Review

Foundations of organic chemistry

By 2012-03-25T11:23:00

Cover of Foundations of organic chemistry: unity and diversity of structures, pathways, and reactions

Source: John Wiley & Sons

Martina Lahmann reviews very unusual textbook

I don’t think there is a genealogical link between the author and Charles Dickens, but while making my way through the first chapters of this almost 1400 page long literary opus, I was convinced that if Charles Dickens had written a book about organic chemistry, he would have written this one!

Still, Foundations of organic chemistry is not a novel but certainly a very unusual chemistry textbook. As the subtitle Unity and diversity of structures, pathways, and reactions indicates, the author attempts to weave all the aspects typically taught in courses on organic chemistry into the overarching theme of natural sciences. A challenging task, but Dalton succeeds without losing his focus. 

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