Chemistry - Couverture rigide

About our Australian Authors

Steve Langford received his BSc(Hons) and PhD from the University of Sydney. After postdoctoral work in the UK under the auspices of a Ramsay Memorial Fellowship, and at the University of New South Wales as an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow, he joined the School of Chemistry at Monash University in 1998. Early on, he became 1st Year Chemistry Coordinator and undertook all aspects of curriculum development. He teaches all aspects of organic and supramolecular chemistry in Monash’s undergraduate program and is known for his enthusiastic and entertaining teaching style. In 2005 Dr Langford was awarded the Dean’s Excellence in Science Teaching Award and was also promoted to Associate Professor. He is also the winner of a Carrick Citation Award for 2006. His research interests focus on concept transfers from nature, particularly in the areas of photosynthesis and genetic encoding. Using this knowledge his research is aimed at understanding and treating motor neuron disease and in molecular electronics applications. He has published over 70 research articles and was awarded a 2006 Young Investigator Award by the Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines. At present, he is Chair of Organic Chemistry.

Dalius S. Sagatys received his BSc(Hons) degree in chemistry from the University of Queensland (Brisbane) and his PhD from the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago) in 1970. After three years as Joliot Curie Fellow of the Commissariat á L’Energie Atomique, Université de Paris VII (Paris), he worked at the International Patents Institute in Rijswijk, Holland and from there returned to Brisbane where he joined the then Queensland Institute of Technology in 1982. From the beginning he became interested in the design and implementation of chemistry courses for very different student requirements such as those in the fields of nursing, engineering and the built environment as well as developing a chemistry bridging course for students with no chemistry background at all. His research interests have been centred on the synthesis and structure determination of complexes of the Group 15 elements specifically arsenic, antimony and bismuth.

Neil Duffy received is DPhil from the University of Waikato (New Zealand) in 1978. After two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan and one year at the University of Adelaide he joined the School of Chemistry at the University of New South Wales, where he is currently a lecturer in chemistry. Dr Duffy’s teaching has been concentrated in the first year area, teaching many thousands of students in science and engineering courses in his 21 years as a lecturer. Dr Duffy also teaches in upper level courses in inorganic chemistry. Dr Duffy is known for the passion and humour of his lectures. He is also renowned for his understanding of the problems that face undergraduates in coping with university life. The portrait of Dr Duffy shows him bracketed by two of his favourite elements, cobalt and germanium.

Our primary goal in writing this book has been to fashion a clear, coherent narrative. Beginning with atomic structure, proceeding next to bonding and molecules, then to bulk physical properties of substances, and ending with a study of chemical properties, we have told a cohesive story about chemistry. Transitions between topics are smooth, explanations are lucid, and tie-ins to earlier material are frequent. Every attempt has been made to explain chemistry in a visual, intuitive way so that it can be understood by those who give it an honest effort.

Insofar as possible, distractions within the text are minimized. Each chapter is broken into numerous sections to provide frequent breathers, and each section has a consistent format. Sections generally begin with an explanation of their subject, move to an Example problem that shows how to work with the material, and end with one or more Practice Problems for the reader to work through. Each chapter ends with a brief Interlude that describes an interesting application or extension of the chapter subject.