When evaluating a newly published book one of the first questions is "who is the intended audience?". This question is clearly articulated: "this book is intended to serve as a reference manual that demystifies chemistry for the non-chemist who, nevertheless, may be a practitioner of some area of science or engineering requiring chemistry".I believe that this book will serve that audience exceptionally well. It is not voluminous (about 250 pages) but presents a large range of basic chemistry topics in a language that is compact but clear and readily approachable by the non-chemist. A large amount of information is presented in compact but easily understandable text. I found this to be one of the most important traits in the book. The reader does not have to wade through large amounts of turgid or theoretical text to find the information they need.A wide array of topics is presented in 15 chapters, including the basic properties of matter, reaction properties, chemical equilibrium, thermodynamics and kinetics, a survey of organic chemistry principals, radioactivity, polymers and more. Many of these chapters include useful charts, tables or illustrations in full color.It is the final set of chapters that in my mind set this book apart from most of its competition. These chapters cover topics of importance to the environment, including water quality and pollution, hazardous materials, and basic toxicology. It is unusual to find these topics discussed in a basic chemistry book and very timely, since they are discussed in the daily news reports of extreme weather events, fish kills due to acidification of lakes and streams, release of toxic materials during train derailments and, of course, the constant concern about rising temperatures. These chapters are of great value and should be read by as many professionals in decision making positions as possible.In summary, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in acquiring a more complete chemical background in the most efficient possible way.- Dr. Ivan Gepner, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Biology, Monmouth UniversityThis is book is a great resource for practicing professionals in life sciences or engineering as well as an 11th hour study guide for college students taking intro chem, who are not chemistry majors. The solved examples and problems are clearly explained with consistent, easy to understand symbols and notation. This book is definitely written for the non-chemist.The range of topics is impressive for an intro chem course whether used as a reference manual or study guide. And, there are over 100 solved examples or problems throughout the 15 chapters.A chapter on basic toxicology, which explains many chemical health and safety related terms and concepts, like PEL, STEL, and LD 50 values, is also included. It even explains what an (M)SDS is and how to read it. Along with the other array of topics, this is a rare combination of subjects in one reference manual for intro chem.We have been looking for a book to use with our new course on Chemistry for Environmental Health and Safety. This is the answer.- James A. Kaufman, Ph.D.Founder/President EmeritusLaboratory Safety Institute (LSI), Natick, MA
