General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry, 5th Edition

The positive responses of instructors and students who used the previous four editions of this text have been gratifying—and have lead to the new fi fth edition that you hold in your hands. This new edition represents a renewed commitment to the goals I initially set out to meet when writing the fi rst edition. These goals have not changed with the passage of time. My initial and still ongoing goals are to write a text in which

The needs are simultaneously met for the many students in the fi elds of nursing,
allied health, biological sciences, agricultural sciences, food sciences, and public
health who are required to take such a course.

The development of chemical topics always starts out at ground level. The students
who will use this text often have little or no background in chemistry and hence
approach the course with a good deal of trepidation. This “ground level” approach
addresses this situation.

The amount and level of mathematics is purposefully restricted. Clearly, some chemical
principles cannot be divorced entirely from mathematics and, when this is the
case, appropriate mathematical coverage is included.

The early chapters focus on fundamental chemical principles and the later chapters,
built on these principles, develop the concepts and applications central to the fi elds of
organic chemistry and biochemistry.