Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => Inorganic Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: cammi on October 23, 2006, 06:16:25 AM
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Hi,
Can anyone suggest a good inorganic chemistry textbook. I am looking for a good basic / foundation textbook for inorganic chemistry. Something like the "demystified" or "made simple" series, but, of course, covering more topics in detail.
I don't care if the textbook treats me like I don't have a brain. I just want to get through this course with a decent grade. I need inorganic chem broken down in steps to understand, but I can get it.
Any help would be really appreciated.
Cammi
???
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Are you sure you need inorganic chemistry, and not some general chemistry book? You asked about predicting reaction outcome - while some inorganic knowledge won't hurt, it must be placed on the solid GC base; without it it will simply not work.
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What course are you doing? It's difficult to recommend anything without knowing exactly what level you are at.
Inorganic Chemistry by Shriver & Atkins is a good starting point. It was useful for the first 1 1/2 years of my chemistry degree course. It brushes over quite alot of stuff, and goes into detail on a few things, eg. it is very good for getting to grips with crystal field theory and ligand field theory. It's generally well written, especially the more in depth chapters, and has lots of nice diagrams and a CD ROM, although I've never given it a spin myself.
Only downside is that if it's not in your library, it's pretty expensive.
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I could recommend books not to get, unfortunately I have yet to find what I would consider a decent inorganic chemistry book.
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Hi everyone,
Many thanks for the replies. I heard about the Atkins book on Inorganic Chemistry. C. Housecroft's book was recommended as well.
Has anyone any thoughts on Housecroft's "Inorganic Chemistry"?
Cammi
:)
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Atkins is the gold standard for undergraduate texts.
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OK, I will definitely look at finding the gold standard.
Many thanks again for all of the suggestions! ;D
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In my opinion, the best basic Inorganic chemistry textbook is "Concise Inorganic Chemistry" by J.D. Lee.
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Housecroft & Sharpe is a good text, and so far the best I've seen. It does have its downfalls though, in particular: it assumes some knowledge and goes through material quite quickly, especially when concerning molecular orbital diagrams. Also, its layout can be confusing. What I often find is that they make you refer to a diagram or graph which is on the next page, so you're often flipping between pages. It is clearly written though, and there are good aspects to they layout: the column based text makes it easy to read and its in full colour which really helps. Some of the chapters are excellent, especially at the back of the book, and it's quite detailed and current, making it probably the only introductory text you will need.
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Hi there,
Shriver and Atkins is a good textbook, and goes into more detail than is required for some areas of inorganic chemistry. It is however, difficullt for some people to read at first until you have broader knowledge of chemistry.
Housecroft is highly recommended and approaches many areas in a more logical and methdical way.
My favourite book on inorganic chemistry is Cotton and Wilkinson, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry - this is good for giving specific examples of reactions and solving problems (or giving you the answers).
I use all three books, and if you have the interest and the time, then it wont do any harm to have a number of textbooks.
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I liked the basic inorganic chemistry textbook by Cotton... It was useful in my chemistry course even if it is not the most popular
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Hey Guys,
I was wondering if anybody had a good recommendation for some inorganic books.
I have taken just a basic intro course on the subject, however the book really seemed to lack graspable topics. I own a few of the different inorganic books and most seem to shoot on a phD level, which I was looking for something a little more user friendly.
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Basic Inorganic Chemistry, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)
by F. Albert Cotton (Author), Geoffrey Wilkinson (Author), Paul L. Gaus (Author)
Inorganic Chemistry: Principles of Structure and Reactivity (4th Edition) (Hardcover)
by James E. Huheey (Author), Ellen A. Keiter (Author), Richard L. Keiter (Author)
Inorganic Chemistry (Paperback)
by Gary L. Miessler (Author)
Inorganic Chemistry, Third Edition w/CD (Hardcover)
by Duward Shriver (Author), Peter Atkins (Author)
Inorganic Chemistry, Fourth Edition
by Peter Atkins (Author),, Tina Overton (Author), Jonathan Rourke (Author), , Mark Weller (Author), and Fraser Armstrong (Author)
Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, 6th Edition (Hardcover)
by F. Albert Cotton (Author), Geoffrey Wilkinson (Author), Carlos A. Murillo (Author), Manfred Bochmann (Author)
Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry
By Gillespie and Popelier
Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory
By Robert carter (Author)
Chemical Applications of Group Theory, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)
by F. Albert Cotton (Author)
I bolded the 4 that I used in undergarduate classes.
