Helpfull book
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This book is excellent for chemistry undergrads and postgrads. It is quite a hard read and you need to pick out the small part that you need to know about because it is written in detail. However the small details you select from this book aid your overall understanding of physical chemistry and is very helpfull. I think this book is written to a level which is higher than a chemistry degree. I used this book in my first year at university as an chemistry undergrad and found it extremly helpful. It is one of the core texts required for chemistry students at the university of manchester. If i found this book helpful so can you
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Not for the complete novice, but invaluable for everyone else interested in the subject
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Let's start with saying that the authors pull no mathematical punches. They assume a fair amount of maths and use it throughout, and not in the watered-down fashion, so often seen.
Optically, the book is a gem, and the authors have gone to great pains to use all the tricks at the modern printer's disposal.
Despite being, perhaps, somewhat heavy going if you lack the prerequisites, they manage to clarify almost anything for the reader willing to spend the effort.
One amazing thing is, that one does not require a stiff background in chemistry itself. Possible stumbling blocks lie in the maths, and the autors are extremely generous with worked examples and justifications.
A very useful feature is that the reader can cover one of two tracks, the traditional approach and the molecular approach in either order he or she chooses. The molecular approach doesn't start until chapter 8, but if you wish, you can jump in right there and hardly feel a loss not having read the previous seven. (It is heartily recommended that you do anyway -the classical approach is a beautiful subject in its own right.)
So, Mr. Atkins and Mr. de Paula, continue improving your shining work, if you can come up with ways to do so. As the book is now, I imagine new ideas are getting hard to come by, but if someone buys just one book on physical chemistry, this should be it.
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United Kingdom | 
Canada