Chemistry and Our Universe

How It All Works

By: Ron B. Davis, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Ron B. Davis

Length: 30 hrs and 6 mins

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lacks Visuals DON'T bother buying it

Was really looking forward to learning Chem basics... BUT... this is just the audio part of a DVD. The presentation is great... BUT >>>>> IT is NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to understand without VISUALS as in diagrams etc. They do present the Periodic Table BUT... not much else. I had to spend a lot of time online looking up a lot of the basics here... GAVE UP after a while. ALAS!!!!!

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!

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.

Worst Listen Ever

Chemistry is so hard to follow and when on audio it is impossible. Imagine someone teaching you a chemical equation in 30 seconds without showing you and then moving on assuming you memorized and fully understand it. That's this course. it is clearly intended to be watched and not listened to. I am sure if I were watching it I would feel very differently. The teacher knows his stuff but the format didn't deliver the content.

More like a filmed lecture than an audio book

This was irritating and frustrating as it was obviously taken from a filmed series of lectures and not made as an audiobook. Experiments were not described but we are told to see what is happening. I gave up.

Dissapointed customer

This is the second time I bought an audio of the great courses that was recorded as a video. It just does not work and we obviously miss out on the visuals. Secondly I don’t think we should be paying full price when we’re not getting the full experience. It would be even better if TGC should make the video content available to us. But in the meantime I will be returning this one too.

Consider the value!

This course was made as a video lecture, as were other Great Courses, but in this case there was no consideration given to the audio only version. It was hugely annoying to regularly hear "..so this interacts with that to produce this here..." having no idea what this or that is. The Don Lincoln lectures have a narative and supporting pdf that makes them great for audio only. Chemistry doesn't!
However the material is excellent and the presentation is good so, if you only pay 1 audible credit for this course, you are still getting good value, even though you won't be able to understand the whole course. Wikipedia helps fill in the gaps.

Not really an audio book

This is a recorded series of visual lectures; it relies a lot on experiments and mathematical demonstrations you can’t see and can’t follow just on audio.

Not really suitable as audio-only lectures.

Lectures were designed for video, making many parts hard to follow, especially when solving formulas.