High-level approach to maths for chemistry

Mathematics for physical chemistry: opening doors

Donald A. McQuarrie

Sausalito: University Science Books 2008 | Pp348 | £25.99 | ISBN 978 1 89 138956 6

Reviewed by Paul Yates

Books on mathematics which are aimed at chemists vary enormously in their level and scope, usually representing the context in which the author has worked. This volume leaves the reader in no doubt that it is aiming high; one is met with tables of trigonometric identities, power series and definite integrals on the inside cover, and on page one we are told that the first two chapters will review the essential features of a calculus course. The pace from here is correspondingly rapid, with transcendental functions discussed on page two, the sinh and cosh functions defined on page four, and the derivative defined as a limit on page seven. This book would not, therefore, be suitable for the type of introductory course which aims to bring first-year undergraduates with GCSE mathematics grade C up to A-level standard.