Excellent text but awful answer keys and Solution Manual
I just finished taking my first Organic Chemistry course and got an A -- and this text was a huge reason why. Her organization and explanation of reactions and mechanisms was great and her graphics were very helpful. This text was a huge improvement over my General Chemistry textbook (Zumdahl's Chemistry) which was awful. This text made the course very comprehensible. Only two things kept me from giving this book five stars. One, the answer key, both in the text and in the Solution Manual, was completely unreliable and many of the answers were wrong. Prentice Hall must have used one of their editorial interns to check the answer keys. Very sloppy work. Two, the NMR and IR chapters (Ch. 12 & 13) weren't as clear and comprehensible as the other chapters. Other than that, however, an excellent text for the Organic Chemistry novice.
A solid organic chemistry textbook
My assessment of this textbook is based upon concurrent usage of the solutions manual.
Paula Bruice does a great job in presenting organic chemistry. I had virtually no knowledge of organic chemistry when starting the academic year, and felt I had a solid understanding of it at the end of the year. I obtained As both semesters, even though one of the professors only loosely followed the material in the text. However, the text was of sufficient quality that I was able to understand the material the professor presented by relying almost solely on the text.
I prefer to learn things by reading and studying alone. I used this text with solutions manual almost exclusively. The author's presentation of subjects is logical and progressive. There are many worked problems within the text, and the solutions manual has fully worked solutions to the problems. Additionally, there are review subjects within the solutions manual to cover subjects that are not properly organic chemistry, but must be mastered to understand organic chemistry.
The key to getting the most from this text is to work the problems at the end of the chapters. Paula Bruice does not present problems that were not covered in the chapter. Thus, if you read the chapter, you'll see the concepts in the problems at the end of the chapter. Where you have gaps in working the problems, you can readily fill the gaps by checking the solutions manual. Read the text, work the problems, you'll learn organic chemistry.
As a final note, there is a web site to accompany the text. It isn't great, but I think most such web sites are deficient. Nevertheless, it was sometimes helpful when I simply couldn't grasp a concept. It is probably the best web site to accompany a text I've seen.
The One Shining Exception
... As a recent graduate (Microbiology, BS), I have had my experiences with poorly written textbooks, but this book was the one shining exception. I, like many others, feared organic chemistry. However, this book breaks the intricacies of organic chemistry up into easy-to-understand steps which gives the student the necessary foundation to build upon, learn, and ultimately understand organic chemistry in a way that is efficient as well as long-lasting. Rather than memorizing mechanisms, the student is able to "work-through" the mechanism based on previous knowledge. I know this because I have read this book, cover-to-cover, and had only wished that my other text books were as well thought out and helpful as this one! ! . This book was not only written by an expert in organic chemistry, but by an expert in teaching as well. I have had my copy of this book since 1995 and still refer to it today. I highly recommend this book to students and teachers alike.
About Organic Chemistry (5th Edition) detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #26433 in Books
- Published on: 2006-03-31
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 1440 pages
Organic Chemistry (5th Edition) Description
This innovative book from acclaimed educator Paula Bruice is organized in a way that discourages rote memorization. The author’s writing has been praised for anticipating readers' questions, and appeals to their need to learn visually and by solving problems. Emphasizing that learners should reason their way to solutions rather than memorize facts, Bruice encourages them to think about what they have learned previously and apply that knowledge in a new setting. KEY TOPICS The book balances coverage of traditional topics with bioorganic chemistry, highlights mechanistic similarities, and ties synthesis and reactivity together–teaching the reactivity of a functional group and the synthesis of compounds obtained as a result of that reactivity. For the study of organic chemistry.
