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The new edition of Basic Inorganic Chemistry is a significant improvement over an already excellent book. The underlying philosophy remains: that students learn inorganic chemistry best if there is a primary emphasis on facts as a basis for understanding important principles. The third edition should be the text of choice for a sophomore-junior level inorganic chemistry course for those instructors who want an essentially descriptive approach to the subject with an emphasis on periodicity, reactivity, and structure. There is a wealth of information in the text, certainly too much for complete coverage in one semester. To insure optimum student learning in a one-semester course, the instructor has to select only a small number of chapters from the Main Group and Transition Elements and from Special Topics while thoroughly emphasizing the First Principles of part I. The level of sophistication of the principles presented, however, is too high for the average student who has had a typical general chemistry course. Thus, many instructors will have to provide supplementary material to help the students bridge the gap and take full advantage of the considerable merits of the text. Also, the third edition has some value as a mid-level reference work in inorganic chemistry for professional scientists who haven't completed a course in physical chemistry but who have a basic background in chemistry.
The format of the third edition remains the same with respect to major parts and chapters, except for the addition of the chapter titled "The Inorganic Solid State" and the appendices: "Aspects of Symmetry and Point Groups", "Table of Hydrogen like Atomic Orbital Wave Functions", "Ionization Enthalpies of the Elements", "Ionic Radii", "Electron Attachment Enthalpies of Selected Elements" and "Comparison of Electronegativity Values (Pauling Units) from Various Sources". There are 830 pages in the new edition (as opposed to 708 in the previous edition). The new chapter and appendices account for half of the increase while expanded coverage in most of the remaining chapters accounts for the rest. Few changes have been made in the chapters: Group VI B, The Halogens, The Noble Gases, The Transition Elements and Special Topics. One example of the new material added to this edition is the discussion of the chemistry of important new classes of compounds like the fullerenes. Other noteworthy improvements include new approaches to the depiction of ionic structures, quantitative approaches to acid-base chemistry, expanded and unified treatment of periodicity in structure and reactivity among the main group elements, Wade's rules for boranes and carboranes and reaction summaries for many elements. Several new figures and many exercises have been added along with new post-1990 supplementary readings at the end of each chapter. Many of the changes enhance the value of the third edition as a text.
In summary, the third edition is sufficiently different from the second edition to warrant addition to a professional library as well as use as a new text.
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