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Chemistry and Our Universe

Written by: Ron B. Davis,The Great Courses
Narrated by: Ron B. Davis
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Publisher's Summary

Our world is ruled by chemistry. It is the study of matter and energy at the scale of atoms and molecules. As the most all-embracing discipline there is, it should be at the top of everyone’s list of must-learn subjects. 

Chemistry and Our Universe: How It All Works is your in-depth introduction to this vital field, taught through 60 engaging half-hour lectures that are suitable for any background or none at all. Covering a year’s worth of introductory general chemistry at the college level, plus intriguing topics that are rarely discussed in the classroom, this amazingly comprehensive course requires nothing more advanced than high-school math. Your guide is Professor Ron B. Davis, Jr., a research chemist and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University. 

With passion and humor, Professor Davis guides you through the fascinating world of atoms, molecules, and their remarkable interactions, showing you how to think, analyze problems, and predict outcomes like a true expert in the field. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2016 The Great Courses (P)2016 The Teaching Company, LLC

What listeners say about Chemistry and Our Universe

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Excellent survey of chemistry

important note: this is an audio version of a video lecture series, which will become very obvious soon after beginning. Audio listeners will miss out on the visual lab demonstrations and the many references to visual figures. As a plus, this course did come with a decent PDF for the extra studious.

This is a broad and excellent general survey of chemistry, building up from the foundations of middle school and going as far as first or second year undergraduate complexity, although with much less practice/exams for the student.

There was far more variety and examples given here versus my sterile university lectures. More references to history. The professor was a good speaker with a fairly dry humour you'd expect from a mad scientist (as many of the historical chemists appear to be...)

while this is not a replacement for university/college courses, it is an excellent companion either pre- or in my case post-, to wake up those old neurons.

nitpick: course could have used more talk on plastic pollution in the synthetic polymers lecture(s)

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5 people found this helpful

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1/2 the story

this course really needs the video portion to be complete. great lecturer. excellent breadth of discussion topics.

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2 people found this helpful

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Good Stuff

loved it! it really explained Chemistry very well. I wasn't able to see the experiments or do the math because I was driving for most of it but will revisit when I find time.

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good, though quite technical in parts

Good, though missed the video elements and diagrams, probably too much math for most for a casual listen

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  • Jen
  • 2019-05-14

Great Professor, Hard to Follow.

The professor is fantastic and I enjoyed listening, but the content is very technical which makes it hard to follow while just listening and not seeing his mathematical and structural examples. This content is better suited as a visual lecture rather than auditory in my opinion.

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189 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • M. Rice
  • 2019-07-26

Not good as audio only

The instruction is clearly meant for visual presentation. Repeatedly refers to things that must be on screen in a video version, but without a meaningful audio description. I did not finish listening.

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168 people found this helpful

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  • Kevin K. Owens
  • 2019-12-08

Great Companion to the Video Course

I see some complaining on here that you need to see what Dr. Davis is saying. I already own the video course, but going to classes I would like to review what I have watched at home while driving to school in the car, which makes this a perfect purchase for me. While it can be used as a stand alone purchase (because much of chemistry is conceptual) I highly recommend getting both the video course from Great Courses as well as this. Sometimes to really learn something well you must be willing to spend the money to do so. All the best!

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31 people found this helpful

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  • T Gopalakrishnan
  • 2019-10-03

Chemistry how it works

Very good lecture. In-depth chemistry, sometimes difficult to understand without Video and slides. Enjoyed, stimulates to refer and learn more about Earth and Universe Chemistry.

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31 people found this helpful

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  • Joel Smallwood
  • 2019-12-23

not meant to be listened to

I have listened to a lot of the great courses series, and this is the first that was completed impossible to listen to. It is filled with visual experiments. He would also go over formulas and use other visual aids without really describing them. So it wasn't long before I was completely lost.
He did wet my appetite for learning the material, but I will have to turn elsewhere.

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28 people found this helpful

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  • Derek
  • 2019-08-23

Fascinating!

Why didn't I pay more attention to chemistry when I was in school? It's suddenly extremely interesting to me and this Audible selection really made it seem fun. I look forward to my kids needing help with their chemistry homework, so I can learn along with them!

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21 people found this helpful

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  • George Methvin
  • 2019-08-17

Absolutely loved it.

Great for any beginner who wants to learn how to love chemistry. Ground level fundamentals, these lectures have really increased my desire to learn more about chemistry.

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17 people found this helpful

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  • Gravaman
  • 2020-01-20

One Year Pre-Med Chemistry Requited

The year of chemistry allows me to listen most of the time and only refer to the PDF occasionally. Very well done. The supplemental PDF adds more clarity and complements the lectures. The lecturer referes to illistrations in the PDF. The narrator was perfect. I used this course in chemistry to help with understanding human cell biology: Topology, protein folding, DNA, etc. Nice to refresh the fundementals.

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16 people found this helpful

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  • Melanie
  • 2019-09-07

Great reference

A wealth of Chemistry info. I will definitely watch it next to get the visuals.

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14 people found this helpful

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  • Mark Wheeler
  • 2019-08-12

I enjoyed this overview of chemistry.

I really enjoyed this audiobook and I'm sure I'll listen again at some point. The sciences fascinate me.

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9 people found this helpful