I've read many other "Cartoon Guide to ______ " books and this one is similarly well done. It does a good job in the early chapters of explaining basic chemistry concepts that a middle school student should be able to understand, then goes into more advanced concepts appropriate for high school / AP Chemistry.

Great examples and a good way to teach visual learners.

-Ben

I never took chemistry. This book was way over my head even though I just skimmed in. The cartoons are easy to look at (no dark, foreboding shading) - but I understood 'squat' from this book. I hope my giftee sees it differently with his B.S. in Chem. I WAS impressed with the last few chapters where future implications were addressed. Once I give this book-gift, I'll report back with "my expert's" opinion on this book. In the meantime, I'll stick with mixing together fruit juices.

This book is required summer reading for AP Chemistry. Looks like a fun way to get an overview of the subject.

I have all of Gonick s great cartoon books and was really expecting more from this one... I am teaching chemistry and was disappointed. Just compare it with Genetics in cartoons...Chemistry is not as boring as shown here, Larry!

I have all of Gonick s great cartoon books and was really expecting more from this one... I am teaching chemistry and was disappointed. Just compare it with Genetics in cartoons...Chemistry is not as boring as shown here, Larry!

It is so basic in concepts and the presentation (materials and graphics)is not as good as I thought. It would be useful to show some pages of the book to the customers.

It is so basic in concepts and the presentation (materials and graphics)is not as good as I thought. It would be useful to show some pages of the book to the customers.

I am a high school chemistry teacher. I was totally disapointed with the book to the point of returning. It is factually correct, but lame. The only thing I gleaned from this book was the origin of the word alchemist. I would not by this book. William "Douey" Doucette

I am a high school chemistry teacher. I was totally disapointed with the book to the point of returning. It is factually correct, but lame. The only thing I gleaned from this book was the origin of the word alchemist. I would not by this book. William "Douey" Doucette

I used this book in conjunction with a textbook in my general chemistry course over the summer. This book helped illustrate things left unclear in my textbook and give a better intuitive feel for what I was doing. On its own its probably not spectacular since there are gaps to be filled but as a supplement it is amazing.

I found that this book works well when used with an introductory textbook. The cartoons are great fun for everyone.

I got this book to help me with my AP chemistry course. The information presented in the book is easy to understand and, strangely enough, great for studying. All this from a cartoon book!

This is the first edition of "The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry" by Larry Gonick and Craig Criddle and was published in 2005. It is another of the series of Cartoon Guides which Larry Gonick has co-authored with scientists in the field of choice. Craig Criddle is a professor of environmental engineering and science at Stanford University.

The book has 12 chapters, and like the other guides it covers a history of the subject, as well as a good overview of the subject, and there is a lot to cover with Chemistry. From the early days of alchemy, through the discover of the atom, through reactions, states of matter, solutions, acids and bases, thermodynamics and electrochemistry and finishing up with a chapter on organic chemistry, Criddle and Gonick try to give a little taste of everything to the reader.

This book serves well as an introduction, overview, history of the subject, or a refresher. This guide works well when combined with the Physics and Genetics guide, as there are certainly areas of crossover between the books. Because of the wide variety of topics contained in this book, if you are using it as an introduction, you may want to break it apart and use it to introduce a few topics, then spend some more in depth time on those topics, before moving on to some more sections of this book.

The book has many good ideas in order to ilustrate every chemical concept and make the learning easy.

This is an excellent illustration of the major principles of chemistry. Great for general chemistry students searching for an alternative way to learn the basic concepts.
I teach chemistry and highly recommend it for visual people struggling to picture some of the concepts or searching for a brush up review of chemistry.

I'm a college educated adult who never studied chemistry in either high school or college. I purchased this book in an effort to help fill this gap in my education. While I appreciate the good intentions, this book quickly left me behind. It immediately uses jargon without first defining the terms. Also, when it does attempt to provide definitions, the definitions themselves use terms that haven't been defined. I was hoping that things would clear up for me as I progressed through the book, but unfortunately, I continued to be disappointed. As a result, I'm afraid I'll have to look elsewhere in my search for chemistry knowledge.

