I needed this book for my nursing entrance exam, it was for sure worth every penny!

Sorry, but I couldn't get pass the cover of this supposedly helpful book. Unlike the "Physics for Dummies" or the "Biology for Dummies" books, J Wiley chose to use the picture of a Black kid to illustrate their chemistry text. There is an obvious biased message in that choice. I suggest you try another publisher if you need help in your chemistry class.

As a High Schooler who is taking Honors Chemistry, I bought this book in case I needed help understanding its abstract ideas. And boy am I glad I did! I don't know how many times I have referred to this book when struggling with the material covered in class. With its simple English for "Dummies", this book is very well written and really helps me grasp the concepts of Chemistry. If you are taking this class in the future and a little apprehensive about how well you will do in the world of atoms, isotopes, the periodic table, and more, then do yourself a favor a BUY this book, you won't be sorry!

An excellent introduction/refresher book. The only issue I had was the habitual America-centric writing I have to endure with most U.S books. When talking about pollution for example we only got figures for the United States as if no where else is relevant. These books are sold and read outside of the U.S.

It was a bit too detailed for my liking. I felt it could have been broken down into more laymans terms with more examples. I found it difficult to stay interested. it was more for a person going to be a chemist rather than a person trying to get a step ahead for a college chemistry course

It was helpful as well as could be. For me Chemistry is a very difficult subject to understand, it did help clarify some areas.

It was helpful as well as could be. For me Chemistry is a very difficult subject to understand, it did help clarify some areas.

I bought this book because I am taking a Chemistry course for my major. Chemistry literally SCARED me. It looked rather terrifying, confusing, and overwhelming. I liked this book very much because of his lighthearted tone and very good (and easy!) descriptions. I recommend this over the Idiot's Guide, which I also have.

I bought this book as a supplement to my Chemistry 101 textbook. I was really looking for a more complete explanation of electron configuration, which I didn't find this book to be that helpful with. Overall, I thought this book helped to reinforce some of the basic concepts, but didn't really have much of an impact on my grade. I would recommend this book to someone who wants an overview of chemistry before taking the course or to someone who needs to brush up on basic chemistry before taking a more advanced course. It can also be helpful if you're having trouble with a particular topic. I did enjoy the supplemental information in the book having to do with chemistry of everyday life.

One thing I always enjoyed about the "for Dummies" series is the sense of humor and real realism in them. This book does an OK job, and is written by a Professor who understands what students struggle with and tries to make it as simple as possible. But Chemistry is a very complex and vast subject, no one book could contain every aspect of it. This book should be seen as a review or a brush up on chemistry, it by no means covers all the topics you will take in a Inorganic Chemistry class, especially the farther you go into the semester. The fact is most people who will be using this book are those students entering into Inorganic Chemistry, or General Chemistry. I do feel he could devote a few of the chapters to topics that will discussed in most Inorganic chemistry textbooks instead of such things as Organic Chemistry, which is a subject unto itself, air pollution, water pollution, and chemistry in the home for example. All relevant topics, but not really going to help you get a passing grade on a test. This is a supplement to your textbook that I feel is well worth spending a few bucks on and using it to your advantage.

One thing I always enjoyed about the "for Dummies" series is the sense of humor and real realism in them. This book does an OK job, and is written by a Professor who understands what students struggle with and tries to make it as simple as possible. But Chemistry is a very complex and vast subject, no one book could contain every aspect of it. This book should be seen as a review or a brush up on chemistry, it by no means covers all the topics you will take in a Inorganic Chemistry class, especially the farther you go into the semester. The fact is most people who will be using this book are those students entering into Inorganic Chemistry, or General Chemistry. I do feel he could devote a few of the chapters to topics that will discussed in most Inorganic chemistry textbooks instead of such things as Organic Chemistry, which is a subject unto itself, air pollution, water pollution, and chemistry in the home for example. All relevant topics, but not really going to help you get a passing grade on a test. This is a supplement to your textbook that I feel is well worth spending a few bucks on and using it to your advantage.

