Intended for the year long, calculus-based physical chemistry course for science and engineering majors, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY follows a traditional organization while concentrating on core topics. The text does not cover some higher level topics-for example, photochemistry, molecular beams, thermal physics, and polymers- found in some textbooks, and rarely covered in the undergraduate physical chemistry course, but more fully explains the essential elements of the discipline.
Written by a dedicated chemical educator and researcher, this text is intended for those students who are trying to learn physical chemistry-a book that works as a textbook and not as an encyclopedia. Where appropriate, there is some focus on mathematical manipulations, providing students with a review of calculus applications as applied to physical chemistry.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“I think the quality of problems and examples is good, and their number is sufficient. Examples in the manuscript are good, and explained thoroughly, without omitting intermediate steps. This is a big plus for Dr. Ball’s text. Again, I think that the writing style is very good, language is simple and clear. I will add here that the author’s idea to provide some biographical information and portraits of major physical chemists is excellent.”
“The problems and examples seem to be numerous and cover an appropriate range of activities. I do like the breadth of theoretical and numerical examples and problems offered, and I like the continual attention to units–to the point of actually providing examples and problems that address nothing else. Units are an important issue in scientific calculations, one that is often overlooked or under-appreciated by chemistry texts.” “Ball’s writing style is well-suited for his target audience. His straight-forward, plain English style is easily followed and, I think, would tend to speak TO students rather than OVER them. Students should find his somewhat informal language and candid description to be more palatable than are the traditional formal prose used in many physical chemistry texts. With a textbook that spoke more understandably to begin with, I could imagine spending more time on discussions of concepts rather than discourses on formulation. I think this would be a positive contribution to a learning environment.”
About the Author
David W. Ball is Professor of Chemistry at Cleveland State University. His research interests include computational chemistry of new high energy materials, matrix isolation spectroscopy, and various topics in chemical education. He has over 160 publications, equally split between research articles and educational articles, including five books currently in print. He has won recognition for the quality of his teaching, receiving several departmental and college teaching awards as well as the university’s Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award in 2002.
He has been a contributing editor to “Spectroscopy” magazine since 1994, where he writes “The Baseline” column on fundamental topics in spectroscopy. He is also active in professional service, serving on the Board of Trustees for the Northeastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair and the Board of Governors of the Cleveland Technical Societies Council. He is also very active in the American Chemical Society, serving the Cleveland Section as chair twice (in 1998 and 2009) and Councilor from 2001 to the present.