Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

The subtitle "A molecular approach" is extremely fitting for this unique P. Chem textbook. Many P. Chem textbooks (like Atkins et al) start with thermodynamics and thermochemistry. However, there is a problem -- statistical mechanics is necessary for any reasonable modern understanding of thermodynamics. This statistical mechanics is often relegated to a later chapter, or selected results are quoted without discussion. Quantum theory, on which much of stat mech is hinged, is usually somewhere in the middle of the book where chemical bonding is described, after thermo, but before a treatment of kinetics and transition state theory, sometimes with implicit statistical mechanical assumptions. While this is consistent with the historical development of the subject, it gives the field a disjointed impression and is illogical and poor pedagogy. McQuarrie is revolutionary in that it teaches the fundamentals of quantum theory first, and bases all the other subjects of the book on a microscopic, atomic/molecular standpoint. This puts everything on solid intellectual ground, and students see the subject presented in a unified, logical, and deductive fashion, without having to accept too many "facts" on faith. It is a pleasure to read, with adequate mathematical review for students whose background in calculus/complex numbers/probability might be weak. There is more than enough in this text for a two semester quantum and thermo/stat mech. sequence. There is also a good deal on computational chemistry. (Unfortunately, DFT is not discussed, although McQuarrie's q chem book discusses it in detail.) Also, the typesetting, done with LaTeX (MathTime modification) is aesthetically pleasing to behold.

This book is amazing! I love how thorough this book is in its discussion of the mathematics and intuition needed for understanding quantum mechanics. The problems at the end of each chapter are also super helpful, which often play very nicely off the concepts talked about in the chapter and also help prepare you for concepts to be talked about in following chapters. Likewise, the problems are focused on helping the student solve the problem, where the problem statement often specifies answers you must prove along the way to the final result. An interesting part of this book is also the math chapters. Before chapters in which a new mathematical tool is used, a math chapter focused on introducing the math tool is discussed in order to bring the reader up to speed. I will say these chapters are quite good for review, but they are probably not as good for a student with no experience in the topic previously. Overall if you have a decent background in vector calculus, linear algebra, a little bit of probability, and partial differential equations, then you’ll probably cruise through most of this book.

This is the indian edition. Great text for self-paced stduy. Used as a secondary reference for my Pchem class. The math in particluar is more detailed and easier to follow than other pchem texts

I like this "big" textbook. At the beginning, I used this book in the library for reference only. However, the written style and comprehensive information, let me decided to own my copy for major desk top learning material and reference in physical chemistry.

I am a non-chemist that just spent a year going through this book as a self-study project. This book is a beast. Here is the bottom line: if you put in the work this book requires you will be rewarded with a deep understanding of chemistry and very good intuition of how chemistry works. I initially started this project with an Atkins text (don't know which one -- I have fewer squirrels in my neighborhood than he has versions of Physical Chemistry) and was getting nowhere. I found the organization, structure, and style of McQuarrie to be much more natural. I agree that the thermodynamics in McQuarrie is confusing and I supplemented that with Thermodynamics of Chemical Processes by Price. I also found the surface chemistry to be much too general (apparently not unexpected in PChem) and supplemented that with The Basis and Applications of Heterogeneous Catalysis by Bowker. Both are quick reads that will get you back on track with McQuarrie.

I purchased this book because it was the required textbook for my Physical Chemistry class, and I am enjoying the book so far. The text gives a clear and readable description of the quantum chemistry as it relates to simple atoms and molecules. It has all of the math in separate chapters right before the chemistry chapters using the math, so if you are strong in math you can skip the chapters introducing the mathematics and if you need to learn the math, it is right there. Also, the problems at the end of each chapter are interesting and tie in other aspects of chemistry.

Some reviewers say that this does not have a chapter that is included in the US publication. My son used it for an engineering course at a top school, and had no problems. It saved him a lot of money. Maybe the missing material is in the second half of the book that the undergraduate class did not cover. I am not sure.

It was a very well written, mathematical treatment which was very comprehensive. I especially appreciated the reviews of mathematics before the Physical Chemistry topics were presented. This was especially helpful for me since it has been years since I had a two semester course on Physical Chemistry. This molecular approach helped me to put everything together. It was a better treatment of the subject than my previous experience with Physical Chemistry. I enjoyed this book.

Very Clearly written. This is an excellent text on physical chemistry. Math needs interspersed as needed and preliminary developments provided to guide the student toward an understanding of the subsequent ideas in the following chapters. It is important to do the problems at the end of the chapters. Be selective as there are many problems. Some of the problems later in the problem set lead to a clearer understanding of later developments you will come across in the theory.

Some small mistakes here and there, but the organization is excellent.

1.To gain depth knowledge 2.Sequential organized book 3.Math chapter includes(where necessary) 4.This book is quantum mechanics made easy 5.Highly recommend book for advanced level.

Soy profesor universitario, y opino que este libro de Química Física es de la máxima calidad y utilidad. Su enfoque molecular se aproxima mucho a mi forma de entender la Química. Hay muchos ejemplos y ejercicios, propuestos y resuletos (algunos) lo cual facilita la tarea del profesor a la hora de encontrar actividades para los alumnos.

Ottimo libro di chimica quantistica. Questa è la versione più economica che niente ha da invidiare a quella più costosa. Le figure sono in bianco e nero, ma tanto i colori qui servono a poco. È tutto molto ben spiegato e contiene tutti gli argomenti dell'esame Chimica Fisica (meccanica quantistica). Frequento Chimica, il nostro prof ce l'ha consigliato. Sono presenti anche appendici molto utili che richiamano brevemente i concetti che servono di matematica. Una vera e propria Bibbia necessaria nella biblioteca di un chimico. L'inglese presente è facilmente comprensibile e il tutto è ben spiegato: l'autore ti prende per mano e ti accompagna per tutto il viaggio della chimica fisica.