Superb chemistry book, 11 Apr 2008
Rescued me from chemistry confusion. A must-have title. I've recommended this book to all my classmates and they have all thanked me again and again. Most thanks must go to Jim Clark though, who wrote it. Brilliant.

Look no further, 24 Feb 2008
If you are going to buy one book for your Chemistry A-level, then without doubt get this one. All the calculations you will ever need are explained here in detail, with plenty of worked-through examples, questions and crucially, answers (a lot of textbooks have lots of exercises but no means to check them). The answers are also worked through, with pointers towards parts that are potentially problematic, so that you can see where you went wrong.

The layout and formatting of the book is extremely user-friendly, with helpful notes in the margin - but not overly friendly/personal such that relevant information is masked by waffle. Moreover, it is not only calculations; the book explains some of the key concepts and content as well (the chapter on redox equilibria is particularly excellent - everything in this complex topic became clear after reading the book).

Jim Clark's website, Chemguide, is also fantastic as well. I cannot praise the man enough!

Chemistry Student, 28 Sep 2007
This book has made my life easy, this book is worth it if you struggle to understand chemistry calculations.

I love Jim Clark, 08 May 2007
I purchased this book during my AS revision after struggling with the calculations, it is probably the only reason i passed my AS level. It covers all the necessary calculations in worked examples which are easy to follow as well as providing problems to practise on. I would recommend this book to anyone doing chemisrty A level, definately worth buying!! This book and chemguide have made chemistry a level alot more managable. THANKS JIM!!

Higher or advanced Higher Chemistry, 04 Apr 2007
If you are doing higher or advanced higher chemistry you do need this book. It is the best out there to help you! As a chemistry tutor I recommend this book to everyone that I see...... so much so that once they have the book I doubt I am needed as much..... especially for Unit 1&3 of Higher and Unit 2 of advanced higher...

Superb chemistry book, 11 Apr 2008
Rescued me from chemistry confusion. A must-have title. I've recommended this book to all my classmates and they have all thanked me again and again. Most thanks must go to Jim Clark though, who wrote it. Brilliant.

Look no further, 24 Feb 2008
If you are going to buy one book for your Chemistry A-level, then without doubt get this one. All the calculations you will ever need are explained here in detail, with plenty of worked-through examples, questions and crucially, answers (a lot of textbooks have lots of exercises but no means to check them). The answers are also worked through, with pointers towards parts that are potentially problematic, so that you can see where you went wrong.

The layout and formatting of the book is extremely user-friendly, with helpful notes in the margin - but not overly friendly/personal such that relevant information is masked by waffle. Moreover, it is not only calculations; the book explains some of the key concepts and content as well (the chapter on redox equilibria is particularly excellent - everything in this complex topic became clear after reading the book).

Jim Clark's website, Chemguide, is also fantastic as well. I cannot praise the man enough!

Chemistry Student, 28 Sep 2007
This book has made my life easy, this book is worth it if you struggle to understand chemistry calculations.

I love Jim Clark, 08 May 2007
I purchased this book during my AS revision after struggling with the calculations, it is probably the only reason i passed my AS level. It covers all the necessary calculations in worked examples which are easy to follow as well as providing problems to practise on. I would recommend this book to anyone doing chemisrty A level, definately worth buying!! This book and chemguide have made chemistry a level alot more managable. THANKS JIM!!

Higher or advanced Higher Chemistry, 04 Apr 2007
If you are doing higher or advanced higher chemistry you do need this book. It is the best out there to help you! As a chemistry tutor I recommend this book to everyone that I see...... so much so that once they have the book I doubt I am needed as much..... especially for Unit 1&3 of Higher and Unit 2 of advanced higher...

So nearly perfect!, 07 Apr 2008
My 12 year old son picked this up and read in from front to back in preference to playing computer games - says it all, really! He adored it, but was slightly upset that not all elements were represented. I suggested it would have made it too large and not in the excellent 'pocket book' category, but he is correct that it is not only the wierd and wonderful elements that are missing but some basic ones too. Any chance of a 'Periodic Table Book 2' to fill in some gaps?
The subsequent 'Physics: Why Matter Matters' is even better and we can't wait for the Biology one in Oct 2008. Hope the series keeps going!

Just the best Periodic Table EVER!!!, 18 Jul 2007
This is how Science is supposed to be - FUN!
The book is accurate and covers everything a young mind would need to know about the elements and the little poster that comes with it (not shown here but is folded up in the back of the bok) is AMAZING!
I have scoured the internet for a periodic table for my son, and they come in many shapes and sizes but htis one is ideal as the colourful cartoon characters each element is given are represented on the chart too and he is really keen to learn all about them!
The book is written in the first person for each element and several interesting facts are given for each element as well as the important scientific data in easy to refer to bullet point form at the top of every page.
The elements are grouped correctly and each group has its own title page with description of the main features of each group (i.e. what makes the group what it is and how to identify elements that belong to that group)
the book is smaller than I thought but that just makes it even more accesible and the text is a good size, not too big, yet big enough to keep small eyes glued to the page.
I am now on the hunt to see if Kingfisher have published any more science books in this style as I want them all
Also an ideal read for Adults trying to pick up Science again after many years ( like me)
Super - really worth the money, and mine was delivered in 2 days.

OK - so its not for chemistry A-level or above, but anything below that level is sure to love it and to behonest I am thrilled that the book has given my son of 9 a chance to access the periodic table and that I won't all be far too tedious for him when he gets into Chemistry more later - he'll be one up on his classmates.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 30 May 2007
Who said chemistry had to be boring? (I'm sure no one has ever said this, but someone sure forgot to tell my science teacher!) Basher and Adrian Dingle have come together to create an entertaining and valuable resource for students with their version of the 111 elements.

Whether you're studying chemistry in school right now or not, you're sure to get a kick out of the full-color illustrations inside the pages of this book. Plus, you might actually learn something, as each element is fully described in detail: the name, its symbol, its atomic number, its atomic weight, its color, its standard state, and its classification.

The elements are also broken down into eleven separate categories, including the Alkali Metals, the Transition Elements, the Boron Elements, the Carbon Elements, the Nitrogen Elements, the Oxygen Elements, the Halogen Elements, the Noble Gases, the Lanthanides and Actinides, and the Transactinides.

This is the perfect, easy-to-use reference guide for people of all ages, and the included poster can easily be used for an educating, stylish decorating tool. Who knew elements could be so interesting??

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Elements with Style indeed!, 21 May 2007
Although the previous reviewer is correct in saying that not all the elements were represented in this book - I think this is not the point of the book.....Some elements, as I'm sure he is aware, have only been detected for millonths of a second - so writing much about them might, at this level, be a bit tough! I thought it was a wonderfully attractive book that breathed some new life into this subject - it was an excellent idea to give each of the elements a "personality"; and the text, on the whole, was witty and entertaining and accurate!

Short-changed, 25 Apr 2007
The concept behind this book is quite appealing: present cameo portraits of the elements of the periodic table as if they were personalities (Lead: "Don't let my heavyweight status fool you---at heart I'm a totally malleable softie...") accompanied by fun, manga-style cartoon characters. This kind of approach has the potential to appeal to older children.

Where it falls down is that of the 111 elements shown on the folded 9.5" x 13.5" poster at the back of the book, only 54 (i.e. less than half) are actually written up in the book proper. Thus, for example, Cadmium, shown on the back cover, and Polonium---intriguingly shown on the front cover no less---are conspicuously absent. The Boron elements mysteriously stop after Aluminium; missing are Gallium, Indium and Thallium. The entirety of the Lanthanoids and Transactinides has been given short-shrift.

These are disappointing omissions. The end product is frustratingly superficial, redundant (who cares about Lead---tell me something interesting about an element I may have never heard of e.g. Gallium, Europium, Astatine etc) and incomplete.

Superb chemistry book, 11 Apr 2008
Rescued me from chemistry confusion. A must-have title. I've recommended this book to all my classmates and they have all thanked me again and again. Most thanks must go to Jim Clark though, who wrote it. Brilliant.

Look no further, 24 Feb 2008
If you are going to buy one book for your Chemistry A-level, then without doubt get this one. All the calculations you will ever need are explained here in detail, with plenty of worked-through examples, questions and crucially, answers (a lot of textbooks have lots of exercises but no means to check them). The answers are also worked through, with pointers towards parts that are potentially problematic, so that you can see where you went wrong.

The layout and formatting of the book is extremely user-friendly, with helpful notes in the margin - but not overly friendly/personal such that relevant information is masked by waffle. Moreover, it is not only calculations; the book explains some of the key concepts and content as well (the chapter on redox equilibria is particularly excellent - everything in this complex topic became clear after reading the book).

Jim Clark's website, Chemguide, is also fantastic as well. I cannot praise the man enough!

Chemistry Student, 28 Sep 2007
This book has made my life easy, this book is worth it if you struggle to understand chemistry calculations.

