Ask HN: General chemistry book recommendations

26 points by chadcmulligan 3y ago ↗ HN

I'm interested in reading some generalist, non academic, chemistry books. I had a browse on Amazon but couldn't find any, except a few cooking ones. Things I was thinking - industrial chemistry what the different processes are for things like Oil, Soap, plastics and so on. Same for pharmaceuticals and Molecular biology. I've done a few classes back in the day at Uni but I was thinking books for a general audience, there's stacks for maths and physics (e.g. Godel, Escher, Bach) are there the same for chemistry? not my field and would like to read some.

Edit: e.g. a layman's summary of 'Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of Chemical Processes' https://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Synthesis-Design-Chemical-Processes-ebook/dp/B07DPTVPPF

or this 'Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering' https://a.co/d/5rdKgub

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gpa 3y ago ↗

I would like to suggest Nikolai Glinka's "Problems in General Chemistry," of which I have the original Russian edition but I see that it's been translated in English (https://www.amazon.com/Problems-General-Chemistry-Nikolai-Gl...). Reasons for my recommendation is that first, it's interesting, and second, every time I have used this book, all chemistry concepts made sense, unlike in the manuals we had to use in school. To rephrase MiB, this would be the final chemistry book I ever read if I decided not to pursue my studies in the subject further.

Also, I did not know much about the Glinka himself, but from what I've found from a quick web search was quite interesting: a representative of an ancient noble family, honored scientist, largest teacher-methodist, whose books for decades, determined the level of chemical education in non-chemical and chemical technical institutes of the USSR...