- #1
AndreasC
Gold Member
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I want (need tbh) to learn some chemistry. I'm pretty comfortable in my understanding of the standard QM I and II you'd learn at uni, and I'm decent at statistical physics. I am interested in condensed matter physics, and I would like to learn some chemistry. Well, more like "need", because it's mandatory for my uni. We have a class of general chemistry, but the lecturer is just HORRIBLE and there is just no point in watching the lectures. Also I am more interested in physical chemistry than whatever "general chemistry" is supposed to be (haven't figured out what it is supposed to be after watching a few lectures). My main concern is to learn, it is a pretty easy class and you could pass it without knowing anything about anything, but getting a good grade in that class would be a welcome bonus.
Now I did look around on the internet for various books etc. Issue is, chemists seem to LOVE writing massive texts that go on and on and on. I don't like big books very much. I don't have an issue with hard books. If a book is really hard but relatively short I can put in the effort to go through it, and I like hard exercises too. But I'm not a marathon guy, I just can't motivate myself to go through 1400+ pages, I just can't do it. I also wish to exploit the fact that I already know QM and I do have the math background, so preferably the book should assume that knowledge and not dwell on things I already know too much. On the other hand, I know next to nothing about chemistry. Any ideas?
Now I did look around on the internet for various books etc. Issue is, chemists seem to LOVE writing massive texts that go on and on and on. I don't like big books very much. I don't have an issue with hard books. If a book is really hard but relatively short I can put in the effort to go through it, and I like hard exercises too. But I'm not a marathon guy, I just can't motivate myself to go through 1400+ pages, I just can't do it. I also wish to exploit the fact that I already know QM and I do have the math background, so preferably the book should assume that knowledge and not dwell on things I already know too much. On the other hand, I know next to nothing about chemistry. Any ideas?