“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.” ― Richard Feynmann
Below one will find a plethora of chemistry texts that have been of tremendous help throughout my undergraduate career, especially with my chemistry major. The texts listed under the first three sections below continue to aid me in my graduate studies and hopefully they will be of use to you too.
Quantum Chemistry by Ira N. Levine This is a wonderful text for beginner and intermediate, undergraduate and graduate students alike. Levine’s text is unique because it includes mathematical derivations for nearly all of the quantum mechanical models discussed in a palatable manner.
Quantum Chemistry by Donald A. McQuarrie This text intrigues me, for its subheadings are rather unconventional compared to other quantum texts; each subheading in the text is a single statement summerizing the proceeding section, rather than a vague title of what the section will discuss. This is incredibly helpful if you want to review key concepts at a single glance. For instances, the subheading, “The Schrodinger Equation for a Hydrogen Atom Can Be Solved Exactly,” is far more insightful than, “The Hydrogen Atom.”
Molecular Quantum Mechanics by Peter Atkins and Ronald Friedman This text is best suited for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students. For those who have an appreciation for group theory and its connection to quantum chemistry, this book dedicates an entire chapter on the subject and does not omit the mathematical rigor involved in truly understanding symmetry in chemistry and its implications.
Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Nanoscience by Ken A. Dill and Sarina Bromberg Although this text was not used in any of my undergraduate courses, it was recommended as a supplementary text several times. The text contains a plentiful of examples with detailed solutions. Much like Quantum Chemistry by Ira N. Levine, most of the subsections begin with a single statement summerizing the section. Again, this is far more meaningful than some vague title. Furthermore, the text kicks off with a section on probability, which is crucial in understanding thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Overall, this is a wonderful text for those interested in learning physical chemistry.
Physical Chemistry by Peter Atkins, Julio de Paula, and James Keeler This is a pretty good reference text suitable for intermediate students. A great feature of this text are the sections proceding each topic; before each topic is covered, the reader is met with a series of motivating questions’ “Why do you need to know this material?”, “What is the key idea?”, and “What do you need yo know already?” This text is most appropriate for students who have already taken at least one physical chemistry course; a better alternative wis Physical Chemistry by Ira N. Levine.
Organic Chemistry by David Klein This is a phenomenal introductory organic chemistry text for both chemistry and non-chemistry students alike. The first few chapters acquaint the reader with the concepts nescessary to establish a solid foundation in organic chemistry, (i.e. a review of general chemistry, acid-base chemistry, and stereochemistry). Thereafter, the text is organized by functional group, which makes navigating the text easier and frankly makes learning a subject like organic chemistry less daunting. For example, everything you need to know about alcohols is in one place, (nomenclature, physical and chemical properties, and reactivity).
Organic Chemistry by Jonathan Clayden, Nick Greeves, and Stuart Warren This text is best suited for intermediate-level students. For a more gentle introduction to organic chemistry, see above. Unlike Klein’s text, Clayden’s is organized by reaction type and loosely by reactivity, which makes navigating this text for a beginner or non-expert (like myself) a bit cumbersome.
Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis by László Kürti and Barbara Czakó This text is best suited for advanced chemistry students with an aptitude for organic chemistry or for those interested in enhancing their knowledge in organic chemistry. The text is essentially an extensive library of well-known reactions, their importance, mechanism, and synthetic applications.
Below this heading, one will find a collection of texts I used to supplement my undergraduate applied mathematics lectures. Similar to above, I have linked where these books can be purchased.
Partial Differential Equations: Theory and Completely Solved Problems by T. Hillen, L.E. Leonard, and H. Van Roessel This text does a wonderful job presenting the three main PDEs studied in the field, (i.e. heat, wave, and Laplace equations), and their properties. A spectacular feature of this text is the collection of exams at the end, complete with solutions! Table of contents for the latest edition can be viewed here.
Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, with Applications in Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering by Steven H. Strogatz There are very few texts dedicated to nonlinear ordinary differential equations and their implications in the physical and natural sciences, which is crucial if one is to appreciate the theories surrounding dynamical systems. Strogatz’ text does exactly that and then some; nearly every section in the text is complete with a real-world example, from love fairs to using chaos to send secret messages! Such applications are not limited to the examples in the text-they are also included in the problems at the end of each section. The accompanying student’s solution manual is also available for purchase.
Partial Differential Equations with Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems by Nakhle H. Asmar This text is perhaps the most rigorous of all the partial differential equations texts I have come across. There is extensive discussion on transform methods, such as Fourier, Laplace, and even Hankel transforms, (albeit the discussion on Hankel transforms is short, it is seldom included in any PDEs texts).
