Laidler, Keith James. The World of Physical Chemistry. New York: Oxford University Press,

For many of us, chemistry is a subject in school that 'feels' as if it has always existed because of its apparent certainty regarding the natural world. The World of Physical Chemistry by Keith James Laidler illustrates that this is not the case by highlighting development of chemistry as a discipline. The creation of chemistry as a subject involved a process of discovery that existed in dialogue with history, personalities, and politics.

Chemistry is distinct as a scientific study because it is more concerned with the properties of individual substances, in contrast to physics' concern with general properties of matter (Laidler 5). It is a vast field, spanning the breadth of simple and quantum mechanics, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, colloid and surface chemistry. Laidler begins with how the ancient Greeks like Aristotle understood the atomic nature of matter, Newton and Galileo, as well as the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics and ends with discussing Brownian motion and the achievements of Niels Bohr.

His book takes us on a tour of the biographies as well as the theories of major contributors to the field of physical chemistry and his chronological approach is useful in showing how the laws of properties were discovered as part of the historical process, and the evolving relationship of science to religion and the liberal arts. Surprisingly, many of the great discoveries in chemistry did not arise from a highly disciplined, approach -- Laidler describes Newton's early experiments as almost alchemical in nature, and highly influenced by his religious beliefs, and while some scientists like Linus Pauling were quite methodical, others such as Ronald Norrish were not (Laidler 7-9). The book is also a study of how chemistry and the sciences have been viewed over time. While science was greatly respected during the classical era, the early Church regarded it with great suspicion and for a long time classical learning and the humanities was held superior to the technical and scientific disciplines. Today, often the reverse is the case regarding the relationship between the sciences and liberal arts, but Laidler's book fuses the two -- it is a well-written account of the history of science that is accessible for the layperson as well as the expert in the field.