This book is an excellent introduction to chemistry. If all 'for dummies' books are as good as this one, I will certainly buy more of them. I have a background in natural sciences myself (master's degree in mathematics), but I never studied chemistry at the university (or in high school for that matter). Given this background, I was afraid that a 'for dummies' book would be too dumbed down. I was happy to learn that this is not the case. I was surprised at the degree of understanding I got from this book. You actually learn how electrons take part in reactions (valence numbers and all that), and how to do simple calculations. This means that you learn enough theory to predict to a certain extent what will happen in a reaction. In addition there are lots of real life examples, with chapters on organic chemistry, pollution, chemistry in the home, and so on. This book is not meant to replace a university text book of course, but I doubt if you learn more theory than this in a high school course in chemistry. Actually I would think you learn less in a high school course, since I think some of the topics would be difficult for high school students. But of course you learn to do a few experiments in high school, which this book could never teach you (it would probably be irresponsible to try this in self-study book).

I read this book before diving into an undergrad Into to Chemistry class. This book was extremely helpful, by making sense of the textbook I would later use (Timberlake, also highly recommended). I've read many Dummies books, some good, some bad, and this is one of the best.

First of all, of course this isn't going to cover everything in your Chemistry I class, or it would be a textbook!

This adjunct is a good supplement to Chemsitry I. It often explains ideas in a different way which increases your chances of actually understanding the material. It covers quite a bit, given what it actually covers.


Pros: A good adjunct for first semester General Chemistry I. Good ideas and superior explanations of ideas. Often explains topics in many different ways.

Cons: Like most For Dummies books, the second semester isn't covered. I guess they assume you fully understand all concepts the first semester. This book covers (barely) maybe 1 topic from Chemistry II.

Worth buying for Chemistry I, the ideas will be helpful for Chemistry II, but another or more complete book that includes the 2nd semester would be helpful.

Other adjuncts you may find helpful: The Standard Deviants 3VHS set. The Teaching Company's 'High School Chemistry' video set by Frank Cardulla. This (the teaching co video) is the reason I was 1 of 3 A's in my class.

First of all, of course this isn't going to cover everything in your Chemistry I class, or it would be a textbook!

This adjunct is a good supplement to Chemsitry I. It often explains ideas in a different way which increases your chances of actually understanding the material. It covers quite a bit, given what it actually covers.


Pros: A good adjunct for first semester General Chemistry I. Good ideas and superior explanations of ideas. Often explains topics in many different ways.

Cons: Like most For Dummies books, the second semester isn't covered. I guess they assume you fully understand all concepts the first semester. This book covers (barely) maybe 1 topic from Chemistry II.

Worth buying for Chemistry I, the ideas will be helpful for Chemistry II, but another or more complete book that includes the 2nd semester would be helpful.

Other adjuncts you may find helpful: The Standard Deviants 3VHS set. The Teaching Company's 'High School Chemistry' video set by Frank Cardulla. This (the teaching co video) is the reason I was 1 of 3 A's in my class.

I am currently attending a community college and have been taking my very first chemistry course over the past couple of months. I thought this book would be able to get me "up to speed" in chemistry since I have never taken chemistry at the high school level.

The author does an excellent job in explaining topics in such a way that one doesn't have to have any prior chemistry knowledge to understand what he is saying. Another bonus is that this book has a comprehensive table of contents and a good index, so finding a specific topic to study or read up on is a breeze.

However, this book does have its flaws. And that is it doesn't adequately explain how to perform certain things like stoichiometry or dimensional analysis. The book would be better if it had more examples of math-based chemistry problems. Instead, it only offers a handful, and the ones it has are usually extremely easy problems. This can build false confidence, as it did with me. For example, I studied the section on stoichiometry in this book, and was able to do the problem that the author gave. I thought this meant that I was ready to take on any stoichiometric problem. To my surprise, in chemistry class I ran across multiple types of stoichiometric problems that were much harder than the one in Chemistry for Dummies, and I didn't have a clue as to how to do them.

But I realize the author might be limited due to space limitations and can't go in-depth in explaining every type of chemistry problem.

