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

By Alan Vincent

Book Overview

This substantially revised and expanded new edition of the bestselling textbook, addresses the difficulties that can arise with the mathematics that underpins the study of symmetry, and acknowledges that group theory can be a complex concept for students to grasp. Written in a clear, concise manner, the author introduces a series of programmes that help students learn at their own pace and enable to them understand the subject fully. Readers are taken through a series of carefully constructed exercises, designed to simplify the mathematics and give them a full understanding of how this relates to the chemistry. This second edition contains a new chapter on the projection operator method. This is used to calculate the form of the normal modes of vibration of a molecule and the normalised wave functions of hybrid orbitals or molecular orbitals. The features of this book include: * A concise, gentle introduction to symmetry and group theory * Takes a programmed learning approach * New material on projection operators, and the calcultaion of normal modes of vibration and normalised wave functions of orbitals This book is suitable for all students of chemistry taking a first course in symmetry and group theory.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471489387
• ISBN13: 9780471489382
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Best in its field

I bought this book because it is advised from one of my classmates of Transition metal chemistry. If you need to learn molecular symmetry, this book is very good. It teachs in a logical order. The only not good part may be its size. I prefer bigger books so you can easily bend. So you should be polite to this book when reading. It is also expensive for its size but if you need to learn the molecular symmetry and/or group theory, this book is strongly recommended :) I hope this review helps. Happy wishes

Pretty good reference and quick read

The text does a good job of covering the subject material. It is not so advanced as to be difficult to master symmetry, matrices, and applications to vibrational spectra. The book is designed as a programme. The reader follows along and is interrupted to test his/her ability. After successful mastering of topics, the reader goes on, but if the reader does not answer the practice questions well enough, there is a guide to do more review. This is a great intro text for undergraduates, or as a reference for graduate students studying in the Inorganic field. The text also uses great examples and has good step by step instructions. The reader can get up to speed on most of the subject material within one weekend. It is also not necessary to read the book cover to cover to get useful learning out of the text. It has a good ability to modulate the different aspects of the different subjects. Overall, worth the money.

Great for beginners

If you don't have the math background it often takes to penetrate Cotton, this book could be the answer. For learning the quick and dirty basics of the use of group theory for molecules, this is the book. The only problems are its sparseness and the high price for a 156 page book. Excellent for self-teaching, though.

Exam tomorrow, and still in confusion with group theory...?

Cotton's(or Bishop's or like that...) book on group theory is too wonderful for me to grade. But, you may agree with me, in that it really takes times! You must read those books to understand the internal structure of group theory, but if you have exam tomorrow, Vincent's will be an emergency measure. Just follow him about 5 hours. Then you can solve some crucial spectroscopy problems, make MO's, and so third. But don't forget to check the books of details. This book is just for an emergency measure. But truly great enough for that.