Illustrated with remarkable new full-color images--indeed, one or more
on every page--and written by one of the world's leading authorities on
the subject, Reactions offers a compact, pain-free tour of the inner
workings of chemistry.
Reactions begins with the chemical formula almost everyone knows--the
formula for water, H2O--a molecule with an "almost laughably simple
chemical composition." But Atkins shows that water is also rather
miraculous--it is the only substance whose solid form is less dense than
its liquid (hence ice floats in water)--and incredibly central to many
chemical reactions, as it is an excellent solvent, being able to
dissolve gases and many solids. Moreover, Atkins tells us that water is
actually chemically aggressive, and can react with and destroy the
compounds dissolved in it, and he shows us what happens at the molecular
level when water turns to ice--and when it melts.
Moving beyond water, Atkins slowly builds up a toolkit of basic chemical
processes, including precipitation (perhaps the simplest of all chemical
reactions), combustion, reduction, corrosion, electrolysis, and
catalysis. He then shows how these fundamental tools can be brought
together in more complex processes such as photosynthesis, radical
polymerization, vision, enzyme control, and synthesis.
Peter Atkins is the world-renowned author of numerous best-selling
chemistry textbooks for students. In this crystal-clear, attractively
illustrated, and insightful volume, he provides a fantastic introductory
tour--in just a few hundred colorful and lively pages - for anyone with
a passing or serious interest in chemistry.
