Chemistry Made Simple: A Complete Introduction to the Basic Building Blocks of Matter

"Chemistry Made Simple" is a broad introduction to chemistry. It includes theoretical background (atomic structure, electron shells, etc.) as well as practical material (such as: the function of electrical batteries, the nature of rust and corrosion and chemical solutions to these problems). The writing is easy to read and a suitably general collection of topics is covered.Having been published in 2005, this book could use an update. The explanation of the use of silver halide in photographic film is accurate and understandable, but obviously a bit dated at this point (2014). Likewise, the exposition on materials used as filaments in incandescent bulbs will likely become somewhat less relevant as time continues to pass.This book is written at the high school or college 101 level. Though much practical material is provided, I would prefer to see it expanded.

as a professor, i evaluate quite a few texts, and they all seem to blur together. there are essentially no significant differences between the vast majority of new texts that continue to come out year after year. every author seems hell-bent on out-doing the others when it comes to including the latest and most complete theoretical treatment of every last aspect of chemistry. that's good for a text intended to be used in a course that is required for chem majors. yet a great many of these texts are allegedly intended for something completely different. there are chemistry courses that are required of students majoring in other areas of science, who need just a little bit of chemistry as background. and for this type of course, virtually all of the modern texts have missed the mark completely. they are so detailed, so focused on abstract theoretical concepts and involved mathematical calculations, that the chemistry has gotten completely lost. there simply isn't enough time to cover both advanced theoretical concepts and descriptive chemistry in a comprehensive fashion in one or even two semesters. so the descriptive chemistry gets left out. i have seen students who can tell me what an f-orbital looks like or rationalize the shape of an azide anion using VSEPR, but who have no clue what would happen if they mixed vinegar and baking soda together. well, this book is a refreshing throw-back to the days when introductory chemistry texts were rich with descriptive chemistry. not surprising since it is a revised edition of a text originally copyrighted in 1955. the essential basics of theory are presented in a clear, straightforward fashion and logical sequence. then lots of descriptive details are include. individual elements and their compounds are described and families (groups) of elements and their compounds are compared. if you can imagine a baby version of Albert Cotton's seminal "Advanced Inorganic Chemistry," this book would be it. i would love to see this text, or another like it (tho' i know of none), widely adopted for those terminal introductory chem courses that are intended for allied science majors. sadly, that is not likely to happen. it's a shame, because most of what those students are taught will likely be of little or no use to them in their chosen field. in their zeal for rigor, the chemists who write the texts for those courses have lost sight of the forest for the trees, and the students are the ones who end up lost in the wilderness. no book is perfect, and this one has its shortcomings. but overall, i wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about chemistry the way i did, back when chemistry was interesting and fun. i give it 10 stars!

My wife uses this book for her college classes.

This is an informative, basic chemistry book, but not one that will get the family to pick it up and self-teach chemistry, which I had hoped.

Great.

Good text easy to understand

great text book for an introduction for a tag kid

It's straight forward and gives good information.

I was never any good at Chemistry at school so having this book has been quite handy and helpful in trying to improve my knowledge.