I love Jim Clark, 08 May 2007
I purchased this book during my AS revision after struggling with the calculations, it is probably the only reason i passed my AS level. It covers all the necessary calculations in worked examples which are easy to follow as well as providing problems to practise on. I would recommend this book to anyone doing chemisrty A level, definately worth buying!! This book and chemguide have made chemistry a level alot more managable. THANKS JIM!!

Higher or advanced Higher Chemistry, 04 Apr 2007
If you are doing higher or advanced higher chemistry you do need this book. It is the best out there to help you! As a chemistry tutor I recommend this book to everyone that I see...... so much so that once they have the book I doubt I am needed as much..... especially for Unit 1&3 of Higher and Unit 2 of advanced higher...

So nearly perfect!, 07 Apr 2008
My 12 year old son picked this up and read in from front to back in preference to playing computer games - says it all, really! He adored it, but was slightly upset that not all elements were represented. I suggested it would have made it too large and not in the excellent 'pocket book' category, but he is correct that it is not only the wierd and wonderful elements that are missing but some basic ones too. Any chance of a 'Periodic Table Book 2' to fill in some gaps?
The subsequent 'Physics: Why Matter Matters' is even better and we can't wait for the Biology one in Oct 2008. Hope the series keeps going!

Just the best Periodic Table EVER!!!, 18 Jul 2007
This is how Science is supposed to be - FUN!
The book is accurate and covers everything a young mind would need to know about the elements and the little poster that comes with it (not shown here but is folded up in the back of the bok) is AMAZING!
I have scoured the internet for a periodic table for my son, and they come in many shapes and sizes but htis one is ideal as the colourful cartoon characters each element is given are represented on the chart too and he is really keen to learn all about them!
The book is written in the first person for each element and several interesting facts are given for each element as well as the important scientific data in easy to refer to bullet point form at the top of every page.
The elements are grouped correctly and each group has its own title page with description of the main features of each group (i.e. what makes the group what it is and how to identify elements that belong to that group)
the book is smaller than I thought but that just makes it even more accesible and the text is a good size, not too big, yet big enough to keep small eyes glued to the page.
I am now on the hunt to see if Kingfisher have published any more science books in this style as I want them all
Also an ideal read for Adults trying to pick up Science again after many years ( like me)
Super - really worth the money, and mine was delivered in 2 days.

OK - so its not for chemistry A-level or above, but anything below that level is sure to love it and to behonest I am thrilled that the book has given my son of 9 a chance to access the periodic table and that I won't all be far too tedious for him when he gets into Chemistry more later - he'll be one up on his classmates.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 30 May 2007
Who said chemistry had to be boring? (I'm sure no one has ever said this, but someone sure forgot to tell my science teacher!) Basher and Adrian Dingle have come together to create an entertaining and valuable resource for students with their version of the 111 elements.

Whether you're studying chemistry in school right now or not, you're sure to get a kick out of the full-color illustrations inside the pages of this book. Plus, you might actually learn something, as each element is fully described in detail: the name, its symbol, its atomic number, its atomic weight, its color, its standard state, and its classification.

The elements are also broken down into eleven separate categories, including the Alkali Metals, the Transition Elements, the Boron Elements, the Carbon Elements, the Nitrogen Elements, the Oxygen Elements, the Halogen Elements, the Noble Gases, the Lanthanides and Actinides, and the Transactinides.

This is the perfect, easy-to-use reference guide for people of all ages, and the included poster can easily be used for an educating, stylish decorating tool. Who knew elements could be so interesting??

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Elements with Style indeed!, 21 May 2007
Although the previous reviewer is correct in saying that not all the elements were represented in this book - I think this is not the point of the book.....Some elements, as I'm sure he is aware, have only been detected for millonths of a second - so writing much about them might, at this level, be a bit tough! I thought it was a wonderfully attractive book that breathed some new life into this subject - it was an excellent idea to give each of the elements a "personality"; and the text, on the whole, was witty and entertaining and accurate!

Short-changed, 25 Apr 2007
The concept behind this book is quite appealing: present cameo portraits of the elements of the periodic table as if they were personalities (Lead: "Don't let my heavyweight status fool you---at heart I'm a totally malleable softie...") accompanied by fun, manga-style cartoon characters. This kind of approach has the potential to appeal to older children.

Where it falls down is that of the 111 elements shown on the folded 9.5" x 13.5" poster at the back of the book, only 54 (i.e. less than half) are actually written up in the book proper. Thus, for example, Cadmium, shown on the back cover, and Polonium---intriguingly shown on the front cover no less---are conspicuously absent. The Boron elements mysteriously stop after Aluminium; missing are Gallium, Indium and Thallium. The entirety of the Lanthanoids and Transactinides has been given short-shrift.

These are disappointing omissions. The end product is frustratingly superficial, redundant (who cares about Lead---tell me something interesting about an element I may have never heard of e.g. Gallium, Europium, Astatine etc) and incomplete.

Helpfull book, 18 Jul 2007
This book is excellent for chemistry undergrads and postgrads. It is quite a hard read and you need to pick out the small part that you need to know about because it is written in detail. However the small details you select from this book aid your overall understanding of physical chemistry and is very helpfull. I think this book is written to a level which is higher than a chemistry degree. I used this book in my first year at university as an chemistry undergrad and found it extremly helpful. It is one of the core texts required for chemistry students at the university of manchester. If i found this book helpful so can you

Not for the complete novice, but invaluable for everyone else interested in the subject, 20 Jun 2007
Let's start with saying that the authors pull no mathematical punches. They assume a fair amount of maths and use it throughout, and not in the watered-down fashion, so often seen.

Optically, the book is a gem, and the authors have gone to great pains to use all the tricks at the modern printer's disposal.

Despite being, perhaps, somewhat heavy going if you lack the prerequisites, they manage to clarify almost anything for the reader willing to spend the effort.

One amazing thing is, that one does not require a stiff background in chemistry itself. Possible stumbling blocks lie in the maths, and the autors are extremely generous with worked examples and justifications.

A very useful feature is that the reader can cover one of two tracks, the traditional approach and the molecular approach in either order he or she chooses. The molecular approach doesn't start until chapter 8, but if you wish, you can jump in right there and hardly feel a loss not having read the previous seven. (It is heartily recommended that you do anyway -the classical approach is a beautiful subject in its own right.)

So, Mr. Atkins and Mr. de Paula, continue improving your shining work, if you can come up with ways to do so. As the book is now, I imagine new ideas are getting hard to come by, but if someone buys just one book on physical chemistry, this should be it.

An excellent text for the undergraduate, 10 Mar 2005
The fact that I've had the author as a lecturer for part of my physical chemistry course is helpful enough, but every topic that an undergraduate may requuire for their physical chemistry course should be found in here, and in my opinion, all are represented in reasonable detail. Occasionally, you may need to consult a more specialist textbook on a particular sub-topic, but even if you were to soley use this book as a guide, you could expect a comfortable pass. Probably the only physical chemistry textbook you should consider.

Classic case of quantity of quality, 12 Feb 2004
I won't deny that this book covers a phenomenal range of topics, but this isn't necessarily a good thing. In so many subjects it just doesn't contain enough material to be useful in preparing for undergraduate exams or workshops. If your lecturers follow this text closely then fine, this will probably be a very sensible buy, but otherwise look elsewhere.

That this is, as another reviewer pointed out, the de facto undergrad physical chemistry text is a problem because there isn't really a widely-available alternative. Lazy lecturers just recommend this book if their course is in physical or physical inorganic chemistry as they seem to assume it will contain everything their students need. Sadly this is rarely the case (in my experience). It may be worth obtaining some of the OUP primers for some of the more specialist topics or trying to find some more specific texts in your university library.

I feel that the mathematics in this book is too advanced. Many of my undergraduate colleagues struggled to understand the derivations and justifications, for example. But I suppose this depends entirely on your mathematical background; I came to university with A-level Pure Maths and had few problems. Those who had only AS Pure (or A-level Pure/Applied) seemed to find the material far more challenging.

In the book's defense, the topics on quantum theory are far more rigorous and thorough than most of the other material covered. If you are on an undergrad chemistry degree you probably won't do that much quantum mechanics though, so (as stated above) you may want to just find a dedicated book in the library.

There are some very clear colour diagrams in this book which can help to augment the text on a few topics (again, particularly the chapters on QM). I found the practice exercises fairly useless as they were, generally, more advanced than anything covered in my lecture courses. (This will, of course, depend on what is covered at your university.)

By the way, don't buy the solutions manual. Complete waste of money which doesn't come close to explaining clearly what's going on.

Concluding, it's difficult to either encourage or dissuade anyone from buying this. Wait until you get a little way into your course and have a flick through it in the library. If it looks like your physical lectures and problem questions are basically being copied from it (apparently quite common...), then by all means take the plunge and buy it. Just give it some thought and don't buy it without reading it first.

It's simple, 08 Nov 2003
I totally agree with the review givig by another reader!

Most people find Physical chemistry quite tough. Although I don't promise this book will solve all their problems, but it aint a bad start!

But this book is simply the defacto undergraduate text in Physical chemistry.

Pretty much everything in one book!

