Ebook: Chemistry

The scope of this book is similar to that of "General Chemistry" by
Linus Pauling, 3rd edition, 1970. Changes have been made in
presentation and content, and these are explained when prefaces
are compared. General Chemistry was designed “for use by first year
college university students who plan to major in chemistry or in
closely related fields” whereas the present book is designed for
students “primarily interested in biology, medicine, human
nutrition, and related fields”. The former book was longer by about
200 pages, and several topics are treated less rigorously as, for
example, those that involve discussions of quantum and statistical
mechanics, and chemical thermodynamics. However, atomic
structure and the periodic table, the nature of chemical bonds,
basic inorganic chemistry - especially that of coordination
compounds, properties of solutions, chemical equilibria and other
subjects are discussed with the competence and clarity that assured
the success of General chemistry for more than 20 years.