Review by Choice Review
This title is one in a series developed as course material by the Open University (UK) for a broad introduction to chemistry. It is clearly a textbook with an applications-driven approach, taking the properties and reactions of metals as a vehicle for introducing thermodynamics. Purists may shudder at some choices: internal energy is never discussed, and the word "reversible" barely puts in an appearance, but the concepts presented are rigorously correct and imaginatively developed. On the other hand, the classical thermodynamicist might take comfort in that the real-world approach requires defining heat, work, and state functions such as enthalpy in terms of what can be measured as opposed to invoking molecular explanations. The authors have anticipated every difficulty and misconception that plague those encountering thermodynamics for the first time and address them with clarity and insight. Although frequent reference is made to concepts developed in other volumes in the series, the material is able to stand on its own if readers have some previous experience in chemistry. Clearly intended for undergraduates, the expert will benefit, too, by thinking about familiar concepts in new ways. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates; two-year technical program students. M. D. Marshall Amherst College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
