Can you recommend some textbooks?

I'm reading this now: http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/VirtTxtJml/intro1.htm

But I'd like to have something in hand as well ... have you guys ever taken it / studied it / know any cool resources / links?

I'm a 100% beginner and I hated chemistry in school (because I didn't have any reason to study it), but I think chemistry explains the way the world works (like physics, but physics / math are not my disciplines).

Thanks.

Peace & love,
Koobie

I have a hard time figuring you would get anything out of it, especially since you stated that you hated chemistry. Did you keep at this over many weeks or did this idea come very recently...?

I'm fairly confident that chemistry still requires math. Choosing to examine the world based upon what is easiest or requires the least prerequisite skillsets is a bit dubious (you could just read the bible if that's your goal). Not that organic chemistry can't explain some of the world, but something like astrophysics or geology may be a better choice if that's really your goal. Or possibly even getting better in maths so that you can approach other fields better equipped.

Thanks Dormouse, but I'm not asking for an evaluation of my goals, I'm asking if anyone has studied it / can recommend some textbooks (no offense) ... thanks.

And no, I don't think it's "easiest," I'm just more interested in it than geology / physics?

And I've read The Bible ... didn't teach me **** about the periodic table.

It's not an easy question to answer. I decided to (try to) study it recently, but I've been interested in it for the past year or so, I just hadn't realized that it until very recently (I was thinking about it in very abstract terms w/o any practical knowledge).

One of the catalysts was also the realization that a couple of people who have a very similar mindset / view on the world as myself are professional chemists (well, one of them ... the other is an old boy student, which is kind of what I'm going for as well).

Fair enough. For a lot of people it's all they ever feel the need to know about how the world works. Figured I'd mention it in the vein of extremely low-hanging fruit.

Have you checked for well-rated texts on Amazon or asked around in organic-chem fora? It might be a good way to find out recommendations since strangers are less likely to evaluate your goals. There are (much more active) resources outside of Massassi for almost anything.

Yes, I'm reading stuff as well ... and yes, I've checked; also downloaded the free Guide to Elementary Chemistry for Beginners for Kindle by Le Roy C. Cooley (1886), might be a bit outdated, heh ... but probably not going to hurt. I am aware there are other resources than Massassi ... I mostly post here for fun, but there are a some cool / educated people here who sometimes offer good advise (though they don't post so much).

The problem with teaching / studying chemistry in school is same like studying history ... they can tell you the dates of when **** happened or the names of the different elements and how they connect to each other, but you are not old enough to realize that this **** is actually happening / happened (a date in a history book is countless tragedies and just as many happy moments for people who are now long dead), and understand its importance (and what is more important than the composition of the real world and everything in it?) I think.

I mean, that's profound and everything. But I heard it many times before. The whole: I have an idea, learning [subject] will enlighten me about this and that! ---> what's a good textbook? ---> no, no, no what's a good classic textbook? ---> being an autodidact is the way to go! ---> I'm beating the system! ---> Er, this might take time and patience... ---> Gee, need to take a break anyway for the material to soak in... ---> I have an idea, learning [subject] will enlighten me about this and that!

My suggestion is to give it weeks by yourself before you buy some $200 textbook or spend days looking for a PDF. But I can guarantee you that you won't retain anything in orgo because you don't seem committed, at least time wise. I mean, 90% people who study orgo probably don't retain much of their studies.

Yes yes, of course ... that's why I'm downloading free stuff / reading ... I'm basically choosing a major, and I am deciding between English Language & Literature (which is obvious) and Chemistry (which was less obvious).

My suspicion is you will quickly learn (or slowly learn) that organic chemistry explains a vanishingly tiny fraction of "the world", little say the universe or reality at large.

Go get the preferred final year high school textbook in your country for chemistry and learn from that. It ought to give you a good starting point and if you can't handle the maths at that level, then you're definitely not ready to choose chemistry as a major.

