What is Chemistry?

by Peter Atkins

Overview

Most people remember chemistry from their schooldays as a subject that was largely incomprehensible, fact-rich but understanding-poor, smelly, and so far removed from the real world of events and pleasures that there seemed little point, except for the most introverted, in coming to terms with its grubby concepts, spells, recipes, and rules. Peter Atkins wants to change all that. In What is Chemistry? he encourages us to look at chemistry anew, through a chemist's eyes, to understand its central concepts and to see how it contributes not only towards our material comfort, but also to human culture. Atkins shows how chemistry provides the infrastructure of our world, through the chemical industry, the fuels of heating, power generation, and transport, as well as the fabrics of our clothing and furnishings. By considering the remarkable achievements that chemistry has made, and examining its place between both physics and biology, Atkins presents a fascinating, clear, and rigorous exploration of the world of chemistry - its structure, core concepts, and exciting contributions to new cutting-edge technologies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191508103
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	08/22/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	152
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Peter Atkins is the author of about 70 books, including the world-renowned and widely used Physical Chemistry, now in its 10th edition. He won the Grady-Stack award for science journalism in 2016. After graduating from the University of Leicester and a post-doctoral year in the University of California, Los Angeles, he returned to Oxford in 1965 as Fellow of Lincoln College and University Lecturer (later Professor) in physical chemistry. He retired in 2007, but continues to write and lecture worldwide.

Table of Contents

Preface1. Its origins, scope, and organization2. Its principles: atoms and molecules3. Its principles: energy and entropy4. Its reactions5. Its techniques6. Its achievements7. Its futureGlossaryIndex

Editorial Reviews

11/15/2013
How can you explain the significance and importance of chemistry to a general audience in just over 110 pages? Prolific textbook author Atkins (chemistry, Univ. of Oxford; The Laws of Thermodynamics: A Very Short Introduction) uses a different approach than some similar guides. He presents the world of chemistry through a chemist's eyes rather than re-creating it for the layperson. This scheme presents a logical progression from the simplest elements to energy, reactions, techniques of chemistry, achievements, and applications. Other introductory guides base their discussion on specific topics, e.g., Philip Ball's The Ingredients: A Guided Tour of the Elements, Eric Scerri's The Periodic Table: A Very Short Introduction, and Atkins's own Reactions: The Private Life of Atoms. The author's skill as a textbook writer allows the material to flow smoothly from one topic to the next and succeeds in making the breadth and depth of chemistry approachable to a nonscientist. VERDICT This text would be an excellent supplement in an undergraduate general chemistry or introductory science course and is a good selection for motivated readers interested in chemistry.—Elizabeth A. Brown, Binghamton Univ. Libs., NY

Library Journal

2013-09-15
Atkins (Chemistry/Univ. of Oxford; Reactions: The Private Life of Atoms, 2011, etc.) presents a rounded view of chemistry in hopes of dispelling the noxious fumes produced by the high school classroom. Here is chemistry as seen through chemists' eyes, taking into account the fundamental chemical properties and processes that play in the backs of their minds while they work. The author sings the praises of the science while intoning chemistry's dark side, for to abjure chemistry--as if that was possible--would be an express lane back to the Stone Age: "no metals, no fuels except wood, no fabrics except pelts, no medicines except herbs, no methods of computation except with your fingers, and very little food." In a voice at once owlish and inviting, Atkins scans the periodic table to introduce the structure of atoms, the compounds of carbon and the many other elements. He is happy to drop little bombs along the way--"That [quantum mechanics] remains largely incomprehensible is admittedly an irksome deficiency"--and even in those moments when readers may feel like he has left them dangling ("Broadly speaking, there are energy advantages in an atom acquiring a complete cloud layer"), Atkins eventually circles back to underscore his points. With light-handed skill, the author ushers chemistry into the everyday world, from the fabrication of dyestuffs to the potential heat in firewood to why breathing carbon monoxide results in suffocation. Atkins also wisely addresses popular concerns about chemistry, including the construction of the tools of war and the environmental costs associated with the chemical industry, which in turn leads to a discussion of the prospects for a "green" chemistry and the responsibilities that attend "this Merlin-like ability to conjure with atoms." A concise introduction to chemistry that has an alchemy all its own.

Kirkus Reviews