My suggestion to anyone who is thinking about purchasing this book is: if you're just wanting a broad overview of chemistry, but aren't planning on taking a chemistry course, then this book is fine for you. But if you're about to take a chemistry course, and you're looking for a book that will help you throuhout that course, then I recommend buying this book, and also buying a chemistry book that is dedicated to teaching how to perform the "math" based chemistry problems, such as balancing equations, dimensional analysis, stoichiometry, etc. Because while this book touches on those areas, it doesn't do so in-depthly enough to prepare you for a chemistry course.

Best book for learning basic chemistry.
Instructions are easy to follow.

I think schools everywhere should quit being snobs, get out of the expensive textbook racket, wise up and start using "for Dummies" as material for classroom instruction. I'm being 100% serious. I think there is a lot more to be learned from a good "just the basics" series like these than in so many badly-written, boring instructional books published for in-class use.

Someone can read this book in a few nights and come away knowing more for her twenty bucks than another person who spent a grand on a 100-level Chem class. All the good stuff is here and it's really all 99.9999% of the American public ever needs (or wants) to know.

I recommend this book. It's good. Read it and give your ignorance a wedgie.

The book is very well written and quite humorous. It is good for a beginner or people who want to review.

Received "Chemistry for Dummies," and though it took longer than anticipated to receive, it arrived in mint condition. It was listed as a used book - I would never have guessed!

I am a nursing student, and I wish I had purchased this book earlier in the semester, instead of waiting for it to become available at the public library. After reading, what I am studying makes so much more sense. Chemistry is less of a black hole now. I like the quirky way it's written. The author does a good job of making the information feel a lot more friendly. My chemistry textbook this term does a fairly good job of explaining things, but I was still lost. Chemistry for Dummies was the 'lightbulb' I needed to make everything clearer. I am algebra-challenged and this book was quite a helpful adjunct to the class.

As an aside, it's true... you will almost never need this much chemistry unless you are a chemistry major. And this is just the baby stuff! I have queried nurses and they tell me they simply don't use it. Very frustrating, and a huge mental stumbling block for me, especially since schools in my area which are geared toward two year RN degrees don't require Biology I & II, which is far more applicable to nursing than chemistry.

Now I just have to figure out a good book to help me muddle through the next level of chemistry (required for a master's degree). .. General Chemistry and Qualitative Analysis. Gack!!!!

This book does a good job of explaining basic chemical principles and application. While it might helpful to those who have weak background in chemistry and math yet are required to college-level chemistry courses, it was not written to be a textbook or study guide. Do not blame the book for what it does not intend to do. Many students today in this country cannot handle simple algebra that 7th grade students in many other countries have no difficuties with. Any books written above 8th grade reading level are difficult for even many college students to understand. It is unfair for them to blame this book for their failure in studying chemistry. It takes a lot more than a good book to be successful in any classes. This book, nor any others, is not a replacement of your positive attitude and hard work. Overall, this book is well written and easily understood.

I bought this book to give myself, a self-proclaimed chemistry idiot, a head start and less of a handicap for when school begins in January (I'll be pre-med). BIG mistake.

The author makes a few good points, for example, in explaining the differences between various branches of chemistry, but seeing as how I'm not planning a career in chemistry per se, it was nice to know, but I really don't care. I just want a basic understanding to build off of and some exercises to practice before my classes start so I'll know what the h*ll I'm doing. Is that asking too much?

Dr. Moore writes this book from the POV of a science nerd recruiting other potential science nerds for the chemical career field, and assumes that the reader has more understanding than I seem to possess. I wanted Chemistry for Dummies. I got Chemistry for 10th Grade Science Nerds.

So, what, do I need Chemistry for Toddlers? Or am I doomed to just fail and not get into med school? Thanks for nothing, Dr. Moore. I appreciate the effort nonetheless.

Chemistry for Dummies, by John T. Moore, is a book that I highly recommend to everyone! It explains everything about the fundamentals of chemistry in an easy and understandable way. The book utilizes a variety of techniques that enable the reader to make sense out of the complexities of chemistry. For example, the pages of the book are loaded with helpful diagrmas, illustrations, examples, and tables that correspond with the text and make the information meaningful. Additionally, the book is organized in an easy-to-follow format. This book can simply serve as a guide to understanding the basics of chemistry or it can be used as a supplement to school textbooks that are typically confusing. This book is extremely interesting and has helped me out so much!!