Also why organic chemistry textbooks? Those are going to assume a certain amount of general chemistry knowledge first.

Anyway, to give you something to try, this was the recommended text at my uni for chemistry first years: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1957892.Organic_Chemistry

I attended an organic chemistry lecture once. It was probably more eventful than most.

Thank you! I'll check that book out. I'm reading A Guide to Elementary Chemistry for Beginners by Le Roy C. Cooley, it's pretty amazing.

As much as the subject interests me, on further consideration it might not make sense to choose it as a major at my age -- it's more logical to study English Language & Literature because this is something I use daily (in stories, in other writing I do, etc.), and just study chemistry on my own ... besides, like you've correctly stated, I don't think I'd be able to get myself to even entrance uni-level knowledge base in a short amount of time (I'm planning to enrol within the next few months).

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll make sure to have a look at it.

If you're literally going back to school:

- The (knowledge) bar for entrance to science majors is pretty low, since most universities offer tiered introductions. You can usually get placed into an appropriate course for your background. If you're going to study to get a leg up, do focused study on high-school level subjects - including math and physics - because your professors will assume that all of it is general knowledge.

- Science degrees take a lot of work. Most of your courses will have labs and seminars, in addition to lectures, papers, and exams. You hear art students complain about their workload a lot, but as someone who took humanities credits for fun I'm telling you there is just no comparison. You probably won't be successful if you have to work while you are taking a science major.

- It's much harder to switch between faculties than majors. That means, it'll be harder for you to switch from chemistry to literature than from music to literature, because it means moving between faculties.

- If you must change faculties, it's a lot easier to trade 'down'. I don't mean to demean the arts, but that is the way it works irl. If you are really on the fence, try to start with science, because you'll have a much easier time dropping down to arts or education from there.

I have a BS in Biology, so Organic Chemistry was a requirement for me. Now I'm not sure if Organic Chemistry needs to be so difficult, but I think most colleges and universities use it as a culling point to weed out the less serious science students. After attempting Organic Chemistry, I remember many of my peers changing majors to something related (where it wasnt a requirement) like Bio-Psychology. I survived it with a C, but then Chemistry wasn't my primary interest.

ochem is hard to weed out people who lean on memorization. That's the real mark of a weed-out course; symbolic logic in philosophy, algorithms in computer science, ochem for pre-med/biology, discrete/babby's first proof course in math, etc. Every science program is going to include at least one, although it might only be tenuously related to your program.

hmm. all of my examples require the same type of thinking. makes u think

I'm not going to recommend a textbook for two reasons. One, I haven't taken organic chemistry or anything beyond high school chemistry for that matter & have no idea what to recommend. Two, I think that you'd have more enjoyment out of tackling the casual stuff first (e.g. lectures & videos) & going in to more depth later should you still be interested. Therefore, I'm going to recommend that you first utilize resources such as Khan Academy & the like before you dive in to a textbook & risk burning yourself out. Here are some general resources that I tend to use a lot when reading about the sciences.

- http://www.khanacademy.org/science/organic-chemistry/
- http://noexcuselist.com/
- https://sites.google.com/site/scienceandmathguide/

Khan Academy! Yes! I remember listening to a few intro to programming lectures by them, they were pretty rad (I wasn't too serious about it, though, just wanted to learn about Khan Academy more than I did about programming, heh). Thanks!

Jon'C, thanks for your advise, I see what you mean re: switching from sciences to humanities, but it's true, I do have to work ... having checked a few "distance learning" unis for English Language & Literature, Open University (UK) seems like a good bet, especially considering I know someone who studies with them and is happy with the programme. And considering it costs money, it's just safer to study chemistry on my own (I'm quite positive my love for language will not waver ... chemistry, I'm not so sure). It's still fascinating because at the very basic level it is the study of matter ... actions ... and reactions. Study of life, if you will. But yeah, I'm oversimplifying of course.