This is a great book for any science enthusiasts or anyone seeking to increase their knowledge of chemistry it has fun exercises and experiments you can do at home while increasing your knowledge I would highly recommend for any science enthusiasts
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The book is interesting as I like chemistry the experiments are real and proper unlike chemistry sets these days. Some chemicals here in the uk are real difficult to get (ammonium nitrate) or simply illegal to have (like nitric acid) or others that are expensive (silver nitrate). The safety in the book is comprehensive as some chemical compounds could be harmful (ie sodium hydroxide) The book lists what equipment you need to get and how to use it There is a place on eBay that sell many chemicals for the first part of the experiments and there is a list which refers to each chemical and where can be obtained from ( in USA) and how to make other chemical compounds by mixing house hold items! It’s not basic chemistry for beginners but the book is good for explaining about the method and with a little research or thought be able to do the experiments successfully. When I did A-level chemistry years ago some experiments were like these in the book. I am enjoying the read whilst looking for chemicals used in this book before purchasing them and equipment needed Above all an excellent book and I cannot wait till it warms up so I can use my bench in the garage and crack on experimenting
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Good instructions and well presented experiments.
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Great book, well written. Good drawings and illustrations. Lots of practical examples with test , review questions. Well worth the money.
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The author, Mr. Thompson, obviously loves the subject, and yes, darn it, chemistry should be "fun", a little dangerous and educational. I share the author's lament over the passing of a "proper" chemistry set. The one I had as a kid contained all the "no-no's" (or should I say KNO, KNO3!) In that day you could go to the chemist and buy all manner of chemicals "off the shelf". At school we made rockets (after school hours, I had a terrific Chemistry Master..... Now my Son wants to learn, we home ed.... this book gives me the chance to "teach" or better "inspire" him:- That I did already, demonstrating the oxidizing qualities of KMnO4, innitially he smuggly goes yeah and.... then quite soon it's wow, how the heck did that happen? With the chemistry sets of today you take two or more chemicals, mix them together and go "um er what's supposed to happen", as the chemicals just sit there, or if you are lucky change color! An experiment has to DO something tangible. Thank you for a great book! On an offside as it seems that we are being treated more and more like halfwits, perhaps we could have a "for dummies" line of chemistry sets, and then have a range that are designed for the responsible, and wanna b edjucaited majority!!
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A common sense contemporary chemistry book written for sensible adults. Pertinent chapters on safe handling and disposal of chemicals rather than the general blanket ban on amateur chemistry 'because it's dangerous'. Written with considerable wit and a trace of black humour..."don't sniff the gas that is formed people used to but now most of them are dead". An excellent book for those longing for the past age when 'real' chemistry was generally available.
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I've often thought it would be fun to write a book titled "How to make the chemicals the government doesn't want you to have". Something along the lines of improvising a means of heating salt to its melting point and then shoving a couple of electrodes from a car battery in it. When I saw comments in the review about smelting your own copper and forensic tests I thought this book would be a bit more unusual. To be fair I probably had excessive expectations. If you want to get started doing some chemistry at home then this is a good and fairly thorough book. It's just that it felt very much like doing the same kind of chemistry as you would do at school - I was expecting something a little more off the wall. I remember a very bright 13 year-old building a grinder he needed for his experiments from an old washing machine motor, and improvising to get a gas supply for his Bunsen burner. Now, that's home chemistry!
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How I mourn the demise of the old style chemistry sets - today's offerings are a sad and pathetic shadow of what they used to be. This book takes a fun, but very serious scientific approach to the science of chemistry as a hobby, and doesn't just teach you how to make pretty (but useless) coloured solutions. Of course, in these days where you require top level security clearance just to buy some meths for your spirit burner, it's not easy to find the chemicals required to carry out the experiements in this book - but companies DO exist in the UK who will legally supply individuals so don't be disheartened. I have no hesitation in recommending this book - and perhaps we should all lobby our MPs to BRING BACK THE CHEMISTRY SET!!!
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Libro acquistato per essere aggiunto alla mia collezione privata di libri su chimica e chimica applicata. Tanti esperimenti, alcuni facili altri meno. Sicuramente non adatto a bambini piccoli, consigliato dai 16 a salire. Per chi è già dentro il mondo della chimica applicata non aggiunge niente di nuovo, solo qualche spunto interessante (vedi chimica forense).
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Ceci est un livre de qualité scolaire et meme universitaire avec des experiences qu'on peut vraiment réaliser a la maison avec un minimum d'équipement et de produits chimiques. Tout est trouvable sur Amazon, eBay ou simplement en utilisant des ustensiles et des produits de ménage usuels. Ce livre m'a permis de comprendre certains éléments qui m'avaient échappé a l'école. Je regrette de ne pas avoir eu ce livre quand j'étais étudiant. A mon sens, les professeurs de chimie du secondaire pourraient utiliser cet ouvrage comme manuel de laboratoire. Je me sers du livre pour illustrer avec des expériences le cours d'école à de jeunes étudiants qui trouvent la chimie trop théorique. Tout se termine généralement par "oh ben c'est amusant et pas si compliqué finalement". Mon garçon de 12 ans trouve ça très intéressant bien qu'il n'ait pas encore démarré la chimie a l'école. Nous allons pouvoir visualiser ensemble tout ce qu'on voit au cours de secondaire. Ceci est un livre scientifique et demande des connaissances en chimie pour comprendre ce qu'on fait. Il faut tout au moins se documenter sur le sujet de chaque chapitre si on ne possède pas (ou qu'on a oublié) les bases. Il y a d'excellentes références au début du livre dont "Chemistry: the central science" disponible sur Amazon (une ancienne révision conviendra très bien). Ce livre n'est _PAS_ un livre de chimie amusante où l'on explique comment faire des tours de "magie" pour "épater ses copains". Certaines expériences sont quand même impressionnantes et devraient éveiller des passions.
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There are a couple chapters dedicated to good lab safety and precautions, and descriptions of all the lab equipment required to conduct each experiment, which I found very helpful. I purchased half a dozen different introductory chemistry and home chemistry books and this one is by far the best of all of them. Happy with purchase.
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Para hobbistas (como eu) ou professores é um livro perfeito: lista de equipamentos, de materiais e de reagentes para começar a "brincar", além de demonstração de técnicas de laboratório e segurança. Só acredito que poderia ser melhor organizado.
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Lovely book to learn chemistry experiments from scratch.
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