General Chemistry (Dover Books on Chemistry)

I am currently a chemistry student in an honors general chemistry course at an Ivy League university, and I can say with certitude that this is an excellent resource for any chemistry student (with a decent knowledge of calculus), especially considering the price. I don't think it best to use as a default textbook for a modern general chemistry course (Oxtoby and Atkins are both very good; I especially like Atkins because I find the explanations superior to Oxtoby, though if you want the more advanced text you should go with Oxtoby, but be aware that it incorporates a lot of physics in its explanations) but as a supplementary resource it is wonderful. Stylistically, it is very easy to read and everything is explained very clearly. You can tell Pauling's audience was his students. I have a great deal of interest in chemistry and I appreciate the history that it provides on all of the experiments and discoveries, which I find to be lacking in most modern sources, like the aforementioned Oxtoby and Atkins. It is exceptional in that it covers so many diverse topics, which is wonderful because general chemistry is so broad, and in particular has a lot of material on biochemistry and quantum chemistry, which makes a lot of sense considering Pauling's achievements in those fields. Its age does show in the some of the notation. For instance, it seems to defer to using formal rather than molar concentrations, which I had never seen previously (they are however, essentially the same thing; formal simply ignores the species in solution and only looks at the initial number of moles of species present, while molar takes into account species present). I just wish there were a solutions manual somewhere.

As a physicist-educator and life-long learner, I absolutely loved this book. It is so incredibly comprehensive and through, covering all the phenomena of inorganic chemistry from the ground up, taking care to elucidate the physics behind them. The figures and diagrams are focused, relevant and explicit. It is easy to find whatever topic I am interested in. And this book cost next to nothing! Buy it - the Kindle edition - and read it!

This is a dover edition of a 'modern' book on chemistry. It is very well written and interesting. It is a good complementary source of information to standard textbooks.

I am a chemistry teacher and a chemist, with a background in physical chemistry. I have had the good fortune of having some world-class chemists as teachers during my education, who's insight and wisdom I have (with much effort) tried to incorporate into my own teaching style, as they have changed my life in very significant ways. I purchased this textbook after reading many positive reviews, leaving me curious to hear the words from the horses mouth. Although I have only read the first few chapters so far, I can say that this is the greatest inorganic chemistry textbook that I have ever read. Pauling does a beautiful job of synthesizing classic and modern physics in developing the theories of what is now known as Quantum Mechanics -- his approach is from that of pure thermodynamics, and masterfully done, I might add. Never condescending, but coming from a very different level of understanding, reading this book is like watching any master artist creating their art before your very eyes -- genius in it's raw, pure, unadulterated form. The best that any intelligent being can do is sit back and watch the artist do his thing -- in awe.

I have not read this book cover to cover, and I have not read it so thoroughly that anyone should take in too deeply what I think of it. I would not recommend this book to be used as a primary textbook in class. This is not because the explanations and ideas are completely outmoded, but because it is organized differently from how a typical college course is set up - the organization is "old-school" so to speak. I have taken two general chemistry courses, and the contents of this book are very different from what I studied in class. The fundamental ideas are the same, but with a different emphasis and approach; and personally, I like the book's approach better; it is more comprehensive. Pauling does not omit the better mathematics of chemistry (as it was done and is being done in my chemistry courses), thus introducing the reader to the most elegant and most exciting aspects of chemistry.I have not bothered to work on the practice problems which the book provides since I do not have much leisure time to study subjects outside the courses I am taking, so I cannot make any useful comments respecting that.What struck me about the book is its detailed descriptions of the properties of "interesting" atoms and compounds (e.g. hydrogen, iron, ammonia). It struck me because I am beginning to lose interest in chemistry (because of the way it is taught in class), and reading these chapters provides me with reasons to find chemistry interesting as a whole instead of just the chemistry which overlaps with atomic physics. It gives me an "intuitive feel" for the atoms involved - therefore, less memorization; always a plus. And of course, the chapters on thermodynamics and quantum mechanics are superb. Pauling goes through these topics with a depth which would frighten condescending instructors.That being said, I do not think I would have succeeded in class relying on this book alone; it is, as a previous reviewer said, "eccentric". It is an excellent supplement, but I do not believe it will be enjoyed by anyone without prior knowledge of chemistry or who is not taking a course organized the Pauling way.