Reactions: The Private Life Of Atoms,New

Illustrated With Remarkable New Fullcolor Imagesindeed, One Or More On Every Pageand Written By One Of The World'S Leading Authorities On The Subject, Reactions Offers A Compact, Painfree Tour Of The Inner Workings Of Chemistry.Reactions Begins With The Chemical Formula Almost Everyone Knowsthe Formula For Water, H2Oa Molecule With An 'Almost Laughably Simple Chemical Composition.' But Atkins Shows That Water Is Also Rather Miraculousit Is The Only Substance Whose Solid Form Is Less Dense Than Its Liquid (Hence Ice Floats In Water)And Incredibly Central To Many Chemical Reactions, As It Is An Excellent Solvent, Being Able To Dissolve Gases And Many Solids. Moreover, Atkins Tells Us That Water Is Actually Chemically Aggressive, And Can React With And Destroy The Compounds Dissolved In It, And He Shows Us What Happens At The Molecular Level When Water Turns To Iceand When It Melts.Moving Beyond Water, Atkins Slowly Builds Up A Toolkit Of Basic Chemical Processes, Including Precipitation (Perhaps The Simplest Of All Chemical Reactions), Combustion, Reduction, Corrosion, Electrolysis, And Catalysis. He Then Shows How These Fundamental Tools Can Be Brought Together In More Complex Processes Such As Photosynthesis, Radical Polymerization, Vision, Enzyme Control, And Synthesis.Peter Atkins Is The Worldrenowned Author Of Numerous Bestselling Chemistry Textbooks For Students. In This Crystalclear, Attractively Illustrated, And Insightful Volume, He Provides A Fantastic Introductory Tourin Just A Few Hundred Colorful And Lively Pages For Anyone With A Passing Or Serious Interest In Chemistry.