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Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 90-70521 ISBN: 0-7166-3393-0
Chemistry Today, like the other volumes in this series of publications about the sciences, deals with a specific scientific area. This volume is concerned with chemistry. The subject is introduced with a discussion of its fundamental concepts: molecules, elements, formulas, and key chemical reactions. Then follows an account of the principal groups of elements. Finally, each of the last three sections deals with a major specialty within the discipline of chemistry as a whole: organic chemistry, biochemistry, and analytical chemistry.
The editorial approach
The object of the series is to explain for an average family readership the many aspects of science that are not only fascinating in themselves but are also vitally important for an understanding of the world today. To achieve this the books have been made straightforward and concise, accurate in content, and are clearly and attractively presented. They are also a readily accessible source of scientific information.
The often forbidding appearance of traditional science publications has been completely avoided. Approximately equal proportions of illustrations and text make even the most unfamiliar subjects interesting and attractive. Even more important, all of the drawings have been created specially to complement the text, each explaining a topic that can be difficult to understand through the printed word alone.
The thorough application of these principles has created a publication that encapsulates its subject in a stimulating way and that will prove to be an invaluable work of reference and education for many years to come.
The advanceof science
One of the most exciting and challenging aspects of science is that its frontiers are constantly being revised and extended, and new developments are occurring all the time. Its advance depends largely on observation, experiment, dispute, and debate, which generate theories that have to be tested and even then
stand only until they are replaced by better concepts. For this reason, it is difficult for any science publication to be completely comprehensive. It is possible, however, to provide a thorough foundation that ensures any such advances can be comprehended—and it is the purpose of each book in this series to create such a foundation, by providing all the basic knowledge in the particular area of science it describes.