The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry (Cartoon Guide Series)

CITATION: Gonick, L. & Criddle, C. (2005). The cartoon guide to chemistry. New York: HarperCollins.Reviewer: Dr W. P. PalmerCan students learn chemistry through cartoons? The answer may well be ‘only with extreme difficulty’. Nonetheless, this cartoon guide could be extremely helpful promoting student learning in some areas of chemistry. The way in which students learn chemistry is very much dependent on the student’s learning style and some students will reject the concept of a cartoon guide to chemistry out of hand. However, this book could prove to be a valuable resource for most Year 11/12 students studying chemistry, though there are difficulties.Interestingly it starts with some of chemistry’s history where there are some minor errors by the authors. It was Cavendish, rather than Priestley (p. 9), who first prepared and named hydrogen and also Cavendish who discovered that hydrogen burnt to form water. Robert Boyle had prepared hydrogen much earlier, but had not identified its properties. Reflecting on the early part of the text, it is easy to see how the cartoonist’s desire to use humour to help students remember and understand chemistry could equally be responsible for student chemical misconceptions. ‘Chemical bonding’ is likened to human love and affection, for example, ‘No wonder the subject is so sexy! (p. 46). This anthropomorphism can prove to be a source of further student misconceptions. There are a variety of less well known chemical reactions chosen by the authors as examples such as living on a desert island using its natural resources in a self-sufficient manner; this was extremely innovative and showed possible practical applications of chemistry. In the areas of physical and general chemistry, the authors do a good job of providing examples of typical calculations with which students need to be familiar.Areas of descriptive chemistry in inorganic and organic chemistry are difficult as students may often be required recall the practical details of experiments that they have carried out, whereas cartoon guides need to cut descriptions to a minimum number of words. Similarly industrial chemistry may prove difficult if details of industrial processes are required. Overall, The cartoon guide to chemistry covers more than most Year 12 curricula and could find a place in some university courses. There will be teachers who dislike the approaches to some topics or find definitions incomplete, but the appeal that a cartoon approach makes to some students should override these concerns. This book really covers much general and physical chemistry well, so can be recommended as an alternative approach.BILL PALMER

My 8 year old read the whole book in three days. He really enjoyed it, especially with cartoon it become much easier to understand. He also finished the Genetic book. I bought the whole series for him

This is a humorous book that a scientist or a kid looking to learn a little can appreciate. Classic.

This is the first edition of "The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry" by Larry Gonick and Craig Criddle and was published in 2005. It is another of the series of Cartoon Guides which Larry Gonick has co-authored with scientists in the field of choice. Craig Criddle is a professor of environmental engineering and science at Stanford University.The book has 12 chapters, and like the other guides it covers a history of the subject, as well as a good overview of the subject, and there is a lot to cover with Chemistry. From the early days of alchemy, through the discover of the atom, through reactions, states of matter, solutions, acids and bases, thermodynamics and electrochemistry and finishing up with a chapter on organic chemistry, Criddle and Gonick try to give a little taste of everything to the reader.This book serves well as an introduction, overview, history of the subject, or a refresher. This guide works well when combined with the Physics and Genetics guide, as there are certainly areas of crossover between the books. Because of the wide variety of topics contained in this book, if you are using it as an introduction, you may want to break it apart and use it to introduce a few topics, then spend some more in depth time on those topics, before moving on to some more sections of this book.

Why should chemistry be hard to understand and be boring? It doesn't. Same information, more fun.

Make no mistake, The Cartoon Guide To Chemistry gives you a full introductory (and then some) science textbook lesson in the danger, fun, and wonder of chemistry, but all without the aridly pedantic, tedious wording.There are a few moments where Gonick and Criddle get a little too cutesy with the humor, but the book is never overwhelmed by them. There are also those times when the math gets complex (as it has to), but fear not! Gonick also has wonderful books on Algebra, Calculus, and Physics!I've been reading Larry since the 1980s and his brilliant History of the Universe series. As a thoroughly enjoyable reference and reminder for adults, or a quick and helpful book for young people entering college, Larry Gonick is our Dr. Suess for Grown-ups.

5/5 would buy again, looks like it spent the majority of it's life in a box only occasionally handled by someone with a pair of white gloves and some impressive rules about book handling.

There are too many anecdotes and jokes. It is not very useful for a student who is truly trying to understand chemistry.

schöne Ideen

Bought my kids this for heading into high school - they actually read it & was a perfect primer for them to get the foundational understanding needed before taking chemistry classes... Fast forward a few years, & I re-bought it (gifted on the original book) as a refresher heading into university as they've got chem coming up & haven't taken it in a few years - both boys were excited to see it again :)

Larry Gonick's 'Cartoon Guides to ...' the sciences are a godsend. So many science texts are dull dull dull -- just assertions and equations. This book should be given to every child interested in, or forced to study, chemistry.

Fun, but at times slightly confusing somehowPerhaps am I still lacking certain basic knowledge about chemistry, nevertheless interesting read

Well written... explains difficult subject in a lucid and entertaining way. Cartoons are great and goes well with the mood of the subject. Should be part of the school syllabus. Hats off to Team Gonick.