As a high school student, I made the very bad decision to skip 11th and 12th grade science - both of which were electives. Although I was just a kid, the school board and my parents (who I love) should have known better. So, rather than continuing to complain about my inadequate science education, I decided to try to fill the gap in my spare time. As part of this effort, I purchased this book.

While I appreciate the good intentions, this book quickly left me behind. It immediately uses jargon without first defining the terms. Also, when it does attempt to provide definitions, the defintions themselves use terms that haven't been defined. I was hoping that things would clear up for me as I progressed through the book, but unfortunately, I continued to be disappointed. As a result, I'm afraid I'll have to look elsewhere in my search for chemistry knowledge.

As a high school student, I made the boneheaded decision to skip 11th and 12th grade science. Although I was just a kid, the school board and my parents (who I love) should have known better. Anyway, rather than continuing to lament about my inadequate science education, I decided to try to fill the gap in my spare time. As part of this effort, I purchased this book.

While I appreciate the good intentions, it didn't take long for this book to leave me behind. It sometimes uses terms without first defining them (ex: matter, element), and it confuses me when it does provide definitions. For example, on the top of page 13 it says that compounds are combined elements in fixed proportions. However, near the bottom of the same page it says that compound substances are fixed groupings of atoms called molecules. So, are compounds and molecules the same thing? Wait...I still don't know what an element is.

While I was hoping that things would clear up for me as I progressed through the book, I continued to be disappointed. Nice try, but I'm afraid that I'll have to look elsewhere in my search for chemistry knowledge.

I myself might try writing this kind of materials in future.

I have been a fan of Larry Gonick`s work for years ever since I first stumbled onto his Cartoon Guide to Statistics. He covers a subject the way it should be covered-historically. Innovations in science and math have moved along together in a historical time line. It was this historical approach that made Carl Sagan's Cosmos series one of the greatest innovations in the effort to popularize science.

I have long said that we teach science backward. We still teach on a 19th Century model. We start with biology, then chemistry, and finally physics.

Even when I was in high school, I wished that I could take physics before chemistry. Before I was elected as a school board director, I was on our district's Gifted Advisory Council. I made the suggestion that we teach physics before chemistry and, then, biology last. I was immediately shot down by one of the other parents on the basis that sophomores do not have the math courses under their belts to tackle physics. So why not teach the math along with the science? Integrate it. (No, that would make it too relevant.)

I felt vindicated when a friend of mine reported that she attended a lecture by a Nobel laureate making the same assertion that I had been making for years-we teach science backwards. After all, the toughest course out there is biochemistry-at least that is what every med student I know has ever said. And biochemistry is the new frontier for blockbuster innovations-nano-technology not being the least of these frontiers.

Gonick underscores my assertion about teaching physics first, because in this book on chemistry, he introduces quantum mechanics, which is normally taught as physics, on page 28.

Don't let he word "cartoon" in Larry Gonick`s books fool you into thinking that these are easy fluff surveys of the subjects involved. He makes each subject accessible while being entertaining, but each book stands on its own as a complete basic survey course of the subject.

So when I needed to add about two dollars to my order to get free shipping, it took me about thirty seconds to find my book. I went right to Larry Gonick.

For someone that is just learning about chemistry this book is excellant. It provides a whimiscal and fun overview of chemistry that makes learning chemistry interesting.

It also includes highlights of chemistry that illustrate how chemical principles were discovered.

And it also illustrates in an interesting manner the applications and importance of chemistry.

If you are about to take your first chemistry class or have never had a chemistry class, this book will be a good introduction to chemistry. Or if it has been awhile since you have had chemistry this book may be an interesting review.

Note: While interesting reading, this book would be too light to be used as a text book for a class. It makes an interesting supplement.