We have taken the opportunity to refresh both the content and presentation of this
text while—as for all its editions—keeping it flexible to use, accessible to students,
broad in scope, and authoritative. The bulk of textbooks is a perennial concern: we
have sought to tighten the presentation in this edition. However, it should always be
borne in mind that much of the bulk arises from the numerous pedagogical features
that we include (such as Worked examples and the Data section), not necessarily from
density of information.
The most striking change in presentation is the use of colour. We have made every
effort to use colour systematically and pedagogically, not gratuitously, seeing as a
medium for making the text more attractive but using it to convey concepts and data
more clearly. The text is still divided into three parts, but material has been moved
between chapters and the chapters have been reorganized. We have responded to the
shift in emphasis away from classical thermodynamics by combining several chapters
in Part 1 (Equilibrium), bearing in mind that some of the material will already have
been covered in earlier courses. We no longer make a distinction between ‘concepts’
and ‘machinery’, and as a result have provided a more compact presentation of thermodynamics with less artificial divisions between the approaches. Similarly, equilibrium electrochemistry now finds a home within the chapter on chemical equilibrium,
where space has been made by reducing the discussion of acids and bases.
In Part 2 (Structure) the principal changes are within the chapters, where we have
sought to bring into the discussion contemporary techniques of spectroscopy and
approaches to computational chemistry. In recognition of the major r