Understanding Life: Perspectives from Physical, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

The anthology Understanding Life presents an atoms-first approach to chemistry. Written for non-majors in chemistry, the text covers a broad range of topics and provides a clear, comprehensive overview. The selected readings recognize important changes that have taken place in the scientific world in recent years.

After a conceptual orientation to the subject, students will learn about the tools and origins of chemistry and the classical chemical paradigms. Other topics include modern bonding models, isomers, structures in organic chemistry and biochemistry, entropy, and metabolism.

The readings address the overlap between chemistry and molecular biology. They present crucial concepts from thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, and quantum theory, which form the foundation of modern physical chemistry. The text includes exercises at the end of each chapter and their solutions which allow students to practice their understanding of the material.

Understanding Life offers an informative and accessible alternative to standard chemistry texts which are often too long for a one-semester course. The anthology is an ideal text or supplemental reader for a one-semester course designed for the undergraduate non-major.