Reactions The private life of atoms

Peter Atkins captures the heart of chemistry in this book, through an innovative, closely integrated design of images and text, and his characteristically clear, precise, and economical exposition. Explaining the processes involved in chemical reactions, he begins by introducing a 'tool kit' of basic reactions, such as precipitation, corrosion, and catalysis, and concludes by showing how these building blocks are brought together in more complex processes such as photosynthesis, to provide a concise and intellectually rewarding introduction to the private life of atoms.

1 - Matter falling out (Precipitation)
2 - Protons in transit (Neutralization)
3 - Buring in air (Combustion)
4 - Back to basics (Reduction)
5 - Electrons in transit (Redox)
6 - Forcing change electrically (Electrolysis)
7 - Electricity from chemistry (Electrochemistry)
8 - The death of metal (Corrosion)
9 - Civil partnerships (Lewis acid-base reactions)
10 - Changing partners (Complex substitution)
11 - Marriage broking (Catalysis)
12 - Divorce and reconciliation (Radical recombination)
13 - Stringing along (Radical polymerization)
14 - Snapping together (Condensation polymerization)
15 - Sniffing out nuclei (Nucleophilic substitution)
16 - Sniffing out electrons (Electrophilic substitution)
17 - Proton accelerators (Acid catalysis)
18 - Basic instincts (Base catalysis)
19 - adding up (Addition)
20 - Taking away (Elimination)
21 - Carbon footprints (The Wittig reaction)
22 - Networking opportunities (The Friedel-Crafts reaction)
23 - Dark matter (Photocromism)
24 - Irritating atmospheres (Photochemical smog)
25 - Seeing the light (Vision)
26 - Green chemistry
27 - Food for thought (Enzyme control)
28 - Grand designs (Synthesis)

Peter Atkins is the author of about 70 books, including the world-renowned and widely used Physical Chemistry, now in its 10th edition. He won the Grady-Stack award for science journalism in 2016. After graduating from the University of Leicester and a post-doctoral year in the University of California, Los Angeles, he returned to Oxford in 1965 as Fellow of Lincoln College and University Lecturer (later Professor) in physical chemistry. He retired in 2007, but continues to write and lecture worldwide.