Quantum Chemistry

Finnally I got the book…but it is broken…

Soy estudiante del Grado en Química Este libro es introductorio (a un buen nivel) a la Química Cuántica, una disciplina iniciada a principios del siglo XX pero que en los últimos años está avanzando a pasos agigantados y todavía queda mucho que investigar. Por eso elegí la 7ª y última edicion, que no está disponible en librerías en España y en las bibliotecas de las universidades está difícil encontrarlo. La última edición en español es la 5ª de 2001, pero se ha avanzado considerablemente desde entonces, y prefiero leerlo en inglés pero que incluya los últimos avances. Estos últimos avances son nuevos métodos algebraicos destinados a ser ejecutados por un ordenador para resolver aproximandamente la ecuación de Schrödinger en los casos que no tiene solución exacta (la mayoría de los casos reales y con consecuente aplicación a otras ramas de la Química). Respecto a Amazon, me venía el libro sin su precinto y con leves marcas, cosa no aceptable en un libro nuevo. Pero Amazon es el único que lo vende en España, si no habría que importarlo. Me lo quedo.

good but expensive, mathematically more rigorous than most qchem books out there

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Professor Ira N. Levine last month (December 2015). I was among the first students in his debut class in quantum chemistry back in the late 1960's. We used the zeroth edition of this book as it was being written, delivered to the students - in mimeograph form - one chapter at a time by Prof. Levine. As a hobby, I've purchased and read subsequent editions over the years even though my professional career took me into engineering rather than theoretical chemistry. The book has remained at the pinnacle of QC texts for advanced undergraduate, graduate, and self-study use. This 7th edition is no exception. Here's why: (1) it covers the necessary background mathematics in an integrated, as-needed manner, (2) all topics are treated with an appropriate "goldilocks" degree of rigor, neither overly formalized nor overly simplified, (3) the text is supplemented by excellent - sometimes quite challenging - problem sets, (4) numerous footnotes to the literature are given throughout the book for students who want to chase down subtle points, and (5) modern topics in QC, such as computational electron-correlation and molecular dynamics methods, are fully discussed. Overall, the text is written with great clarity and precision. This is not a textbook of quantum physics generally, but of quantum chemistry specifically. There are the obligatory explanations about the counter-intuitive nature of quantum mechanics along with various historical digressions about the development of non-classical physics. But this is a chemistry book. And it's among the best.

The author writes lucidly, so much so that i have read every new edition of his Quantum Chemistry books as they have been released. A solutions manual is available as a pdf file, making this book suitable for self-study. There is no better book on quantum chemistry.

Just what I expected. A very fine conceptual and mathematical development of the subject. If the student is unfamiliar with quantum chemistry and requires a reliable tutor to shape his skills meticulously, he/she should acquire the book.