Physical Chemistry

I bought his Physical Chemistry 2nd Edition book in December 1973. Everytime I need some insight to a dificult concept I read this book. His part in thermodynamics in unsurpassed, for I have not found such a clear explanation and derivation of the Second Law as his. The same goes for the Structure of Gases and Quantum Mechanical principles.This book is a treasure. Some time ago I changed the original soft cover to hard, and lined it with brown leather and golden letters.

In my opinion this book remains one the best written on the field.In fact, it deals with the important topics in an elegant way. The first part is dedicated to the basic termodinamical concepts. This part just needs a little mathematical background but i must say in some ocasions it can become boring (just a little). Once you have red this part wich deals comes (in the middle of the book) the introduction of quantum mechanics. I feel the autor has reached his purprose of telling you the essential without complicating things. To my mind,really well done!!. just say i don't find enough information about group theory ( it is necesary to know a lot of it when you have reached an intermidiate-advanced level in quantum mechanics), but this must be forgiven for the book is intended for undergraduate students essentially.

After teaching Physical Chemistry for several years, I find Castellan's book the best there is, not only for undergraduate courses, but also as a handy resource for physical insight into various phenomena. I like especially his conceptual presentation of temperature, heat and entropy, and his easy-to-follow "mathematical interludes". The combination of physical insight with mathematical rigour allow for a quite comprehensive understanding of topics that seem complex in many other books.

This is a better book for P-chem compared to Atkins. Castellan really knows the best approach for P-chem. Consider buying this book when your professor told you to buy Atkins.

This is one of few books what really help to student and experts to unsdertand the nature of the matery.