During my time as a student, almost all the lecturers follow the content covered in the Atkins book.

Provides all the information and goes as far as including the mathematical derviations of the all principles in the book.

If you are serious about physical chemistry, you have to buy this book! Don't waste your money on his inorganic chemistry book, but I think this book is a must and will last the whole duration of a 4 year european chemistry degree course.

Superb chemistry book, 11 Apr 2008
Rescued me from chemistry confusion. A must-have title. I've recommended this book to all my classmates and they have all thanked me again and again. Most thanks must go to Jim Clark though, who wrote it. Brilliant.

Look no further, 24 Feb 2008
If you are going to buy one book for your Chemistry A-level, then without doubt get this one. All the calculations you will ever need are explained here in detail, with plenty of worked-through examples, questions and crucially, answers (a lot of textbooks have lots of exercises but no means to check them). The answers are also worked through, with pointers towards parts that are potentially problematic, so that you can see where you went wrong.

The layout and formatting of the book is extremely user-friendly, with helpful notes in the margin - but not overly friendly/personal such that relevant information is masked by waffle. Moreover, it is not only calculations; the book explains some of the key concepts and content as well (the chapter on redox equilibria is particularly excellent - everything in this complex topic became clear after reading the book).

Jim Clark's website, Chemguide, is also fantastic as well. I cannot praise the man enough!

Chemistry Student, 28 Sep 2007
This book has made my life easy, this book is worth it if you struggle to understand chemistry calculations.

I love Jim Clark, 08 May 2007
I purchased this book during my AS revision after struggling with the calculations, it is probably the only reason i passed my AS level. It covers all the necessary calculations in worked examples which are easy to follow as well as providing problems to practise on. I would recommend this book to anyone doing chemisrty A level, definately worth buying!! This book and chemguide have made chemistry a level alot more managable. THANKS JIM!!

Higher or advanced Higher Chemistry, 04 Apr 2007
If you are doing higher or advanced higher chemistry you do need this book. It is the best out there to help you! As a chemistry tutor I recommend this book to everyone that I see...... so much so that once they have the book I doubt I am needed as much..... especially for Unit 1&3 of Higher and Unit 2 of advanced higher...

So nearly perfect!, 07 Apr 2008
My 12 year old son picked this up and read in from front to back in preference to playing computer games - says it all, really! He adored it, but was slightly upset that not all elements were represented. I suggested it would have made it too large and not in the excellent 'pocket book' category, but he is correct that it is not only the wierd and wonderful elements that are missing but some basic ones too. Any chance of a 'Periodic Table Book 2' to fill in some gaps?
The subsequent 'Physics: Why Matter Matters' is even better and we can't wait for the Biology one in Oct 2008. Hope the series keeps going!

Just the best Periodic Table EVER!!!, 18 Jul 2007
This is how Science is supposed to be - FUN!
The book is accurate and covers everything a young mind would need to know about the elements and the little poster that comes with it (not shown here but is folded up in the back of the bok) is AMAZING!
I have scoured the internet for a periodic table for my son, and they come in many shapes and sizes but htis one is ideal as the colourful cartoon characters each element is given are represented on the chart too and he is really keen to learn all about them!
The book is written in the first person for each element and several interesting facts are given for each element as well as the important scientific data in easy to refer to bullet point form at the top of every page.
The elements are grouped correctly and each group has its own title page with description of the main features of each group (i.e. what makes the group what it is and how to identify elements that belong to that group)
the book is smaller than I thought but that just makes it even more accesible and the text is a good size, not too big, yet big enough to keep small eyes glued to the page.
I am now on the hunt to see if Kingfisher have published any more science books in this style as I want them all
Also an ideal read for Adults trying to pick up Science again after many years ( like me)
Super - really worth the money, and mine was delivered in 2 days.

OK - so its not for chemistry A-level or above, but anything below that level is sure to love it and to behonest I am thrilled that the book has given my son of 9 a chance to access the periodic table and that I won't all be far too tedious for him when he gets into Chemistry more later - he'll be one up on his classmates.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 30 May 2007
Who said chemistry had to be boring? (I'm sure no one has ever said this, but someone sure forgot to tell my science teacher!) Basher and Adrian Dingle have come together to create an entertaining and valuable resource for students with their version of the 111 elements.

Whether you're studying chemistry in school right now or not, you're sure to get a kick out of the full-color illustrations inside the pages of this book. Plus, you might actually learn something, as each element is fully described in detail: the name, its symbol, its atomic number, its atomic weight, its color, its standard state, and its classification.

The elements are also broken down into eleven separate categories, including the Alkali Metals, the Transition Elements, the Boron Elements, the Carbon Elements, the Nitrogen Elements, the Oxygen Elements, the Halogen Elements, the Noble Gases, the Lanthanides and Actinides, and the Transactinides.

This is the perfect, easy-to-use reference guide for people of all ages, and the included poster can easily be used for an educating, stylish decorating tool. Who knew elements could be so interesting??

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Elements with Style indeed!, 21 May 2007
Although the previous reviewer is correct in saying that not all the elements were represented in this book - I think this is not the point of the book.....Some elements, as I'm sure he is aware, have only been detected for millonths of a second - so writing much about them might, at this level, be a bit tough! I thought it was a wonderfully attractive book that breathed some new life into this subject - it was an excellent idea to give each of the elements a "personality"; and the text, on the whole, was witty and entertaining and accurate!

Short-changed, 25 Apr 2007
The concept behind this book is quite appealing: present cameo portraits of the elements of the periodic table as if they were personalities (Lead: "Don't let my heavyweight status fool you---at heart I'm a totally malleable softie...") accompanied by fun, manga-style cartoon characters. This kind of approach has the potential to appeal to older children.

Where it falls down is that of the 111 elements shown on the folded 9.5" x 13.5" poster at the back of the book, only 54 (i.e. less than half) are actually written up in the book proper. Thus, for example, Cadmium, shown on the back cover, and Polonium---intriguingly shown on the front cover no less---are conspicuously absent. The Boron elements mysteriously stop after Aluminium; missing are Gallium, Indium and Thallium. The entirety of the Lanthanoids and Transactinides has been given short-shrift.

These are disappointing omissions. The end product is frustratingly superficial, redundant (who cares about Lead---tell me something interesting about an element I may have never heard of e.g. Gallium, Europium, Astatine etc) and incomplete.

Helpfull book, 18 Jul 2007
This book is excellent for chemistry undergrads and postgrads. It is quite a hard read and you need to pick out the small part that you need to know about because it is written in detail. However the small details you select from this book aid your overall understanding of physical chemistry and is very helpfull. I think this book is written to a level which is higher than a chemistry degree. I used this book in my first year at university as an chemistry undergrad and found it extremly helpful. It is one of the core texts required for chemistry students at the university of manchester. If i found this book helpful so can you

Not for the complete novice, but invaluable for everyone else interested in the subject, 20 Jun 2007
Let's start with saying that the authors pull no mathematical punches. They assume a fair amount of maths and use it throughout, and not in the watered-down fashion, so often seen.

Optically, the book is a gem, and the authors have gone to great pains to use all the tricks at the modern printer's disposal.

Despite being, perhaps, somewhat heavy going if you lack the prerequisites, they manage to clarify almost anything for the reader willing to spend the effort.

One amazing thing is, that one does not require a stiff background in chemistry itself. Possible stumbling blocks lie in the maths, and the autors are extremely generous with worked examples and justifications.

A very useful feature is that the reader can cover one of two tracks, the traditional approach and the molecular approach in either order he or she chooses. The molecular approach doesn't start until chapter 8, but if you wish, you can jump in right there and hardly feel a loss not having read the previous seven. (It is heartily recommended that you do anyway -the classical approach is a beautiful subject in its own right.)

So, Mr. Atkins and Mr. de Paula, continue improving your shining work, if you can come up with ways to do so. As the book is now, I imagine new ideas are getting hard to come by, but if someone buys just one book on physical chemistry, this should be it.

An excellent text for the undergraduate, 10 Mar 2005
The fact that I've had the author as a lecturer for part of my physical chemistry course is helpful enough, but every topic that an undergraduate may requuire for their physical chemistry course should be found in here, and in my opinion, all are represented in reasonable detail. Occasionally, you may need to consult a more specialist textbook on a particular sub-topic, but even if you were to soley use this book as a guide, you could expect a comfortable pass. Probably the only physical chemistry textbook you should consider.

Classic case of quantity of quality, 12 Feb 2004
I won't deny that this book covers a phenomenal range of topics, but this isn't necessarily a good thing. In so many subjects it just doesn't contain enough material to be useful in preparing for undergraduate exams or workshops. If your lecturers follow this text closely then fine, this will probably be a very sensible buy, but otherwise look elsewhere.

That this is, as another reviewer pointed out, the de facto undergrad physical chemistry text is a problem because there isn't really a widely-available alternative. Lazy lecturers just recommend this book if their course is in physical or physical inorganic chemistry as they seem to assume it will contain everything their students need. Sadly this is rarely the case (in my experience). It may be worth obtaining some of the OUP primers for some of the more specialist topics or trying to find some more specific texts in your university library.

