I took physical chemistry only two years ago and I must say that this text is one of the better introductions that you'll find on the subject. It is laid out very clearly and throughly and unlike Atkin's Molecular Quantum Mechanics, it's very easy to follow and understand the concepts. It takes a lot of work to understand pchem, especially for the less physics and mathemathically gifted chemistry student. But Atkins goes through every derivation until the very end unlike other writers who assume that you know how to do half of it yourself. The examples are very helpful and the text itself contains very little typos and errors. The margins contain enough white space to make little notes if you're into writing all over your textbook.

Final word- If you're a biochemistry/chemistry student like I am, do yourself a favor and get this book as early as you can. It'll save you the trouble of getting a copy later on.

Atkins' text not only provides a great mathematical foundation to the equations that are used, but explains physically the events that lead to writing the equations. One thing is to right an equation that is mathematically valid. Instead, it is neecessary to provide experimental or physical support to these equations. Obviously, there are some of Leibniz' notations that is useful in dealing with the equations, but this should not be a surprise to a college student. Great book!

Firstly, it's interesting that most of the Americans reviewing the book thought that it was too mathematically rigourous. I wonder if this isn't a reflection of the American education system. Anyway, I found this book quite useful when studying for the olympiad. It was well organised and quite comprehensible (in contrast to the Quantum title by the same author). The book deals with most of the aspects of basic physical chemistry and it is a really good read when you have time to spare.

I recieved the top grades in a highly competitive and small P-Chem course taught by a brilliant p-chemist. I love P-chem and understand it well. I HATED Atkins. It was a ball-and-chain I could not escape. I like Atkins himself and I think he is a smart and excellent chemist, but his book is a soul-robbing torture that few could endure without being extremely conceited or being someone who loves boring, crappy books, like graduate Chem. Engineering students. Look, I love math and I get straight A's in it, I love physics and I'm good at tests. This book still SUCKED. Don't buy it. McQuarrie and Simon is a much better text and will take better care of you. After you've had most of your undergrad and are working on your grad, Atkins is good review because of the cryptic language that will test your reading comprehension and coffee drinking skills and general glazing over of theory that will require you to fill in the blank for the last 10 pages of every chapter. The problems are extremely difficult and often require the use of an unexplained, but necessary to evolve engineering-type method that uses modeling to determine a path of approach to poorly worded and otherwise impossible to comprehend problems. Learning from these problems was a nightmare.

The 7th edition of this textbook is a more than adequate introduction to physical chemistry, but contains many chapters beyond this basic level that are inadequate at best, including those on quantum chemistry and kinetics.

Included in the appendices are reviews of basic (high school) math and physics principles necessary for comprehension of the material, as well as an impressive Data section containing a plethora of tables covering a wide range of topics. However, a lack of depth, clarity, and mathematical rigour make for a frustrating experience for the independent student.