Chemistry: The Central Science (12th Edition)

Trusted, innovative, and calibrated, Chemistry: The Central Science has helped millions of students understand and succeed in general chemistry. Its unrivaled problems, scientific accuracy, and clarity are maintained in this new edition, which is the book’s biggest revision to date. In the Twelfth Edition, every word and piece of art has been studied for effectiveness. Based on feedback from students like you, this revision reflects the unparalleled expertise of its author team; each chapter has been updated and streamlined to remove any content not proven to increase student comprehension. Joined in this edition by new co-author Patrick Woodward, the book’s solid authorship gains a fresh, new perspective yet maintains its unified, consistent voice.

Customer Reviews:

IF YOU NEED THE 12 EDITION BUY THE 11TH!!!!

By Aaron - February 22, 2012

I transferred schools and I needed Chemistry: The Central Science for Chem II. The class listed that I needed the 12th edition but they also gave us Mastering Chemistry for free so I figured would just use the E-Book. It turned out to be a pain so about five weeks into the semester I decided I needed a hard copy of the book and decided to check the difference between editions. These are literally the same book with exception to Ch. 22 & 23 in 11E and Ch. 23 in the 12E. Most of Ch.23 in 12E is Ch. 23 with parts of Ch. 22 in 11E, you just have to know where you are supposed to be. Also Ch.25 in 11E is Ch.24 in 12E.

Even all of the end of chapter exercises are the same in 11E as 12E just numbered differently and some in different order, but all within the same section. There are some that vary slightly, usually just values, but I'd say 97% are the same. Not all of the sample questions are identical either throughout the chapter but most are.

This is a great... read more

Good freshman chemistry book for non-majors

By SeekingTraveler "SeekingTraveler" - May 20, 2012

I am ambivalent about Chemistry - The Central Science (or should I say, ambi-valent). It is a pretty good choice for a general (freshman) chemistry course; but chemistry majors should have a course that challenges the student with a faster pace, greater depth, and more math. In terms of content and depth, Chemistry - The Central Science is nearly identical to Chemistry by Raymond Chang. I prefer the Chang book for its clear and concise prose. Overall, I would say that Principles of Modern Chemistry by Oxtoby is the best general chemistry textbook for chemistry majors.

This textbook is very good at what it teaches: every basic chemistry concept seems to have at least some coverage. Chapters are well organized. Information display (use of illustrations, tables, graphs, headers, bolding, and color) demonstrates a professional... read more

Great value, and comes with everything it says!

By Nigs - August 16, 2012

I was worried at first that this offer was too good to be true, and that it did not come with a valid Mastering Chemistry access key. However, the book arrived to me sealed in the original packaging, with the access key, which was sealed in its own little package. They key was never used, and everything works great now that it's set up! Very happy with this purchase, they probably bought tons of these in bulk to offer such a good price. Two thumbs up!
"I was looking for a chemistry joke to put here, but all of the good ones argon!"