With the development of a variety of exciting new areas of research involving computational chemistry, nano- and smart materials, and applications of the recently discovered graphene, there can be no doubt that physical chemistry is a vitally important field. It is also perceived as the most
daunting branch of chemistry, being necessarily grounded in physics and mathematics and drawing as it does on quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and statistical thermodynamics.
With his typical clarity and hardly a formula in sight, Peter Atkins' Very Short Introduction explores the
contributions physical chemistry has made to all branches of chemistry. Providing an insight into its central concepts Atkins reveals the cultural contributions physical chemistry has made to our understanding of the natural world.
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Preface
1. Matter from the inside
2. Matter from the outside
3. Bridging matter
4. States of matter
5. Changing the state of matter
6. Changing the identity of matter
7. Investigating matter
Further reading
Index
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Peter Atkins is the author of about 70 books, including the world-renowned and widely used Physical Chemistry, now in its 10th edition [in Jan 2014]. After graduating from the University of Leicester and a post-doctoral year in the University of California, Los Angeles, he returned to Oxford
in 1965 as Fellow of Lincoln College and University Lecturer (later Professor) in physical chemistry. He retired in 2007, but continues to write and lecture worldwide.