I feel that the mathematics in this book is too advanced. Many of my undergraduate colleagues struggled to understand the derivations and justifications, for example. But I suppose this depends entirely on your mathematical background; I came to university with A-level Pure Maths and had few problems. Those who had only AS Pure (or A-level Pure/Applied) seemed to find the material far more challenging.

In the book's defense, the topics on quantum theory are far more rigorous and thorough than most of the other material covered. If you are on an undergrad chemistry degree you probably won't do that much quantum mechanics though, so (as stated above) you may want to just find a dedicated book in the library.

There are some very clear colour diagrams in this book which can help to augment the text on a few topics (again, particularly the chapters on QM). I found the practice exercises fairly useless as they were, generally, more advanced than anything covered in my lecture courses. (This will, of course, depend on what is covered at your university.)

By the way, don't buy the solutions manual. Complete waste of money which doesn't come close to explaining clearly what's going on.

Concluding, it's difficult to either encourage or dissuade anyone from buying this. Wait until you get a little way into your course and have a flick through it in the library. If it looks like your physical lectures and problem questions are basically being copied from it (apparently quite common...), then by all means take the plunge and buy it. Just give it some thought and don't buy it without reading it first.

It's simple, 08 Nov 2003
I totally agree with the review givig by another reader!

Most people find Physical chemistry quite tough. Although I don't promise this book will solve all their problems, but it aint a bad start!

But this book is simply the defacto undergraduate text in Physical chemistry.

Pretty much everything in one book!

During my time as a student, almost all the lecturers follow the content covered in the Atkins book.

Provides all the information and goes as far as including the mathematical derviations of the all principles in the book.

If you are serious about physical chemistry, you have to buy this book! Don't waste your money on his inorganic chemistry book, but I think this book is a must and will last the whole duration of a 4 year european chemistry degree course.

Surprisingly detailed given the size..., 09 Jun 2008
This book is a great concise reference book- you can dip in and out of it very easily, and each topic is very clearly indicated so you don't get lost in the tool print or run into finding a topic, only not to be able to decipher it because it relies on a preamble 20 pages long... None of that here. 2 pages per topic and you're done...
It covers both conditions as well as treatments- something not covered as well elsewhere, or perhaps as independently.
The AaG series you either love or hate- I am not that keen, but I must admit that I think this book is useful and contains a surprising level of detail. That said, you aren't going to approach this book looking to answer the niggling little questions that you face on the wards- as this is concise!

The best summary text, 13 May 2008
The benefits are:
- an entire topic is summarised into a 2 page spread (therefore easier to memorise)
- only the important facts are presented
- the diagrams are excellent, real pictures are included when appropriate
- the language of the text is, simple and straight to the point
- the price is extrememly reasonable given the size of the book (420 pages)


Dont expect detailed information from this book e.g. there are no doses for any of the medications (check out the BNF for this).

Should be used, despite it's problems, 10 May 2008
This is a good book to start off your revision for medical finals and I would definitely recommend it, especially the orange sections - however I would say that it does get a bit tedious in places (especially the investigations & management sections which are sometimes a bit sparse and not ordered logically) - so use it with the Oxford Handbook or online sources (gpnotebook, bmj etc which are both absolutely amazing revision resources once you get a hang of them).



Great book, 13 Apr 2008
Im a medical student like everybody else who buys this book. Sure there is the ever popular Kumar and Clark but it just goes on and on, you read through three pages of text to get one or two points.
This is more "wham bam!" approach ; definition, causes, treatment etc.
It does assume you remember your guytons (physiology) and pathophysiology to a certain extent.

I'd recommend working in this order; guytons physiology,then this book, and add another book if you have time for reference and just additional knowledge.

It covers most things, just not all. However its the fact that the book is thin, easy to read and STUDENT friendly, unlike other books which are more for DOCTORS

Medicine at a Glance - a perfect revision tool, 24 Mar 2008
Medicine at a Glance is one of the best, most abundantly and colourfully illustrated books of clinical medicine you are likely to encounter. All the essentials of clinical medicine (as well as some aspects of surgery) are included in just over 400 pages providing a simple and clear way in which to learn from. It covers topics in 2 ways; a disease-based as well as a symptoms-based approach. As a large amount of space is taken up in a diagrammatic form, the book is intended to help the student understand and remember medicine rather than learn it in great depth and detail. It is no doubt, an extremely useful revision.

Superb chemistry book, 11 Apr 2008
Rescued me from chemistry confusion. A must-have title. I've recommended this book to all my classmates and they have all thanked me again and again. Most thanks must go to Jim Clark though, who wrote it. Brilliant.

Look no further, 24 Feb 2008
If you are going to buy one book for your Chemistry A-level, then without doubt get this one. All the calculations you will ever need are explained here in detail, with plenty of worked-through examples, questions and crucially, answers (a lot of textbooks have lots of exercises but no means to check them). The answers are also worked through, with pointers towards parts that are potentially problematic, so that you can see where you went wrong.

The layout and formatting of the book is extremely user-friendly, with helpful notes in the margin - but not overly friendly/personal such that relevant information is masked by waffle. Moreover, it is not only calculations; the book explains some of the key concepts and content as well (the chapter on redox equilibria is particularly excellent - everything in this complex topic became clear after reading the book).

Jim Clark's website, Chemguide, is also fantastic as well. I cannot praise the man enough!

Chemistry Student, 28 Sep 2007
This book has made my life easy, this book is worth it if you struggle to understand chemistry calculations.

I love Jim Clark, 08 May 2007
I purchased this book during my AS revision after struggling with the calculations, it is probably the only reason i passed my AS level. It covers all the necessary calculations in worked examples which are easy to follow as well as providing problems to practise on. I would recommend this book to anyone doing chemisrty A level, definately worth buying!! This book and chemguide have made chemistry a level alot more managable. THANKS JIM!!

Higher or advanced Higher Chemistry, 04 Apr 2007
If you are doing higher or advanced higher chemistry you do need this book. It is the best out there to help you! As a chemistry tutor I recommend this book to everyone that I see...... so much so that once they have the book I doubt I am needed as much..... especially for Unit 1&3 of Higher and Unit 2 of advanced higher...

So nearly perfect!, 07 Apr 2008
My 12 year old son picked this up and read in from front to back in preference to playing computer games - says it all, really! He adored it, but was slightly upset that not all elements were represented. I suggested it would have made it too large and not in the excellent 'pocket book' category, but he is correct that it is not only the wierd and wonderful elements that are missing but some basic ones too. Any chance of a 'Periodic Table Book 2' to fill in some gaps?
The subsequent 'Physics: Why Matter Matters' is even better and we can't wait for the Biology one in Oct 2008. Hope the series keeps going!

Just the best Periodic Table EVER!!!, 18 Jul 2007
This is how Science is supposed to be - FUN!
The book is accurate and covers everything a young mind would need to know about the elements and the little poster that comes with it (not shown here but is folded up in the back of the bok) is AMAZING!
I have scoured the internet for a periodic table for my son, and they come in many shapes and sizes but htis one is ideal as the colourful cartoon characters each element is given are represented on the chart too and he is really keen to learn all about them!
The book is written in the first person for each element and several interesting facts are given for each element as well as the important scientific data in easy to refer to bullet point form at the top of every page.
The elements are grouped correctly and each group has its own title page with description of the main features of each group (i.e. what makes the group what it is and how to identify elements that belong to that group)
the book is smaller than I thought but that just makes it even more accesible and the text is a good size, not too big, yet big enough to keep small eyes glued to the page.
I am now on the hunt to see if Kingfisher have published any more science books in this style as I want them all
Also an ideal read for Adults trying to pick up Science again after many years ( like me)
Super - really worth the money, and mine was delivered in 2 days.

OK - so its not for chemistry A-level or above, but anything below that level is sure to love it and to behonest I am thrilled that the book has given my son of 9 a chance to access the periodic table and that I won't all be far too tedious for him when he gets into Chemistry more later - he'll be one up on his classmates.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 30 May 2007
Who said chemistry had to be boring? (I'm sure no one has ever said this, but someone sure forgot to tell my science teacher!) Basher and Adrian Dingle have come together to create an entertaining and valuable resource for students with their version of the 111 elements.

Whether you're studying chemistry in school right now or not, you're sure to get a kick out of the full-color illustrations inside the pages of this book. Plus, you might actually learn something, as each element is fully described in detail: the name, its symbol, its atomic number, its atomic weight, its color, its standard state, and its classification.

The elements are also broken down into eleven separate categories, including the Alkali Metals, the Transition Elements, the Boron Elements, the Carbon Elements, the Nitrogen Elements, the Oxygen Elements, the Halogen Elements, the Noble Gases, the Lanthanides and Actinides, and the Transactinides.

This is the perfect, easy-to-use reference guide for people of all ages, and the included poster can easily be used for an educating, stylish decorating tool. Who knew elements could be so interesting??

