Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory : A Programmed Introduction to Chemical Applications, 2nd Edition

So far this is the best introductory book that is available in the topic. The style of presentation is lucid such that a student with minimum knowledge in geometry can master group theory in 2 weeks. Traditionally Group theory in Chemistry is considered as very abstract and therefore complex subject. But after reading from first page to the last, I felt that this opinion is wrong and Group theory can be presented in easy way as Vincent did. I strongly recommend this book for undergraduate and graduate courses!!

Our professor had us but this and a few other books to cover all the topics we needed to for Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. This book is great. It walks you through the coordination really nicely and is very interactive with it's little mid-reading quizzes. Probably one of the most spot on valuable books I've owned.

This is a useful book; it expands an earlier edition. The book uses the "linear programming format."A programmed instruction book, when opened should lie as flat as possible so that the reader can cover the given answer as she/he solves the indicated problem!This is not the case with this book; it is small and stiff and tends to close and not lie flat when opened. This is a nuisance that interferes with study!I have read and own many programmed instruction books that date back to the 1960s. The better ones had relatively large pages that were bound in signatures; some used spiral binding, etc. These types of bindings allowed the book to remain open so that the preceding text was easily referred to as one completed an exercise, etc.Having said that, this book is useful. However, a casual acquaintance with 3-D coordinates, atomic orbitals, and matrices would be helpful.The material covered is classic, useful, and worth mastering. It will ease the pain when studies of more detailed accounts of symmetry and group theory are encountered!

Totally love this book.The small chapters and exercises help the leader learn about group theory and symmetry (as applied to chemistry). No professor required.

Thank you! Good condition. Fast shipping. No marks on it.

All great

I bought this book with no prior knowledge of molecular symmetry nor the mathematics of group theory. With only the idea of stereochemistry and matrix algebra, I was hoping that this book would help pave the way for my inorganic chemistry course over the summer. The first few pages (about 6-10 pages in) started out quite nicely, you get a comfortable feel for the author and his teaching style- almost like a parent holding your hand and guiding you gently through the basic elements of symmetry. Aside from a few vaguely conveyed ideas (improper rotation was not very clear), you start to get a hang of the idea and feel comfortable with the author and his pedagogy. BUT..... once you reach the 2nd chapter about point groups, it's as though the author left you in the middle of a busy high-way, blindfolded, with little to no explanation why such a point group contains such elements, etc. and how, or even why he grouped it such a way! All the new concepts in chapter 2 were just thrown at you as though you are the master of molecular symmetry. This would be alright if the book haven't been a step-by-step guide to Molecular symmetry and Group Theory, so basically when I got stuck with Chapter 2, I had NO clue what chapter 3 was talking about and because I don't know chapter 3, I could forget about Chapter 4, and so on... Unfortunate! That's one word I want to convey about this book. It's unfortunate that the author just got tired of explaining better after chapter 1, and assumed that everyone is the master of molecular symmetry after an excellent introduction. It got my hopes up and let it down as soon as I got to chapter 2. If this is the "easiest" way to learn molecular symmetry, I don't know how people learn it in the past. I give this 1 star because that's how many chapters I got to understand in this book. Bottom line is, this book is like a movie with a great trailer- and after watching the movie for the first ten minutes, you realize it has nothing to do with what the trailer is about- that's how you'll feel when you get to chapter 2....trust me.

As an average chemistry student at an American University. I have to say this has been one of my favorite supplemental text books ever for the subject of Inorganic Chemistry. It condenses the information down into smaller sections with easy to understand sections broken up by practice problems.I would not say this is the only necessary text for the subject but to sit along side your main Inorganic text book I would say this is a very useful book to have to read. The exercises are easy to understand and do. When you get stuck the book is short enough to re-read sections and clear up any confusion.However for a more in depth understanding I would look elsewhere.

Brilliant book, has all the information i needed for my module at university and more, I did not really understand molecular symmetry and group theory in my lectures as I couldn't really picture it in my head, but this book puts it into perspective with questions for each topic, starting with the basics and getting progressively harder, if you don't understand symmetry and group theory then this is the book to get!

Alan Vincent versteht es, die ganze Thematik sehr einfach zu erklären und dank der vielen Übungsaufgaben mit Lösungen fällt es einem leicht, sich schnell in das Themengebiet einzuarbeiten. Als weiterführende Literatur empfiehlt sich dann chemical applications of group theory von Cotton.

I paid 39 euros for this book as it is a very useful book for point group symmetry. It was delivered on time. However, as shown in the figures, not all text on the page has been printed and it seems like some information is missing from this book. Also the cover was printed on the opposite side of the book and I had to start the book from the end. I hope that amazon will send me the electronic copy of this book so I can use it properly.

Great book that thoroughly yet concisely explains the topic in a readable manner.

It's a handy dandy book to have around is a great introduction to molecular symmetry and serves nicely to prime one for further study. The text contains a few mistakes (but these seem to be mainly misprints in the character tables), the actual techniques it passes on are all solid.