The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals; An Introduction to Modern Structural Chemistry. (George Fisher Baker Non-Resident Lec)

When it was published in 1939, The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals: An Introduction to Modern Structural Chemistry became an instant classic. It was targeted to graduate-level chemistry students for use as a text in upper-division courses, but its impact went far beyond the classroom. The book would change the way scientists around the world thought about chemistry. For the first time, the science was presented as the natural result of quantum mechanics operating at the level of the chemical bond. Observable chemical properties such as melting point, boiling point and bond strength resulted from molecular structure; molecular structure resulted from the bonds that held the atoms in position; and the bonds resulted from the quantum nature of the atom (as understood by physicists). The book also introduced chemists to the importance of X-ray crystallography as an important tools for determining structure. Before the book's publication, few chemists had taken notice of the arcane art of crystallography; after its publication no chemist could ignore its value. The Nature of the Chemical Bond provides a general treatment, essentially nonmathematical, of present (as of 1960) knowledge about the structure of molecules and crystals and the nature of the chemical bond. Among the new features in the third edition are a detailed resonating-valence-bond theory of electron-deficient substances, such as the boranes and ferrocene; a chemical theory of the electronic structure of metals and intermetallic compounds; a discussion of the role of the hydrogen bond in the structures of proteins and nucleic acids; the electroneutrality principle; and other new principles of molecular structure. The pre-publication announcement of the third edition of The Nature of the Chemical Bond resulted in the largest advance sale of any technical book in the history of Cornell University Press. Thorough discussion of the various types of bonds, their relative natures, and the structure of molecules and crystals.