ENGLISH

Atoms, Electrons, and Change

By P. W. Atkins

Book information

Publisher
W H Freeman & Co
Year
1991
ISBN
0716750287, 9780716750284
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
29 MB (29948333 bytes)
Series
Scientific American Library
Edition
1
Pages
243\264
Topic
Chemistry
Time added
2017-02-25 15:14:04
Physical Chemistry;Physical & Theoretical;Chemistr

Description

A century and a half ago the pioneering physicist and chemist Michael Faraday delivered a celebrated series of lectures that attempted to explain the inner workings of matter through the chemical history of a candle. "There is no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of natural philosophy", Faraday told his audience. Now the distinguished chemist P.W. Atkins follows in Faraday's footsteps, using his predecessor's deceptively simple theme to show how far we have come in understanding the remarkable chemical reactions that govern everything from how candles burn to how life functions. While Faraday could say little more than that a chemical reaction changes a substance's appearance and properties, chemists today understand reactions in terms of the rearrangement of atoms and electrons. Atkins - tracing the course of a carbon atom released by a flaming candle - explores the complex forces that operate at the atomic and sub atomic levels to drive these rearrangements.

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