I have a B.S. in chemistry and am currently working on a M.S. in chemistry. I also help high school and college students in chemistry. I bought this book because I am always looking for more ways to explain the same topic so as to get my point across. I felt this does just that. Plus, I was very pleased because I learned some information that I did not previously know and this is an entry level book!

I am not going to say this book is perfect; its not. But I find the only flaws are the typos and the content is great. This is the type of book I read for enjoyment (I admit others will not) and I got something out of it. It assumes you know very little about chemistry and it teaches you how to apply chemistry in the real world. It is a fun read, and very very informative. I would not recommend this for taking an AP course in high school as your only source of information -- this is a supplemental information, not a text book. But it will teach you a lot the sometimes text books do not.
This is a great book to help you expand on your everyday knowledge to learn more about chemistry and how it effects your life. If you are looking for chemistry content and clarity, this book may be just for you.

Whether or not you should buy this book really depends on what you need it for.

If you're interested in learning more about how chemistry is used in everyday life, this book is excellent. It does a very good job of explaining how chemistry is used in a variety of consumer and industrial situations. This is an interesting book in this sense, and very complete.

However, if you're taking a chemistry class, this is not such a good book. The explanations of chemical topics are a little fluffy, and certainly not what anybody would consider complete. While well-written and lively, it's just not "chemical" enough to give the serious student any real help when studying.

My conclusion: If you're looking for a fun book about chemistry, buy this one. If you're a student who needs help, go elsewhere.

I bought this book because I was having a tough time in Chemistry last year (high school chem no less). On the rare occasion when I actually understood what was going on enough to try and learn more about it; I would turn to this for just that purpose. However, the answers I received were never what I was looking for; as the differences between my Chemistry book and this thing were so different that this book was rendered utterly useless. For example, this book was obsessed with the unit called "torrs". Well, we never, EVER, used that unit in my Chem class. There was also no conversion formula mentioned anywhere in here either, and even if there was, do I really have the time to be able to convert EVERY little thing that I do into another unit?

Also, as with any other "dummies" book, this book tries to be funny. Frankly, after I've just spent the last two hours trying to figure out just what the heck I'm doing, the last thing I want to see is humor. If they spent as much time getting good information in this book as they did making it "cute"....

This book also likes to get into exactly what being a chemist entails; or, if not that, they like to get into how Chemistry is "applied". We all know that, if you're just taking a Chem class because you have to, and you have no interest in pursuing a career in that field, then you're never going to have to deal with it again. Therefore, why would you CARE about how the properties of Viagra (to pick one useless subject) were discovered? Don't they realize no High School OR college student is going to care about that? Why doesn't the author, instead, spend more time on subjects that you're actually going to NEED to learn?

Overall, the only "Dummy" here is the author of this book, John T. Moore. He does a very poor job of explaining even the most basic concepts; concepts that you will need if you wish to be successful in this area of study. If you want a helpful guide for Chemistry, look elsewhere.

This book is very informative and to the point. The examples and analogies are perfect to the content explained. The author actually makes it fun to learn chemistry, and makes you want to pursue a future in it (I'm going into Chem. Engineering). Like most books this doesn't put you to sleep with boring facts after facts. This is recommended to any high school student or beginner of college, and will give you a good head start.

I've tried to read various "beginner" books on chemistry since coming back from a twenty-one year science sabbatical. This one is by far the best.

The author takes you from the very basic "what is an atom" and "how to read the periodic table" to more advanced concepts such as Nuclear Chemistry, with consumate ease. The book throughout is structured for the (nearly) absolute beginner, with few assumptions being made about your beginning level of knowledge.

My only gripe is that he doesn't quite explain chemistry symbology in as clear a manner as he does most topics - hopefully this can be rectified for the reprint.

In short: an excellent book for the beginner. The only "pre" knowledge you'll need is the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. If you can't do that what are you doing trying to learn chemistry?

I've yet to take General Chemistry I at college but this will probably act as a good primer. I'd expect you'll need to do some more work and look at a textbook before going onto studying at college. This book will, however, give you the basic information you need to get going.