Book 1 | Book 2

Book 1

This text is designed as an introduction to college-level chemistry. It differs from other, so-called "general" chemistry texts in that it does not emphasize one or two sub-disciplines of chemistry at the expense of others. Instead, this text integrates analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry concepts and emphasizes their "real-world" applications. As such, we believe that this text offers a true introduction to all of chemistry.

We hope that students using this text will find it to be both interesting and informative. It is intended for a general college audience, recognizing that some of our readers will remember little from previous high school science and math courses.

The authors are also aware that the large majority of students in introductory chemistry are not chemistry majors; many are interested in chemistry primarily as it relates to other sciences and to engineering. We believe that the broader focus that our integrated approach takes will help illustrate the cross-disciplinary applications of chemistry.

Students who do not continue their coursework beyond the introductory level will have a better understanding of how chemistry really works as a result of this approach. Students who continue on to the intermediate level of chemistry will use the second-year integrated text. Students who successfully complete both the introductory- and intermediate-level courses will have learned all the material presented in a traditional "general" chemistry and organic chemistry sequence. In addition, they will have been prepared to use a wide variety of chemical principles and tools as they continue their studies.

This is a preliminary text. We will sincerely appreciate your suggested corrections and improvements. Please send any comments to:
Timothy Rettich
Chemistry Department
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington. IL 61702-2900
email: trettich@titan.iwu.edu  

Book 2

This book is the companion text for Introductory Chemistry. It is designed to extend the material covered in that text and to encompass and include the rest of the topics normally covered in General and Organic Chemistry courses. As did the earlier text, this book integrates material from all major branches: analytical, bio-, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry into one book. For those who use these books, this produces a curriculum without the artificial divisions of the standard curriculum. Also carried on from the first book is the emphasis on "real world" applications and the introduction of the experimental facts prior to the theoretical explanations for those facts.

We hope that students will enjoy learning chemistry from this text and will find it both interesting and informative. It is designed for a second year course and assumes mastery of the material in a first year college course taught from the first book, Introductory Chemistry.

In addition to the material normally covered in traditional General and Organic Chemistry courses, the text includes some material not normally covered in those courses. The coverage of inorganic topics and the coverage of biochemical topics is at a level above that of the normal General Chemistry course. This is possible because the arrangement of the topics ensures that students already have an understanding of substantial parts of organic chemistry. The new topics can then build on this understanding to provide a greater depth than would have been otherwise possible.

This is a preliminary textbook being used for the first time. The authors would sincerely appreciate your reactions, corrections, and suggestions for improvement. Please send any comments to:
David N. Bailey
Chemistry Department
Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington. Il 61702-2900
Email: dbailey@titan.iwu.eu