Chemistry The Central Science is a widely-used chemistry textbook written by Theodore L. Brown, H. Eugene Lemay, and Bruce E. Bursten, with Catherine J. Murphy as a contributor. The first edition of Chemistry the Central Science was published in 1977. Chemistry The Central Science has become one of the most influential chemistry textbooks ever compiled. Chemistry has been called “the central science” because of the way it links all the other sciences: the physical ones, the life sciences like biology, and the applied sciences like medicine and dentistry.
Core Ideas & Content
The present, 12th edition of Chemistry The Central Science opens with a friendly tone, asking the student questions like, “Have you ever wondered why ice melts and water evaporates?” and further goes on to say that knowledge of chemistry can reveal the answers to these and other questions. Intriguing the reader.
(11th Edition Cover)
Student activities are outlined intelligently. Current topics are also discussed in each chapter to give the student an idea of the latest, most relevant developments in Chemistry with a narrative that is sure to spark reader’s imaginations. Stories include “Scales and Weights Have Just Gone Down the Tubes,” “The Myrrhacle of the Magi?”, and “Getting Below the Surface in Understanding Carbon Dioxide.” The successive chapters of Chemistry the Central Science take students through the subjects of atomic and molecular structure to the periodic table of the elements. chemical bonding, solution properties and chemical equilibrium, chemistry of the environment, nuclear chemistry, and the chemistry of life. Every topic in the book is described in a way that is easy to understand. Chemistry the Central Science can also be studied online, and the book naturally gives lists of online resources.
(There is an official online resource provided by Pearson that provides links for each edition’s companion website. An example of one of these is the companion website for the 9th Edition of this textbook.
Publishing Timeline
Chemistry The Central Science (ISBN-10: 0321696727 and ISBN-13:978-0321696724) has had twelve editions so far in its publishing timeline. The first edition of Chemistry the Central Science was published in 1977. The second edition had only a few minor changes when compared to the first edition. The third edition – published in 1987 – introduced color illustrations/figures and included new problems. The sixth edition (1995) had many exercises reworked for the sake of clarity. A chapter on materials was introduced in the seventh edition of Chemistry The Central Science (1997). The 8th edition was published in 2000. There were minor improvements were made in the ninth through the twelfth editions.
11th Edition ISBN numbers include: 0136006175 (ISBN-10) and 978-0136006176 (ISBN-13). The 12th Edition of this textbook that comes with the MasteringChemistry add-on has the following ISBN numbers: 0321741056 (ISBN-10) and 978-0321741059 (ISBN-13).
About The Authors
(12th Edition Cover)
T. Brown joined the faculty of the University of Illinois Chemistry Department in 1956, and has been Emeritus Professor of Chemistry there since 1994. He has done extensive research in organometallic and inorganic chemistry. H. Eugene Lemay, Jr., Emeritus Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Chemical Education at the University of Nevada in Reno, has helped write many other science books, including “Chemistry: Connections to Our Changing World.” Bruce E. Bursten is currently Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee, and has conducted much research on inorganic chemistry.
Get This Textbook
Students can find this chemistry textbook by Prentice Hall in wide volume of online textbook stores, we’ve chosen a few here:
Amazon (buy a physical copy, or download Kindle Edition) – 11th Edition
BookRenter (rent this textbook)
Official Pearson Higher Education Listing – 11th Edition
Official MyPearsonStore Listing
Related Resources
Free Chemistry textbooks online that have comparable material in terms of quality and quantity to Chemistry the Central Science can be found at our comprehensive list of chemistry etextbooks here.