Organic Chemistry I For Dummies (For Dummies (Math & Science))

Nicely written good book well planned out good for review!!!

If you have to help your college student out, this book is a great reminder and brings back those organic chemistry memories.

This was very useful to go along with my organic chemistry course but it definitely wasn’t enough to learn from by itself since it didn’t go very far in detail on a lot of topics. I would still recommend this though to help better understand the course

So, in my opinion there are (at least) two ways to teach organic chemistry, two types of professors. One is the chemistry way, if you will, which focuses on chemistry words, terms and concepts. Chemistry jargon, and lots of it. Mathmatic-y, formula-y, symbol-y. It's chemistry snobbery - like the professor knows no other way of thinking, or doesn't know how to explain it. The other way is from the mind of a biologist. Conversational, less jargon, more explanation. Don't get it? This professor will break it down. Like biology, you can see it. They make organic visual as it should be, not theoretical, or full of symbols.That's this book. Built more for the biology mind - in my opinion. (Guess which kind I have.) My first attempt at organic was from a chemistry professor and I failed spectacularly. I then took organic with a BIOLOGY professor, and got an A in Organic I, and a B+ in Organic II. This book "thinks" just like that professor. It made me look back at my first professor and think "Is THIS what he was trying to say?!" If I had this book on my first attempt, I feel certain I would have passed.

At first you may think orgo is totally going well and then, you're gonna have a bunch of reactions and mechanisms and concepts like Merkovnikov, Zaitsef, and other rules thrown at you and expected to KNOW IT like you were born a super genius! Well- couple this book with Organic Chem as a Second Language and it's going to demystify and help you understand what the heck you're doing. HIGHLY recommend getting this book as an easy to digest essential for acing your Orgo classes (I mean, you still have to study and put in effort but this book is a BIG help!)

1. Many references to atoms in other books or articles still refer to electrons in orbit around the nucleus. I’ve seen these with dates on references in the 2000’s. We just spent over 100 years proving those are not the facts.2. I like the fact that fields are mentioned in the book. Gravitational fields, electromagnetic fields, strong nuclear field and weak nuclear field in addition to the matter fields.3. Why do these things stay secret for so long? These are college students not elementary students. I appreciate the authors recognizing this.4. The first 2 recommended texts I checked on to review organic chemistry so I could help my granddaughter if necessary were both over $900. This one was also recommended but it was $13. ! It is perfect for my needs and right up to date.

We will have to see whether this text covers enough to get us an A grade, but it covers all of the basics succinctly. If you need to know that a specific sp2 bond angle is 112.3 degrees, you need a 1000-page text like McMurry's; if you only need to know that the bond angle is about 120 degrees, "For Dummies" is your kind of book. If you want to spend 15 big, highly detailed pages learning stereochemistry, go to McMurry; For Dummies covers it in 6 smaller, simpler pages. The kid I'm coaching has McMurry, the official text for his orgo course, and he bought "For Dummies" as soon as he scanned a bit of it.

This book gives nice overviews of all the topics presented in my organic chemistry one class. The material doesn’t go too deep into explaining everything; however, I still agree that this book contributed to my understanding of the course. The author does a nice job of making real-life analogies that apply to the chapters without getting so wild that your mind begins to wander, if that makes sense.