4 ms·
Ask HN: General chemistry book recommendations
I'm interested in reading some generalist, non academic, chemistry books. I had a browse on Amazon but couldn't find any, except a few cooking ones. Things I was thinking - industrial chemistry what the different processes are for things like Oil, Soap, plastics and so on. Same for pharmaceuticals and Molecular biology. I've done a few classes back in the day at Uni but I was thinking books for a general audience, there's stacks for maths and physics (e.g. Godel, Escher, Bach) are there the same for chemistry? not my field and would like to read some.
Edit: e.g. a layman's summary of 'Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of Chemical Processes' https://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Synthesis-Design-Chemical-Processes-ebook/dp/B07DPTVPPF
or this 'Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering'
https://a.co/d/5rdKgub
- caseyf7 4y agoIsaac Asimov‘s book on chemistry is on my to read list. Chemistry lab books can also be more fun than general lecture textbooks.
- thewizardofaus 4y ago"The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements" by Sam Kean
- heikegaichengji 4y ago[dead]
- fiftyacorn 4y agoThe books you listed are more chemical engineering than chemistry - so its stuff like rates of reaction Id consider something like - https://amzn.eu/d/h7wwIuk https://amzn.eu/d/h7wwIuk To read up on physical, organic and inorganic
- chadcmulligan 4y agoThanks, I did do an organic chemistry class, but a long time ago. I was interested in production - the life of oil for example, It's dug up, goes here, refineries make this from it. Same for other things - plastics, pharmaceuticals etc. Doesnt seem to be much on this, except text books. I suppose its more chemical engineering.
- rsfern 4y agoNot quite chemistry, but “Stuff Matters” by Mark Miodownik is a really good accessible introduction to a lot of foundational materials science ideas
- is_true 4y agoI remember having used a book by Raymond Chang in chemistry in college
- billfruit 4y ago"General Chemistry" by Linus Pauling.
- lauriewired 4y agoTry checking out this LessWrong thread about "The Best Textbooks on Every Subject": https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-textbooks-on-every-subject https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-t... The thread is a little old, but occasionally still gets new comments with book recommendations here and there.
- dev_0 4y ago[dead]
- akg_67 4y agohttps://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/wiki/books https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/wiki/books https://www.reddit.com/r/Chempros/comments/jput3t/megathread_community_resources_collection/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Chempros/comments/jput3t/megathread...
- gpa 4y agoI would like to suggest Nikolai Glinka's "Problems in General Chemistry," of which I have the original Russian edition but I see that it's been translated in English (https://www.amazon.com/Problems-General-Chemistry-Nikolai-Glinka/ https://www.amazon.com/Problems-General-Chemistry-Nikolai-Gl...). Reasons for my recommendation is that first, it's interesting, and second, every time I have used this book, all chemistry concepts made sense, unlike in the manuals we had to use in school. To rephrase MiB, this would be the final chemistry book I ever read if I decided not to pursue my studies in the subject further. Also, I did not know much about the Glinka himself, but from what I've found from a quick web search was quite interesting: a representative of an ancient noble family, honored scientist, largest teacher-methodist, whose books for decades, determined the level of chemical education in non-chemical and chemical technical institutes of the USSR...