Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach

More than atoms first―atoms focused.

The authors, who have more than two decades of combined experience teaching an atoms-first course, have gone beyond reorganizing the topics. They emphasize the particulate nature of matter throughout the book in the text, art, and problems, while placing the chemistry in a biological, environmental, or geological context. The authors use a consistent problem-solving model and provide students with ample opportunities to practice.

Thomas R. Gilbert has a BS in chemistry from Clarkson and a PhD in analytical chemistry from MIT. After 10 years with the Research Department of the New England Aquarium in Boston, he joined the faculty of Northeastern University, where he is currently associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology. His research interests are in chemical and science education. He teaches general chemistry and science education courses and conducts professional development workshops for K–12 teachers. He has won Northeastern’s Excellence in Teaching Award and Outstanding Teacher of First-Year Engineering Students Award. He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and in 2012 was elected to the ACS Board of Directors.

Rein V. Kirss received both a BS in chemistry and a BA in history as well as an MA in chemistry from SUNY Buffalo. He received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where the seeds for this textbook were undoubtedly planted. After two years of postdoctoral study at the University of Rochester, he spent a year at Advanced Technology Materials, Inc., before returning to academics at Northeastern University in 1989. He is an associate professor of chemistry with an active research interest in organometallic chemistry.

Natalie Foster is emeritus professor of chemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She received a BS in chemistry from Muhlenberg College and MS, DA, and PhD degrees from Lehigh University. Her research interests included studying poly(vinyl alcohol) gels by NMR as part of a larger interest in porphyrins and phthalocyanines as candidate contrast enhancement agents for MRI. She taught both semesters of the introductory chemistry class to engineering, biology, and other nonchemistry majors and a spectral analysis course at the graduate level. She is the recipient of the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for distinguished teaching.