Quantum Chemistry

If you are looking for an introductory text for Quantum Chemistry, well, here it is. Lowe understands something very important about writing introductory texts, something that most authors don't grasp. That being that an introductory text isn't simply a book that talks about the foundations of the given subject, but also speaks to someone who is inexperienced in the subject. Lowe has this down to almost an art; most subjects are sufficiently explained with little fluff or unneccesary technical jargon. The book isn't quite as expanse as say, McQuarrie's Physical Chemistry, but what is? The essentials are explained with the neccesary depth and any mathematics involved are explained in the Appendices. The book stumbles when Lowe tries to explain more qualitative ideas, like LCAO. Without the structure of mathematics, the book seems to falter quite a bit. After several readings, I still had no idea what Lowe was talking about in the latter sections of chapter 7. Neverless, this is a pretty strong text.

As an undergraduate chemistry student of Dr. Lowe's at Penn State University, I have learned from his book while taking his course and have found it to be an invaluable resource. Dr. Lowe's presentation is very easy to follow and learn from. I recommend this book to anyone who is taking quantum mechanics. I am taking a graduate level quantum chemistry course next semester, and feel adequately prepared.

I am perhaps marginally biased towards Lowe's book, I used it as an undergraduate taking graduate quantum chem with a very fine lecturer. Lowe's book is intended for a general introduction to quantum chemistry & molecular orbital theory - this is a book that will be kept and used even by those chemists who are not physical and/or theoretical chemists. He emphasizes the basics and physical understanding over developing the material in a more pure mathematical fashion. As for the list of errors that the previous reviewer mentioned, I can only wonder if those same errors were the ones corrected on the errata sheet that was handed out to me in class. As I'm finally in graduate school taking quantum again, we're using Levine's text as well as Fayer's text. I think Lowe has prepared me beautifully by having instilled the big picture in my head. If you're really serious about your Q.M., you'd supplement with a physics text anyway (Shankar, Merzbacher, Liboff, etc). But that's more for clearing up the physics details than anything else, IMHO.

I used this book for guided independent study in my senior year as a Chemical Engineering undergraduate.To learn from this book is easy. Lowe does a great job integrating the mathematics into his work. Some authors tend to get bogged down in math, and others (in my mind incorrectly) insist that you don't need to understand the math to understand quantum chemistry. Lowe strikes the right balance and shows what the mathematics mean, chemically. Additionally, the excercises are well written and useful. Including solutions to some of the excercises is a must for a book of this level, and I'm glad to see it done here. Two complaints: Some color diagrams would make for easier visualization of some of the more difficult topics...and more efforts at introducing computer software commonly used in quantum chemistry (eg. Gaussian) would have been nice. All in all, a good book, much better than most quantum chemistry texts available.

Assumes little mathematical sophistication. Excellent book for the beginning student of quantum chemistry. Suitable for junior/senior undergraduate or beginning graduate students. Contains a wealth of practice exercises with detailed answers to most. The latter part of the book is concerned with practical applications of quantum chemistry with an excellent and readable introduction to modern computational methods. Helps students get a practical and qualitative feel for quantum chemistry and provides an excellent foundation on which to base later study.Covers quantum basics, group theory, Hartree-Fock-based approximations, MO/AO theory and applications to periodic systems to name but a few of the well-chosen topics.