Don't bother
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I'm a 3rd year undergrad and I have opened Shriver and Atkins maybe 3 times in my course (and I am hoping to specialise is inorganic!). The information is difficult to find if it is included at all and a lot of topics are not detailed enough for my course. One of the lecturers at my university helps edit the textbook and even he gives it a bad review! I haven't looked at many other textbooks since I often just use my lecturers notes or the internet but I would recommend the oxford primers of individual areas. They work out quite expensive for the amount of pages in each so get them out of the library. I have also heard Cotton and Wilkinson is alright though have not used it myself.
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Definitely not good enough
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I agree with the other reviewer; there isn't really a single textbook that adequately covers inorganic chemistry- this is certainly not it! Patchy, and never contains enough information about a topic. In my experience it's better to use the library to borrow the more specialised books recommended for individual lecture courses. I do love Greenwood & Earnshaw's 'Chemistry of the Elements' though- still by no means comprehensive, but provides a good overview of compounds of each element, and full of useful nuggets of info.
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Not good enough
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I would seriously consider NOT buying this book if I had another chance.
I've just finished a chemistry degree and
have had the book for the whole 4 years. And I used it
about once a year. It's not very well layed out, some of
the topics are inadequately covered and those that are leave
a lot to be desired when it comes to clear explanations of
key ideas. Overall it's not worth the money. It's clear that
this book is another attempt for Atkins to expand his
textbook empire and line his pockets with poor students money.
I would probably recommend Greenwood & Earnshaw's Chemistry of
The Elements as a more comprehensive factbook, although that
too is only slightly better as a complete inorganic text. I've
not come across a textbook in inorganic chemistry that is good
enough as of yet. I think that that's a shame and that students
deserve better.
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For whom was this written?
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This book is too cluttered to be a good introductory textbook but not detailed enough to make a good reference book. As an undergrad, I didn't use it much, because I found it a bit daunting and not particularly relevant to my course. Now that I am a research student, I hardly use it, because most of the time it falls just short of being useful.
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not a great buy
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I am disappointed after purchasing this textbook as one recommended for my course. I have rarely used it and find 'Chemistry of the Elements' by Greenwood and Earnshaw a much more detailed text covering a wider range of inorganic chemistry than this textbook. I think it is useful though, for advanced inorganic chemistry used in later years of undergraduate chemistry study, but certainly not much use for first or second year chemistry degrees
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