its weight in gold was when it came to the final chapters dealing with Lewis structures, resonance structures, and, above all, molecular geometry.Klein shines in this book because he is one of those educators that truly knows his stuff and, above all, has a gift for teaching. He can explain complicated material in a way that makes it sound simple and helps alleviate fears while talking to you on an educated level that doesn't assume you're an idiot. His explanation on resonance structures really drove home the idea for me, bceause I wasn't quite grasping the concept 100% until his peach and pear analogy.If you use this book as a supplement to your course, reading the corresponding chapters as you go along to make sure you grasp the material (and not just leaving it until the last minute to learn chemistry before the final) you can only come out winning in the end. I wouldn't go so far as to say it guarantees you an A, since the difficulty and fairness of the examinations varies from university to university, but if you're interested in LEARNING chemistry, you can't go wrong with this book. You will learn, and you will definitely be thankful to have learned these fundamental skills later on.Note that this book only covers what it deems are "fundamental skills" and is not a complete supplement. For example, my Gen Chem I course covered the quantum mechanical theory of the electron, and this book didn't cover that, but I didn't expect it to. Nor is there much in the way of practice with complex mathematical/stoich questions. I would recommend supplementing this with a book like General College Chemistry by Schaum's, which should have you covered. Plus, there sadly is not a General Chemistry II as a Second Language. I wish there was, but I guess I'll have to make do without Prof. Klein's helping hand until I get to Organic in the fall.On the whole, if you want to guarantee that you understand the fundamental concepts of chemistry, you can't go wrong with this book. $31 may seem steep, but in my opinion, this book was worth every penny for its explanation of molecular geometry alone!

I bought this to help me review some basic concepts while preparing for the MCAT. I'd read (and loved) Klein's Organic Chemistry I and II books already.I mainly needed to review enthalpy and molecular geometry; these chapters helped much more than the shorthand reviews from MCAT prep companies--especially working the geometry problems.Since I did not spend much time on the first half of the book, I am not that familiar with the sig figs errors other reviewers are mentioning. I know how frustrating that can be, and it's made me want to throw books away before. But I truly think that in this case, ditching the book is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The clarity and helpfulness of his explanations are the important part. There were a few similar issues in the Orgo II book but those few problems paled besides the utility of the vast majority of the book.Maybe some others can comment on whether/how many errors they found in other chapters?** I also want to make a special plea that you read in particular the chapters at the end on logarithms and balancing equations. Especially balancing equations. He has an algebraic method that is simple but sooooo brilliant. I just finished that chapter (no mistakes in those problems or chapters 7-9 that I saw) and had to get online to recommend it to all of you. Seriously. He just rocked my stoichiometric world.

This book is ridiculously easy to understand. Not only does Klein make difficult chemistry concepts simple, he also makes a point of telling you what kinds of answers your teacher will be looking for. He teaches you chemistry while also teaching you how to succeed in a class that uses a standard chemistry grading rubric.If you are unsure about buying this book for any reason, please stop thinking about it and just order it already. The algebraic method for balancing equations in the book's appendix is reason alone. Seriously, it should be a crime for instructors to not teach this to their classes. Balancing equations is much like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube... once you line a few up, you throw everything else out of whack. In my opinion it is totally pointless trying to go about balancing equations in this way. There is no reason on God's green earth that anyone should be without the easy, effective, and fail-proof algebraic tool Klein gives in this book.This book is great for anyone taking General Chemistry for science majors... if you are like me and going back to college and haven't taken Chemistry in a decade (or at all), it is a must.

I am headed back to college after 6 years to head off towards a new career. I needed to revisit some old topics and, after reading reviews, that this book sounded promising.I originally gave this book 5 stars because it was so wonderfully written, and the layout was done in such a way that it was incredibly easy to follow. I dropped it to 4 stars though, because as I went through the book, I found quite a few errors in the answers. It is sporadic but yet often enough to warrant pointing out.Due to the answer key having some issues,and a few poorly edited areas, I would recommend using this book as a refresher to content you've already seen, or as an additional resource if you're struggling through a class.I still highly recommend this book, and if I am looking for additional subjects later, I will definitely seek out this author.

It is the perfect complement to any general chemistry textbook.Every college student in chemistry must have it.The title says is all.

This is the most valuable help you will get in a gen chem course! Definitely worth it! I would buy any books from this author after using this one!