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Thanks a lot, I'll look into some of these.
I do own one or two by Cotton, one of which is an advanced inorganic book.
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Cotton Rocks!!!! ;)
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One excellent book is the Organometallic Chemistry of the Transition Metals by Robert Crabtree. It is geared more toward organometallic chemistry, as you may expect, but it is written on a very understandable level and is quite good at explaining simple concepts like electron counting.
If the Inorganic Chemistry book by Shriver and Atkins is the same one but a newer edition of the Shirver, Atkins and Langford book, I don't have very high hopes for it. The original was a giant turd.
The Advanced Inorganic Chemistry by Cotton and the Chemistry of the Elements by Greenwood and Earnshaw are both excellent reference texts, but aren't so hot for reading through.
I never bought the Basic Inorganic Chemistry by Cotton, as I wasn't enthralled by it. Not to say that he doesn't have a lot of good things to say, as his Advanced Inorganic book is excellent, but his Basic book wasn't to my tastes. I am unfamiliar with the other books.
I have Chemical Structure and Bonding by DeKock and Gray, but it is more geared toward molecular orbital theory.
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Does anyone has any recommendations for inorganic chem textbooks
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I use the book "Concise Inorganic Chemistry" by JD Lee and I think it's good.
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Inorganic Chemistry by Shriver, Atkins for me. I think it covers quite detail
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the shriver atkins books is simply terrible it explains things soo poorly ive worked with much better texts before
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I've found that the Zumdahl text is pretty good. anyone else use it?
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Besides the books suggested, try Inorganic Chemistry
by Prof Catherine Housecroft (Author), Alan G. Sharpe (Author) 3rd edn.
It's quite good too.
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Yes I agree on shriver...atkin inorganic not being thorough in explaining things. for example (just one e.g) it has topic on electronic transtion, yet says nothing! Chapter on transtion metal chemistry too is just annoying. I think Atkin Pchem is Atkin's best(well better).
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Housecroft and Sharpe is cool.
But no inorganic is complete without supplementation by Cotton and Wilkinson, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry.
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Could anyone suggest good inorganic chemistry textbook which involves coordination complex chemistry? It should involve like only one chapter not the whole book. I read some in Atkins chemical principles but it wasn't enough. I want a bit broader information.
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"Principles of Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry" by Gary Wulfsperg is an excellent introduction to inorganic chemistry
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Any texts that cover the whole first 2 years of a typical undergraduate course without missing anything out? I don't think Atkins quite cuts it.
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norganic Chemistry, Second Edition [James House] is also a nice one
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Unfortunately, many modern inorganic chemistry textbooks do not describe chemistry of the elements very well, they are very brief and not well-structured, and bloated with too much of unnecessary information at the same time. They describe so many exotic molecules, bonds, quantum-mechanical features, etc. Many students and even instructors nowadays are not familiar with many basic reactions, typical compounds and their properties.
Housecroft&Sharpe = just a very good encyclopedia, chemistry of the elements and their compounds is just briefly mentioned in the paragraphs, but there are so many nicely coloured figures and pictures of rare compounds extracted from the research papers. There are some typos there. But I like it anyway.
Shriver&Atkins also lacks the chemistry of compounds, focusing too much on bonding and quantum chemistry. The font is too small.
James House = too brief
Meissler Tarr = good text but the main focus is on the complex compounds
Many inorganic chemistry textbooks do not cover the binary phase diagrams and non-stoichiometric compounds and phases. Anthony West "Solid state chemistry and its applications" is a good addition to your library collection, you will like it.
In my opinion, Cotton-Wilkinson and Greenwoods "Chemistry of the elements" build the necessary basis of inorganic chemistry despite being "old".
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Please tell me about the book vacuum? I want to talk to those who know the vacuum.
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Please tell me about the book vacuum? I want to talk to those who know the vacuum.
Huh? What you wrote doesn't make any sense, please elaborate.
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You may try J. D. LEE inorganic chemistry. It is very good for base foundation in inorganic.