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Elements with Style indeed!, 21 May 2007
Although the previous reviewer is correct in saying that not all the elements were represented in this book - I think this is not the point of the book.....Some elements, as I'm sure he is aware, have only been detected for millonths of a second - so writing much about them might, at this level, be a bit tough! I thought it was a wonderfully attractive book that breathed some new life into this subject - it was an excellent idea to give each of the elements a "personality"; and the text, on the whole, was witty and entertaining and accurate!

Short-changed, 25 Apr 2007
The concept behind this book is quite appealing: present cameo portraits of the elements of the periodic table as if they were personalities (Lead: "Don't let my heavyweight status fool you---at heart I'm a totally malleable softie...") accompanied by fun, manga-style cartoon characters. This kind of approach has the potential to appeal to older children.

Where it falls down is that of the 111 elements shown on the folded 9.5" x 13.5" poster at the back of the book, only 54 (i.e. less than half) are actually written up in the book proper. Thus, for example, Cadmium, shown on the back cover, and Polonium---intriguingly shown on the front cover no less---are conspicuously absent. The Boron elements mysteriously stop after Aluminium; missing are Gallium, Indium and Thallium. The entirety of the Lanthanoids and Transactinides has been given short-shrift.

These are disappointing omissions. The end product is frustratingly superficial, redundant (who cares about Lead---tell me something interesting about an element I may have never heard of e.g. Gallium, Europium, Astatine etc) and incomplete.

Helpfull book, 18 Jul 2007
This book is excellent for chemistry undergrads and postgrads. It is quite a hard read and you need to pick out the small part that you need to know about because it is written in detail. However the small details you select from this book aid your overall understanding of physical chemistry and is very helpfull. I think this book is written to a level which is higher than a chemistry degree. I used this book in my first year at university as an chemistry undergrad and found it extremly helpful. It is one of the core texts required for chemistry students at the university of manchester. If i found this book helpful so can you

Not for the complete novice, but invaluable for everyone else interested in the subject, 20 Jun 2007
Let's start with saying that the authors pull no mathematical punches. They assume a fair amount of maths and use it throughout, and not in the watered-down fashion, so often seen.

Optically, the book is a gem, and the authors have gone to great pains to use all the tricks at the modern printer's disposal.

Despite being, perhaps, somewhat heavy going if you lack the prerequisites, they manage to clarify almost anything for the reader willing to spend the effort.

One amazing thing is, that one does not require a stiff background in chemistry itself. Possible stumbling blocks lie in the maths, and the autors are extremely generous with worked examples and justifications.

A very useful feature is that the reader can cover one of two tracks, the traditional approach and the molecular approach in either order he or she chooses. The molecular approach doesn't start until chapter 8, but if you wish, you can jump in right there and hardly feel a loss not having read the previous seven. (It is heartily recommended that you do anyway -the classical approach is a beautiful subject in its own right.)

So, Mr. Atkins and Mr. de Paula, continue improving your shining work, if you can come up with ways to do so. As the book is now, I imagine new ideas are getting hard to come by, but if someone buys just one book on physical chemistry, this should be it.

An excellent text for the undergraduate, 10 Mar 2005
The fact that I've had the author as a lecturer for part of my physical chemistry course is helpful enough, but every topic that an undergraduate may requuire for their physical chemistry course should be found in here, and in my opinion, all are represented in reasonable detail. Occasionally, you may need to consult a more specialist textbook on a particular sub-topic, but even if you were to soley use this book as a guide, you could expect a comfortable pass. Probably the only physical chemistry textbook you should consider.

Classic case of quantity of quality, 12 Feb 2004
I won't deny that this book covers a phenomenal range of topics, but this isn't necessarily a good thing. In so many subjects it just doesn't contain enough material to be useful in preparing for undergraduate exams or workshops. If your lecturers follow this text closely then fine, this will probably be a very sensible buy, but otherwise look elsewhere.

That this is, as another reviewer pointed out, the de facto undergrad physical chemistry text is a problem because there isn't really a widely-available alternative. Lazy lecturers just recommend this book if their course is in physical or physical inorganic chemistry as they seem to assume it will contain everything their students need. Sadly this is rarely the case (in my experience). It may be worth obtaining some of the OUP primers for some of the more specialist topics or trying to find some more specific texts in your university library.

I feel that the mathematics in this book is too advanced. Many of my undergraduate colleagues struggled to understand the derivations and justifications, for example. But I suppose this depends entirely on your mathematical background; I came to university with A-level Pure Maths and had few problems. Those who had only AS Pure (or A-level Pure/Applied) seemed to find the material far more challenging.

In the book's defense, the topics on quantum theory are far more rigorous and thorough than most of the other material covered. If you are on an undergrad chemistry degree you probably won't do that much quantum mechanics though, so (as stated above) you may want to just find a dedicated book in the library.

There are some very clear colour diagrams in this book which can help to augment the text on a few topics (again, particularly the chapters on QM). I found the practice exercises fairly useless as they were, generally, more advanced than anything covered in my lecture courses. (This will, of course, depend on what is covered at your university.)

By the way, don't buy the solutions manual. Complete waste of money which doesn't come close to explaining clearly what's going on.

Concluding, it's difficult to either encourage or dissuade anyone from buying this. Wait until you get a little way into your course and have a flick through it in the library. If it looks like your physical lectures and problem questions are basically being copied from it (apparently quite common...), then by all means take the plunge and buy it. Just give it some thought and don't buy it without reading it first.

It's simple, 08 Nov 2003
I totally agree with the review givig by another reader!

Most people find Physical chemistry quite tough. Although I don't promise this book will solve all their problems, but it aint a bad start!

But this book is simply the defacto undergraduate text in Physical chemistry.

Pretty much everything in one book!

During my time as a student, almost all the lecturers follow the content covered in the Atkins book.

Provides all the information and goes as far as including the mathematical derviations of the all principles in the book.

If you are serious about physical chemistry, you have to buy this book! Don't waste your money on his inorganic chemistry book, but I think this book is a must and will last the whole duration of a 4 year european chemistry degree course.

Surprisingly detailed given the size..., 09 Jun 2008
This book is a great concise reference book- you can dip in and out of it very easily, and each topic is very clearly indicated so you don't get lost in the tool print or run into finding a topic, only not to be able to decipher it because it relies on a preamble 20 pages long... None of that here. 2 pages per topic and you're done...
It covers both conditions as well as treatments- something not covered as well elsewhere, or perhaps as independently.
The AaG series you either love or hate- I am not that keen, but I must admit that I think this book is useful and contains a surprising level of detail. That said, you aren't going to approach this book looking to answer the niggling little questions that you face on the wards- as this is concise!

The best summary text, 13 May 2008
The benefits are:
- an entire topic is summarised into a 2 page spread (therefore easier to memorise)
- only the important facts are presented
- the diagrams are excellent, real pictures are included when appropriate
- the language of the text is, simple and straight to the point
- the price is extrememly reasonable given the size of the book (420 pages)


Dont expect detailed information from this book e.g. there are no doses for any of the medications (check out the BNF for this).

Should be used, despite it's problems, 10 May 2008
This is a good book to start off your revision for medical finals and I would definitely recommend it, especially the orange sections - however I would say that it does get a bit tedious in places (especially the investigations & management sections which are sometimes a bit sparse and not ordered logically) - so use it with the Oxford Handbook or online sources (gpnotebook, bmj etc which are both absolutely amazing revision resources once you get a hang of them).



Great book, 13 Apr 2008
Im a medical student like everybody else who buys this book. Sure there is the ever popular Kumar and Clark but it just goes on and on, you read through three pages of text to get one or two points.
This is more "wham bam!" approach ; definition, causes, treatment etc.
It does assume you remember your guytons (physiology) and pathophysiology to a certain extent.

I'd recommend working in this order; guytons physiology,then this book, and add another book if you have time for reference and just additional knowledge.

It covers most things, just not all. However its the fact that the book is thin, easy to read and STUDENT friendly, unlike other books which are more for DOCTORS

Medicine at a Glance - a perfect revision tool, 24 Mar 2008
Medicine at a Glance is one of the best, most abundantly and colourfully illustrated books of clinical medicine you are likely to encounter. All the essentials of clinical medicine (as well as some aspects of surgery) are included in just over 400 pages providing a simple and clear way in which to learn from. It covers topics in 2 ways; a disease-based as well as a symptoms-based approach. As a large amount of space is taken up in a diagrammatic form, the book is intended to help the student understand and remember medicine rather than learn it in great depth and detail. It is no doubt, an extremely useful revision.

Amazing, 17 Oct 2008
This book is amazing - i'm doing my a-levels now and this is really helping me. It explains thing so well.

Superb chemistry book, 11 Apr 2008
Rescued me from chemistry confusion. A must-have title. I've recommended this book to all my classmates and they have all thanked me again and again. Most thanks must go to Jim Clark though, who wrote it. Brilliant.

Look no further, 24 Feb 2008
If you are going to buy one book for your Chemistry A-level, then without doubt get this one. All the calculations you will ever need are explained here in detail, with plenty of worked-through examples, questions and crucially, answers (a lot of textbooks have lots of exercises but no means to check them). The answers are also worked through, with pointers towards parts that are potentially problematic, so that you can see where you went wrong.

