Chemistry: The Science in Context (Fourth Edition)

Written and designed to help all types of learners become expert problem solvers.

All general chemistry students face similar challenges, but they use their textbook differently to meet those challenges. Some read chapters from beginning to end, some consult the book as a reference, and some look to the book for problem-solving help. Chemistry, Fourth Edition supports all kind of learners, regardless of how they use the book, by helping them connect chemistry to their world, see that world from a molecular point of view, and become expert problem solvers.

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.

Geoffrey Davies has BSc, PhD, and DSc degrees in chemistry from Birmingham University, England. He joined the faculty at Northeastern University in 1971 after postdoctoral research on the kinetics of very rapid reactions at Brandeis University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is now a Matthews Distinguished University Professor at Northeastern. His research group has explored experimental and theoretical redox chemistry, alternative fuels, transmetalation reactions, tunable metal-zeolite catalysts and, most recently, the chemistry of humic substances, the essential brown animal and plant metabolites in sediments, soils, and water. He edits a column on experiential and study-abroad education in the Journal of Chemical Education and a book series on humic substances. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was awarded Northeastern's Excellence in Teaching Award in 1981, 1993, and 1999 and its first Lifetime Achievement in Teaching Award in 2004.