Linear Algebra by Stephen Friedberg, Arnold Insel, and Lawrence Spence Although this is perhaps the most rigorous of the linear alegbra texts listed, it still does a wonderful job neatly communicating key concepts, making this text suitable for both beginners and veterans alike. The proofs are presented in an easy to follow manner and there is a plentiful of examples to further solidfy the reader’s knowledge.
Linear Algebra: A Modern Introduction by David Poole This text is great for applied mathematicians and engineers, as it contains a plentiful of examples and applications in chemistry, statistics, physics and engineering, buisness and economics, computer science, and the natural sciences. Compared to the first item in this list of texts, Poole’s text is application-based and less centered on proofs.
Contemporary Linear Algebra by Howard Anton and Robert C. Busby I got extensive use out of this text for a first year course in linear algebra and from what I can recall, there is emphasis on row-reducing–I remember having to do alot of that to find the range and nullspace of a matrix; quite a tedious task. In terms of exercises, the text contains a good balance of application and proof-based practice problems.
Calculus: Early Transcendentals by James Stewart, Daniel K. Clegg, and Saleem Watson Topics covered in this text are most often referred to as Calculus I topics. These topics include limits, derivatives, differentiation rules, an introduction to integration, and applications to derivatives and integration. If you prefer learning by example with minimal proofs, check this text out.
Calculus: Multivariable Calculus by James Stewart, Daniel K. Clegg, and Saleem Watson A multivariant extension of the topics covered in the aforementioned text, Early Transcendentals. Topics covered include multiple integrals, vector calculus, and second-order differential equations.
How To Derive A Formula - Volume 1: Basic Analytical Skills And Methods For Physical Scientists by Alexei A Kornyshev and Dominic J O’ Lee How do I even begin to describe such a wonderful text? This is a text worthy of sitting atop your desk, and not collecting dust in your bookshelf–it is an applied mathematician must-have. Read about it here
Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering by K.F. Riley, M.P. Hobson, and S.J.Bence This text is wonderful for anyone interested in learning mathematics from the ground up, starting with algebra and calculus and concluding with statistics, representation theory, and group theory.
Advanced Mathematical Methods for Scientists and Engineers I: Asymptotic Methods and Perturbation Theory by Carl M. Bender and Steven A. Orszag This is a text that covers advanced approximation techniques in applied mathematics, (approximate solutions to difference equations, linear differential equations, nonlinear differential equations, perturbation theory, WKB theory, etc). Each section is also labelled according to difficulty-there are three modes of difficulty.
Here you will find a compliation of cheatsheets for various computing purposes.
Beamer Appearence Cheatsheet1: Beamer is $\LaTeX$ class used to create high-quality scientific (or even non-scientific) presentations. Attached is a useful reference for themes, fonts, colors, and formats available in the beamer class courtesy of Thierry Masson.
MATLAB Fundamentals Cheatsheet 2: MATLAB is a programming language similar to C/C++ primarily used for numerical computing, matrix manipulation, data visualization, mathematical modelling, and even interfacing with programs written in different languages. Additionally, MATLAB supports object-oriented programming and can be used for deep learning, signal processing, among many other things. Attached is a cheatsheet covering the fundamentals of MATLAB courtesy of ETH Zurich.
$\LaTeX$ Symbols Cheatsheet: $\LaTeX$ is a typesetting system commonly used to produce scientific documents and technical reports. Attached is a useful reference containing common math symbols used in $\LaTeX$.
Visual Editor Cheatsheet: Visual editor is a built-in text editor in the UNIX operating system. I frequently use vi editor for my research to edit and write scripts of code. Attached is a cheatsheet containing common commands used in vi editor courtsey of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Albany. For a more comprehensive guide, click here.
Replit is a free, online IDE that supports a medley of programming languages. This is a phenomenal site for beginner coders and only requires internet access!
Python Crash Course: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming by Eric Matthes
Learning Scientific Programming with Python by Christian Hill A great text that covers the main Python packages used in scientific computing, (Numpy, Scipy, and Matplotlib), and includes a plentiful of examples.
Complete Python Developer in 2022: Zero to Mastery by Andrei Neagoie This is a great introductory Python course offered by Udemy. No prior programming experience is assumed, but it can certainly be an asset.
Color themes: I used Canva Color Wheel to select the color theme for my website. Not only does Canva provide the user with the hex code (six-digit descriptor of the color), it also suggests color combinations most compatible with the color you select.
Fonts: Google Fonts has a multitude of fonts to choose from. Of course, you must configure these fonts to work for your website. The font used in this website is Lato.
Favicons: See those social media icons in the sidebar? They’re delightful, aren’t they? These favicons are small icons used in websites and are normally associated with brands or websites.
Last Modified: 2022-07-22