The layout and formatting of the book is extremely user-friendly, with helpful notes in the margin - but not overly friendly/personal such that relevant information is masked by waffle. Moreover, it is not only calculations; the book explains some of the key concepts and content as well (the chapter on redox equilibria is particularly excellent - everything in this complex topic became clear after reading the book).

Jim Clark's website, Chemguide, is also fantastic as well. I cannot praise the man enough!

Chemistry Student, 28 Sep 2007
This book has made my life easy, this book is worth it if you struggle to understand chemistry calculations.

I love Jim Clark, 08 May 2007
I purchased this book during my AS revision after struggling with the calculations, it is probably the only reason i passed my AS level. It covers all the necessary calculations in worked examples which are easy to follow as well as providing problems to practise on. I would recommend this book to anyone doing chemisrty A level, definately worth buying!! This book and chemguide have made chemistry a level alot more managable. THANKS JIM!!

Higher or advanced Higher Chemistry, 04 Apr 2007
If you are doing higher or advanced higher chemistry you do need this book. It is the best out there to help you! As a chemistry tutor I recommend this book to everyone that I see...... so much so that once they have the book I doubt I am needed as much..... especially for Unit 1&3 of Higher and Unit 2 of advanced higher...

So nearly perfect!, 07 Apr 2008
My 12 year old son picked this up and read in from front to back in preference to playing computer games - says it all, really! He adored it, but was slightly upset that not all elements were represented. I suggested it would have made it too large and not in the excellent 'pocket book' category, but he is correct that it is not only the wierd and wonderful elements that are missing but some basic ones too. Any chance of a 'Periodic Table Book 2' to fill in some gaps?
The subsequent 'Physics: Why Matter Matters' is even better and we can't wait for the Biology one in Oct 2008. Hope the series keeps going!

Just the best Periodic Table EVER!!!, 18 Jul 2007
This is how Science is supposed to be - FUN!
The book is accurate and covers everything a young mind would need to know about the elements and the little poster that comes with it (not shown here but is folded up in the back of the bok) is AMAZING!
I have scoured the internet for a periodic table for my son, and they come in many shapes and sizes but htis one is ideal as the colourful cartoon characters each element is given are represented on the chart too and he is really keen to learn all about them!
The book is written in the first person for each element and several interesting facts are given for each element as well as the important scientific data in easy to refer to bullet point form at the top of every page.
The elements are grouped correctly and each group has its own title page with description of the main features of each group (i.e. what makes the group what it is and how to identify elements that belong to that group)
the book is smaller than I thought but that just makes it even more accesible and the text is a good size, not too big, yet big enough to keep small eyes glued to the page.
I am now on the hunt to see if Kingfisher have published any more science books in this style as I want them all
Also an ideal read for Adults trying to pick up Science again after many years ( like me)
Super - really worth the money, and mine was delivered in 2 days.

OK - so its not for chemistry A-level or above, but anything below that level is sure to love it and to behonest I am thrilled that the book has given my son of 9 a chance to access the periodic table and that I won't all be far too tedious for him when he gets into Chemistry more later - he'll be one up on his classmates.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 30 May 2007
Who said chemistry had to be boring? (I'm sure no one has ever said this, but someone sure forgot to tell my science teacher!) Basher and Adrian Dingle have come together to create an entertaining and valuable resource for students with their version of the 111 elements.

Whether you're studying chemistry in school right now or not, you're sure to get a kick out of the full-color illustrations inside the pages of this book. Plus, you might actually learn something, as each element is fully described in detail: the name, its symbol, its atomic number, its atomic weight, its color, its standard state, and its classification.

The elements are also broken down into eleven separate categories, including the Alkali Metals, the Transition Elements, the Boron Elements, the Carbon Elements, the Nitrogen Elements, the Oxygen Elements, the Halogen Elements, the Noble Gases, the Lanthanides and Actinides, and the Transactinides.

This is the perfect, easy-to-use reference guide for people of all ages, and the included poster can easily be used for an educating, stylish decorating tool. Who knew elements could be so interesting??

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Elements with Style indeed!, 21 May 2007
Although the previous reviewer is correct in saying that not all the elements were represented in this book - I think this is not the point of the book.....Some elements, as I'm sure he is aware, have only been detected for millonths of a second - so writing much about them might, at this level, be a bit tough! I thought it was a wonderfully attractive book that breathed some new life into this subject - it was an excellent idea to give each of the elements a "personality"; and the text, on the whole, was witty and entertaining and accurate!

Short-changed, 25 Apr 2007
The concept behind this book is quite appealing: present cameo portraits of the elements of the periodic table as if they were personalities (Lead: "Don't let my heavyweight status fool you---at heart I'm a totally malleable softie...") accompanied by fun, manga-style cartoon characters. This kind of approach has the potential to appeal to older children.

Where it falls down is that of the 111 elements shown on the folded 9.5" x 13.5" poster at the back of the book, only 54 (i.e. less than half) are actually written up in the book proper. Thus, for example, Cadmium, shown on the back cover, and Polonium---intriguingly shown on the front cover no less---are conspicuously absent. The Boron elements mysteriously stop after Aluminium; missing are Gallium, Indium and Thallium. The entirety of the Lanthanoids and Transactinides has been given short-shrift.

These are disappointing omissions. The end product is frustratingly superficial, redundant (who cares about Lead---tell me something interesting about an element I may have never heard of e.g. Gallium, Europium, Astatine etc) and incomplete.

Helpfull book, 18 Jul 2007
This book is excellent for chemistry undergrads and postgrads. It is quite a hard read and you need to pick out the small part that you need to know about because it is written in detail. However the small details you select from this book aid your overall understanding of physical chemistry and is very helpfull. I think this book is written to a level which is higher than a chemistry degree. I used this book in my first year at university as an chemistry undergrad and found it extremly helpful. It is one of the core texts required for chemistry students at the university of manchester. If i found this book helpful so can you

Not for the complete novice, but invaluable for everyone else interested in the subject, 20 Jun 2007
Let's start with saying that the authors pull no mathematical punches. They assume a fair amount of maths and use it throughout, and not in the watered-down fashion, so often seen.

Optically, the book is a gem, and the authors have gone to great pains to use all the tricks at the modern printer's disposal.

Despite being, perhaps, somewhat heavy going if you lack the prerequisites, they manage to clarify almost anything for the reader willing to spend the effort.

One amazing thing is, that one does not require a stiff background in chemistry itself. Possible stumbling blocks lie in the maths, and the autors are extremely generous with worked examples and justifications.

A very useful feature is that the reader can cover one of two tracks, the traditional approach and the molecular approach in either order he or she chooses. The molecular approach doesn't start until chapter 8, but if you wish, you can jump in right there and hardly feel a loss not having read the previous seven. (It is heartily recommended that you do anyway -the classical approach is a beautiful subject in its own right.)

So, Mr. Atkins and Mr. de Paula, continue improving your shining work, if you can come up with ways to do so. As the book is now, I imagine new ideas are getting hard to come by, but if someone buys just one book on physical chemistry, this should be it.

An excellent text for the undergraduate, 10 Mar 2005
The fact that I've had the author as a lecturer for part of my physical chemistry course is helpful enough, but every topic that an undergraduate may requuire for their physical chemistry course should be found in here, and in my opinion, all are represented in reasonable detail. Occasionally, you may need to consult a more specialist textbook on a particular sub-topic, but even if you were to soley use this book as a guide, you could expect a comfortable pass. Probably the only physical chemistry textbook you should consider.

Classic case of quantity of quality, 12 Feb 2004
I won't deny that this book covers a phenomenal range of topics, but this isn't necessarily a good thing. In so many subjects it just doesn't contain enough material to be useful in preparing for undergraduate exams or workshops. If your lecturers follow this text closely then fine, this will probably be a very sensible buy, but otherwise look elsewhere.

That this is, as another reviewer pointed out, the de facto undergrad physical chemistry text is a problem because there isn't really a widely-available alternative. Lazy lecturers just recommend this book if their course is in physical or physical inorganic chemistry as they seem to assume it will contain everything their students need. Sadly this is rarely the case (in my experience). It may be worth obtaining some of the OUP primers for some of the more specialist topics or trying to find some more specific texts in your university library.

I feel that the mathematics in this book is too advanced. Many of my undergraduate colleagues struggled to understand the derivations and justifications, for example. But I suppose this depends entirely on your mathematical background; I came to university with A-level Pure Maths and had few problems. Those who had only AS Pure (or A-level Pure/Applied) seemed to find the material far more challenging.

In the book's defense, the topics on quantum theory are far more rigorous and thorough than most of the other material covered. If you are on an undergrad chemistry degree you probably won't do that much quantum mechanics though, so (as stated above) you may want to just find a dedicated book in the library.

There are some very clear colour diagrams in this book which can help to augment the text on a few topics (again, particularly the chapters on QM). I found the practice exercises fairly useless as they were, generally, more advanced than anything covered in my lecture courses. (This will, of course, depend on what is covered at your university.)

