Submitted by Michael Lufaso / University of North Florida on Sat, 10/25/2008 - 12:57
My Notes
Description

    The textbook "Descriptive Inorganic, Coordination, and Solid-State Chemistry" 2nd ed. by Glen E. Rodgers is intended for students who have completed a general chemistry course sequence. Knowledge of organic and physical chemistry is not assumed or required. The chapters are primarily written for students, rather than faculty, and have a conversational style with significant use of 'we' in the text. The first six chapters cover an introduction to inorganic chemistry and aspects of coordination chemistry.  One strength of the early exposure to naming and structures of coordination compounds is good correlation with synthesis of coordination compounds in a laboratory portion of the course.  Chapters 7 and 8 provide description of solid-state structures and energetics.  Basic concepts of solid state chemistry are covered, such as unit cell types, close packing, and a few structure types. There is some overlap and review of content covered in many general chemistry textbooks.  Chapter 9 covers periodic trends that is largely a review of content covered in general chemistry.  Chapters 10-19 is a coverage of the chemistry of the representative elements.  There are a variety of end of chapter problems from which to choose.
    The chapters present a strong historical context of the chemistry. Although the book is somewhat text heavy, Rodgers uses a style that was described by students as easy to read, "In 1808 the ebullient and foolhardy chemist Sir Humphry Davy, ...".  The textbook, being descriptive in nature, does not cover symmetry, point groups, or molecular orbital theory or other advanced topics that one might find in textbooks written for more advanced students. The textbook is well-suited for a sophomore level course as an introduction to inorganic chemistry, or similarly titled course.

Implementation Notes

    I used the textbook in a one semester inorganic chemistry course for junior and senior level students. The course prerequisite was Physical Chemistry I.  I covered Chapters 1-7, 9 and the remainder of the course was spent on supplemental coverage of symmetry and group theory using other sources including Huheey, Keiter and Keiter "Principles of Inorganic Chemistry" and Douglas, McDaniel, Alexander "Concepts and Models of Inorganic Chemistry".

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Joanne Stewart / Hope College
Thank you for writing this review. I like this book, but have not taught with it yet (although I feel like I've used every other inorganic book that exists). I like the idea of using it and supplementing with symmetry and MO ideas.
Tue, 10/28/2008 - 02:59 Permalink
Michael Lufaso / University of North Florida

In reply to by Joanne Stewart / Hope College

I now use Inorganic Chemistry by Housecroft and Sharpe (3rd) in the junior/senior level Inorganic course. I like the coverage of symmetry and MO topics presented in the initial chapters in the textbook.
Tue, 10/28/2008 - 15:49 Permalink
Barbara Reisner / James Madison University
I've used a number of inorganic texts for my sophomore level course, and this was one of them.  My students liked the level of writing of this book.  They found it much easier to read than a Huheey, Miessler & Tarr, or Wulfsberg.  While I was enchanted with the approach at the beginning of the semester, I found it just didn't work for me because I like to ground my course more in orbitals.  I ended up using so much supplemental material that I have moved on to other books.
Thu, 12/04/2008 - 04:40 Permalink
Sibrina Collins / College of Arts and Sciences at Lawrence Technological University

I am using this book for the first time in my inorganic course with juniors and seniors this fall. I will have to use other resources for discussions on symmetry and MO theory as supplementary material.

Sibrina Collins, PhD College of Wooster

Sun, 08/15/2010 - 09:28 Permalink
Sibrina Collins / College of Arts and Sciences at Lawrence Technological University

I am using this book again this fall because I do like the book, but I do have to use other resources for MO and Symmetry. Next time I teach my inorganic course, I will be using Miesslar and Tarr.

Sibrina

Mon, 08/22/2011 - 23:00 Permalink