The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry

I found that this book works well when used with an introductory textbook. The cartoons are great fun for everyone.

I got this book to help me with my AP chemistry course. The information presented in the book is easy to understand and, strangely enough, great for studying. All this from a cartoon book!

This is an excellent illustration of the major principles of chemistry. Great for general chemistry students searching for an alternative way to learn the basic concepts. I teach chemistry and highly recommend it for visual people struggling to picture some of the concepts or searching for a brush up review of chemistry.

I have been a fan of Larry Gonick`s work for years ever since I first stumbled onto his Cartoon Guide to Statistics. He covers a subject the way it should be covered-historically. Innovations in science and math have moved along together in a historical time line. It was this historical approach that made Carl Sagan's Cosmos series one of the greatest innovations in the effort to popularize science. I have long said that we teach science backward. We still teach on a 19th Century model. We start with biology, then chemistry, and finally physics. Even when I was in high school, I wished that I could take physics before chemistry. Before I was elected as a school board director, I was on our district's Gifted Advisory Council. I made the suggestion that we teach physics before chemistry and, then, biology last. I was immediately shot down by one of the other parents on the basis that sophomores do not have the math courses under their belts to tackle physics. So why not teach the math along with the science? Integrate it. (No, that would make it too relevant.) I felt vindicated when a friend of mine reported that she attended a lecture by a Nobel laureate making the same assertion that I had been making for years-we teach science backwards. After all, the toughest course out there is biochemistry-at least that is what every med student I know has ever said. And biochemistry is the new frontier for blockbuster innovations-nano-technology not being the least of these frontiers. Gonick underscores my assertion about teaching physics first, because in this book on chemistry, he introduces quantum mechanics, which is normally taught as physics, on page 28. Don't let he word "cartoon" in Larry Gonick`s books fool you into thinking that these are easy fluff surveys of the subjects involved. He makes each subject accessible while being entertaining, but each book stands on its own as a complete basic survey course of the subject. So when I needed to add about two dollars to my order to get free shipping, it took me about thirty seconds to find my book. I went right to Larry Gonick.

For someone that is just learning about chemistry this book is excellant. It provides a whimiscal and fun overview of chemistry that makes learning chemistry interesting. It also includes highlights of chemistry that illustrate how chemical principles were discovered. And it also illustrates in an interesting manner the applications and importance of chemistry. If you are about to take your first chemistry class or have never had a chemistry class, this book will be a good introduction to chemistry. Or if it has been awhile since you have had chemistry this book may be an interesting review. Note: While interesting reading, this book would be too light to be used as a text book for a class. It makes an interesting supplement.