By the way, don't buy the solutions manual. Complete waste of money which doesn't come close to explaining clearly what's going on.

Concluding, it's difficult to either encourage or dissuade anyone from buying this. Wait until you get a little way into your course and have a flick through it in the library. If it looks like your physical lectures and problem questions are basically being copied from it (apparently quite common...), then by all means take the plunge and buy it. Just give it some thought and don't buy it without reading it first.

It's simple, 08 Nov 2003
I totally agree with the review givig by another reader!

Most people find Physical chemistry quite tough. Although I don't promise this book will solve all their problems, but it aint a bad start!

But this book is simply the defacto undergraduate text in Physical chemistry.

Pretty much everything in one book!

During my time as a student, almost all the lecturers follow the content covered in the Atkins book.

Provides all the information and goes as far as including the mathematical derviations of the all principles in the book.

If you are serious about physical chemistry, you have to buy this book! Don't waste your money on his inorganic chemistry book, but I think this book is a must and will last the whole duration of a 4 year european chemistry degree course.

Surprisingly detailed given the size..., 09 Jun 2008
This book is a great concise reference book- you can dip in and out of it very easily, and each topic is very clearly indicated so you don't get lost in the tool print or run into finding a topic, only not to be able to decipher it because it relies on a preamble 20 pages long... None of that here. 2 pages per topic and you're done...
It covers both conditions as well as treatments- something not covered as well elsewhere, or perhaps as independently.
The AaG series you either love or hate- I am not that keen, but I must admit that I think this book is useful and contains a surprising level of detail. That said, you aren't going to approach this book looking to answer the niggling little questions that you face on the wards- as this is concise!

The best summary text, 13 May 2008
The benefits are:
- an entire topic is summarised into a 2 page spread (therefore easier to memorise)
- only the important facts are presented
- the diagrams are excellent, real pictures are included when appropriate
- the language of the text is, simple and straight to the point
- the price is extrememly reasonable given the size of the book (420 pages)


Dont expect detailed information from this book e.g. there are no doses for any of the medications (check out the BNF for this).

Should be used, despite it's problems, 10 May 2008
This is a good book to start off your revision for medical finals and I would definitely recommend it, especially the orange sections - however I would say that it does get a bit tedious in places (especially the investigations & management sections which are sometimes a bit sparse and not ordered logically) - so use it with the Oxford Handbook or online sources (gpnotebook, bmj etc which are both absolutely amazing revision resources once you get a hang of them).



Great book, 13 Apr 2008
Im a medical student like everybody else who buys this book. Sure there is the ever popular Kumar and Clark but it just goes on and on, you read through three pages of text to get one or two points.
This is more "wham bam!" approach ; definition, causes, treatment etc.
It does assume you remember your guytons (physiology) and pathophysiology to a certain extent.

I'd recommend working in this order; guytons physiology,then this book, and add another book if you have time for reference and just additional knowledge.

It covers most things, just not all. However its the fact that the book is thin, easy to read and STUDENT friendly, unlike other books which are more for DOCTORS

Medicine at a Glance - a perfect revision tool, 24 Mar 2008
Medicine at a Glance is one of the best, most abundantly and colourfully illustrated books of clinical medicine you are likely to encounter. All the essentials of clinical medicine (as well as some aspects of surgery) are included in just over 400 pages providing a simple and clear way in which to learn from. It covers topics in 2 ways; a disease-based as well as a symptoms-based approach. As a large amount of space is taken up in a diagrammatic form, the book is intended to help the student understand and remember medicine rather than learn it in great depth and detail. It is no doubt, an extremely useful revision.

Amazing, 17 Oct 2008
This book is amazing - i'm doing my a-levels now and this is really helping me. It explains thing so well.

Amazing, 17 Oct 2008
This book is amazing - i'm doing my a-levels now and this is really helping me.

Superb chemistry book, 11 Apr 2008
Rescued me from chemistry confusion. A must-have title. I've recommended this book to all my classmates and they have all thanked me again and again. Most thanks must go to Jim Clark though, who wrote it. Brilliant.

Look no further, 24 Feb 2008
If you are going to buy one book for your Chemistry A-level, then without doubt get this one. All the calculations you will ever need are explained here in detail, with plenty of worked-through examples, questions and crucially, answers (a lot of textbooks have lots of exercises but no means to check them). The answers are also worked through, with pointers towards parts that are potentially problematic, so that you can see where you went wrong.

The layout and formatting of the book is extremely user-friendly, with helpful notes in the margin - but not overly friendly/personal such that relevant information is masked by waffle. Moreover, it is not only calculations; the book explains some of the key concepts and content as well (the chapter on redox equilibria is particularly excellent - everything in this complex topic became clear after reading the book).

Jim Clark's website, Chemguide, is also fantastic as well. I cannot praise the man enough!

Chemistry Student, 28 Sep 2007
This book has made my life easy, this book is worth it if you struggle to understand chemistry calculations.

I love Jim Clark, 08 May 2007
I purchased this book during my AS revision after struggling with the calculations, it is probably the only reason i passed my AS level. It covers all the necessary calculations in worked examples which are easy to follow as well as providing problems to practise on. I would recommend this book to anyone doing chemisrty A level, definately worth buying!! This book and chemguide have made chemistry a level alot more managable. THANKS JIM!!

Higher or advanced Higher Chemistry, 04 Apr 2007
If you are doing higher or advanced higher chemistry you do need this book. It is the best out there to help you! As a chemistry tutor I recommend this book to everyone that I see...... so much so that once they have the book I doubt I am needed as much..... especially for Unit 1&3 of Higher and Unit 2 of advanced higher...

So nearly perfect!, 07 Apr 2008
My 12 year old son picked this up and read in from front to back in preference to playing computer games - says it all, really! He adored it, but was slightly upset that not all elements were represented. I suggested it would have made it too large and not in the excellent 'pocket book' category, but he is correct that it is not only the wierd and wonderful elements that are missing but some basic ones too. Any chance of a 'Periodic Table Book 2' to fill in some gaps?
The subsequent 'Physics: Why Matter Matters' is even better and we can't wait for the Biology one in Oct 2008. Hope the series keeps going!

Just the best Periodic Table EVER!!!, 18 Jul 2007
This is how Science is supposed to be - FUN!
The book is accurate and covers everything a young mind would need to know about the elements and the little poster that comes with it (not shown here but is folded up in the back of the bok) is AMAZING!
I have scoured the internet for a periodic table for my son, and they come in many shapes and sizes but htis one is ideal as the colourful cartoon characters each element is given are represented on the chart too and he is really keen to learn all about them!
The book is written in the first person for each element and several interesting facts are given for each element as well as the important scientific data in easy to refer to bullet point form at the top of every page.
The elements are grouped correctly and each group has its own title page with description of the main features of each group (i.e. what makes the group what it is and how to identify elements that belong to that group)
the book is smaller than I thought but that just makes it even more accesible and the text is a good size, not too big, yet big enough to keep small eyes glued to the page.
I am now on the hunt to see if Kingfisher have published any more science books in this style as I want them all
Also an ideal read for Adults trying to pick up Science again after many years ( like me)
Super - really worth the money, and mine was delivered in 2 days.

OK - so its not for chemistry A-level or above, but anything below that level is sure to love it and to behonest I am thrilled that the book has given my son of 9 a chance to access the periodic table and that I won't all be far too tedious for him when he gets into Chemistry more later - he'll be one up on his classmates.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 30 May 2007
Who said chemistry had to be boring? (I'm sure no one has ever said this, but someone sure forgot to tell my science teacher!) Basher and Adrian Dingle have come together to create an entertaining and valuable resource for students with their version of the 111 elements.

Whether you're studying chemistry in school right now or not, you're sure to get a kick out of the full-color illustrations inside the pages of this book. Plus, you might actually learn something, as each element is fully described in detail: the name, its symbol, its atomic number, its atomic weight, its color, its standard state, and its classification.

The elements are also broken down into eleven separate categories, including the Alkali Metals, the Transition Elements, the Boron Elements, the Carbon Elements, the Nitrogen Elements, the Oxygen Elements, the Halogen Elements, the Noble Gases, the Lanthanides and Actinides, and the Transactinides.

This is the perfect, easy-to-use reference guide for people of all ages, and the included poster can easily be used for an educating, stylish decorating tool. Who knew elements could be so interesting??

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Elements with Style indeed!, 21 May 2007
Although the previous reviewer is correct in saying that not all the elements were represented in this book - I think this is not the point of the book.....Some elements, as I'm sure he is aware, have only been detected for millonths of a second - so writing much about them might, at this level, be a bit tough! I thought it was a wonderfully attractive book that breathed some new life into this subject - it was an excellent idea to give each of the elements a "personality"; and the text, on the whole, was witty and entertaining and accurate!

