Organic Chemistry

Bought this text book to familiarize myself with organic chemistry before I start classes in the spring. It is far easier to understand then I had anticipated.

This book is clearly written and has many examples to help explain the fundamentals of organic chemistry. I like that the end of the chapters provide a lot of review material for you to practice concepts from the chapter. There are also "Key Skills" sections at the end of each chapter to make sure you know and understand the important concepts from each section covered.

Good delivery time of great product needed for understanding of life.

As someone with a physics degree, I find chemistry textbooks really annoying. Beginning textbooks seem to want to describe everything in terms of _orbitals_, using this idea to explain everything from bond lengths and angles to predicting which elements will react with each other. What isn't covered at all are the fundamental experiments that show _how_ these things are measured, nor the equations that orbitals use for predicting these properties. Sadly this book is like so many others in this respect.I made it 5 chapters in, and there hasn't been a single reference to how experiments were carried out, nor how various properties were measured from these experiments. Instead it's asked that the reader take some large leaps of faith: that orbitals exist, that they can be observed, that multi-electron molecules are accurately described in this manner. Sadly, this isn't actual quantum mechanics: it's a generalization based on an outdated model of the atom--one which is discussed briefly in beginning physics courses, then quickly discarded in favor of more accurate models.Perhaps some chemists derive actual benefit from thinking this way, but for myself, and I suspect many others, reverting to a purely observational approach for beginning textbooks would be preferable to teaching a theoretical model bereft of its equations or observations. Like the "new math," this approach to beginning chemistry should probably be abandoned.

Book came in perfect conditions. Organic chemistry is a fascinating subject and Smith does a great job in this book. Concepts are very well explained with several clear examples. The only drawback is that there isn't an appendix with selected solutions to problems but the explanations are so clear that I still gave it 5 stars. I prefer this book to Kleins Organic Chemistry - I have them both. I recommend getting this book in addition to Klein's if your professor absolutely wants it, so you can use that one for problems your professor assigns, and this one to do the actual studying.

So far I like it. Organized and nice book

This textbook is a necessity for my university course in biomed. As a standalone textbook, it's great.However -To use ANY of the online services - including the ebook AND the 'online only' chapters (as shown in my terribly lit photo of the contents page) you have to pay a LOT, direct to the publishers, on top of the physical book itself.You can buy a ONE YEAR (!!!!) access to the online content and 'online only' chapters for a small, tiny £42. And that's what I was offered, as part of a special student deal. To me, this is absolutely shocking. To already spend £55 on a textbook, only to discover that chapters are missing and online only, and that ALL the online content that is advertised all over this book, can only be accessed for one year, for £42. If you want to get a three year licence, it's even more expensive.I would expect that paying £55 for a book would give me some online access. At the very least, I would expect my extra additional £42 to give me lifelong online access. £98 for the 'full package' and online only lasts one year? That's very steep for most students.So, if you want to have a great print book, with great problems to help you learn chemistry (and a missing chapter or two) this book is great. But unfortunately, these positives are heavily overshadowed by the cheeky money grabbing by the publishers.Mcgraw Hill, sort yourselves out! You should be ashamed.