Short-changed, 25 Apr 2007
The concept behind this book is quite appealing: present cameo portraits of the elements of the periodic table as if they were personalities (Lead: "Don't let my heavyweight status fool you---at heart I'm a totally malleable softie...") accompanied by fun, manga-style cartoon characters. This kind of approach has the potential to appeal to older children.

Where it falls down is that of the 111 elements shown on the folded 9.5" x 13.5" poster at the back of the book, only 54 (i.e. less than half) are actually written up in the book proper. Thus, for example, Cadmium, shown on the back cover, and Polonium---intriguingly shown on the front cover no less---are conspicuously absent. The Boron elements mysteriously stop after Aluminium; missing are Gallium, Indium and Thallium. The entirety of the Lanthanoids and Transactinides has been given short-shrift.

These are disappointing omissions. The end product is frustratingly superficial, redundant (who cares about Lead---tell me something interesting about an element I may have never heard of e.g. Gallium, Europium, Astatine etc) and incomplete.

Helpfull book, 18 Jul 2007
This book is excellent for chemistry undergrads and postgrads. It is quite a hard read and you need to pick out the small part that you need to know about because it is written in detail. However the small details you select from this book aid your overall understanding of physical chemistry and is very helpfull. I think this book is written to a level which is higher than a chemistry degree. I used this book in my first year at university as an chemistry undergrad and found it extremly helpful. It is one of the core texts required for chemistry students at the university of manchester. If i found this book helpful so can you

Not for the complete novice, but invaluable for everyone else interested in the subject, 20 Jun 2007
Let's start with saying that the authors pull no mathematical punches. They assume a fair amount of maths and use it throughout, and not in the watered-down fashion, so often seen.

Optically, the book is a gem, and the authors have gone to great pains to use all the tricks at the modern printer's disposal.

Despite being, perhaps, somewhat heavy going if you lack the prerequisites, they manage to clarify almost anything for the reader willing to spend the effort.

One amazing thing is, that one does not require a stiff background in chemistry itself. Possible stumbling blocks lie in the maths, and the autors are extremely generous with worked examples and justifications.

A very useful feature is that the reader can cover one of two tracks, the traditional approach and the molecular approach in either order he or she chooses. The molecular approach doesn't start until chapter 8, but if you wish, you can jump in right there and hardly feel a loss not having read the previous seven. (It is heartily recommended that you do anyway -the classical approach is a beautiful subject in its own right.)

So, Mr. Atkins and Mr. de Paula, continue improving your shining work, if you can come up with ways to do so. As the book is now, I imagine new ideas are getting hard to come by, but if someone buys just one book on physical chemistry, this should be it.

An excellent text for the undergraduate, 10 Mar 2005
The fact that I've had the author as a lecturer for part of my physical chemistry course is helpful enough, but every topic that an undergraduate may requuire for their physical chemistry course should be found in here, and in my opinion, all are represented in reasonable detail. Occasionally, you may need to consult a more specialist textbook on a particular sub-topic, but even if you were to soley use this book as a guide, you could expect a comfortable pass. Probably the only physical chemistry textbook you should consider.

Classic case of quantity of quality, 12 Feb 2004
I won't deny that this book covers a phenomenal range of topics, but this isn't necessarily a good thing. In so many subjects it just doesn't contain enough material to be useful in preparing for undergraduate exams or workshops. If your lecturers follow this text closely then fine, this will probably be a very sensible buy, but otherwise look elsewhere.

That this is, as another reviewer pointed out, the de facto undergrad physical chemistry text is a problem because there isn't really a widely-available alternative. Lazy lecturers just recommend this book if their course is in physical or physical inorganic chemistry as they seem to assume it will contain everything their students need. Sadly this is rarely the case (in my experience). It may be worth obtaining some of the OUP primers for some of the more specialist topics or trying to find some more specific texts in your university library.

I feel that the mathematics in this book is too advanced. Many of my undergraduate colleagues struggled to understand the derivations and justifications, for example. But I suppose this depends entirely on your mathematical background; I came to university with A-level Pure Maths and had few problems. Those who had only AS Pure (or A-level Pure/Applied) seemed to find the material far more challenging.

In the book's defense, the topics on quantum theory are far more rigorous and thorough than most of the other material covered. If you are on an undergrad chemistry degree you probably won't do that much quantum mechanics though, so (as stated above) you may want to just find a dedicated book in the library.

There are some very clear colour diagrams in this book which can help to augment the text on a few topics (again, particularly the chapters on QM). I found the practice exercises fairly useless as they were, generally, more advanced than anything covered in my lecture courses. (This will, of course, depend on what is covered at your university.)

By the way, don't buy the solutions manual. Complete waste of money which doesn't come close to explaining clearly what's going on.

Concluding, it's difficult to either encourage or dissuade anyone from buying this. Wait until you get a little way into your course and have a flick through it in the library. If it looks like your physical lectures and problem questions are basically being copied from it (apparently quite common...), then by all means take the plunge and buy it. Just give it some thought and don't buy it without reading it first.

It's simple, 08 Nov 2003
I totally agree with the review givig by another reader!

Most people find Physical chemistry quite tough. Although I don't promise this book will solve all their problems, but it aint a bad start!

But this book is simply the defacto undergraduate text in Physical chemistry.

Pretty much everything in one book!

During my time as a student, almost all the lecturers follow the content covered in the Atkins book.

Provides all the information and goes as far as including the mathematical derviations of the all principles in the book.

If you are serious about physical chemistry, you have to buy this book! Don't waste your money on his inorganic chemistry book, but I think this book is a must and will last the whole duration of a 4 year european chemistry degree course.

Surprisingly detailed given the size..., 09 Jun 2008
This book is a great concise reference book- you can dip in and out of it very easily, and each topic is very clearly indicated so you don't get lost in the tool print or run into finding a topic, only not to be able to decipher it because it relies on a preamble 20 pages long... None of that here. 2 pages per topic and you're done...
It covers both conditions as well as treatments- something not covered as well elsewhere, or perhaps as independently.
The AaG series you either love or hate- I am not that keen, but I must admit that I think this book is useful and contains a surprising level of detail. That said, you aren't going to approach this book looking to answer the niggling little questions that you face on the wards- as this is concise!

The best summary text, 13 May 2008
The benefits are:
- an entire topic is summarised into a 2 page spread (therefore easier to memorise)
- only the important facts are presented
- the diagrams are excellent, real pictures are included when appropriate
- the language of the text is, simple and straight to the point
- the price is extrememly reasonable given the size of the book (420 pages)


Dont expect detailed information from this book e.g. there are no doses for any of the medications (check out the BNF for this).

Should be used, despite it's problems, 10 May 2008
This is a good book to start off your revision for medical finals and I would definitely recommend it, especially the orange sections - however I would say that it does get a bit tedious in places (especially the investigations & management sections which are sometimes a bit sparse and not ordered logically) - so use it with the Oxford Handbook or online sources (gpnotebook, bmj etc which are both absolutely amazing revision resources once you get a hang of them).



Great book, 13 Apr 2008
Im a medical student like everybody else who buys this book. Sure there is the ever popular Kumar and Clark but it just goes on and on, you read through three pages of text to get one or two points.
This is more "wham bam!" approach ; definition, causes, treatment etc.
It does assume you remember your guytons (physiology) and pathophysiology to a certain extent.

I'd recommend working in this order; guytons physiology,then this book, and add another book if you have time for reference and just additional knowledge.

It covers most things, just not all. However its the fact that the book is thin, easy to read and STUDENT friendly, unlike other books which are more for DOCTORS

Medicine at a Glance - a perfect revision tool, 24 Mar 2008
Medicine at a Glance is one of the best, most abundantly and colourfully illustrated books of clinical medicine you are likely to encounter. All the essentials of clinical medicine (as well as some aspects of surgery) are included in just over 400 pages providing a simple and clear way in which to learn from. It covers topics in 2 ways; a disease-based as well as a symptoms-based approach. As a large amount of space is taken up in a diagrammatic form, the book is intended to help the student understand and remember medicine rather than learn it in great depth and detail. It is no doubt, an extremely useful revision.

Amazing, 17 Oct 2008
This book is amazing - i'm doing my a-levels now and this is really helping me. It explains thing so well.

Amazing, 17 Oct 2008
This book is amazing - i'm doing my a-levels now and this is really helping me.

the ultimate revision guide., 05 Mar 2007
If you don't have this book, go buy it now. I assure you, it will be worth the buy. I used to be a C/D student in Chemistry, and after I used this book, I got an A on my mock exams.

This revision guide contains basically everything you need to know for your exams; whether they're GCSE or IGCSE. (I take the IGCSE, and i used this revision guide)

it covers material for both the dual award and separate sciences; it goes over:

1.classifying materials (solids, liquids and gases, changes of state, atoms, bonding, etc etc)
2. Earth Metals (hydrocarbons, fractional distillation of crude oil, catalytic cracking, metal ores, the blast furnace, ammonia, limestone, the reactivities series)
3. Equations (balancing, half equations, empirical formula, etc etc)
4. Air and Rock (today's atmosphere, the carbon cycle, rocks, weathering, the water cycle, etc etc)
5. periodic table
6. rea