Chemistry and Our Universe

How It All Works

By: Ron B. Davis, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Ron B. Davis

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

Life changing

After listening to this I've become excited enough to pursue university studies in chemistry! I high recommend this course. Professor Davis gives detailed history of chemistry at a pace that keeps the course moving but educates the listener and maintains interest. The included PDF file is a great aid to the audio, definitely download!

Trying to figure out an interest for study has been quite difficult. There are so many different fields that interest me. While listening to Chemistry and our Universe, the processes and history were told in a way that made anything seem attainable through chemistry. This pinpointed my interest. Many times I almost jump off my equipment at work getting so excited about some of the information! Now my mind is racing with all new ideas and questions!

Long

Long, but you survive. Lots of boaring an interesting parts or is chemistry after all.

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!

Thorough but not good for audio-only

I've listened to 15+ Great Courses. This course is especially thorough and doesn't shy away from technical details or simple calculations. It's a pretty complete intro to chemistry, with many chapters of practical applications in the second half. If you buy it with an Audible credit, the cost is a steal.

HOWEVER, the recording was clearly made as a video, with this audiobook being the audio taken directly from the video. The lecturer makes A LOT of references to chemical formulas, equations, diagrams, calculations, and demonstrations that the listener can't see, so the discussion can be very hard to follow. That plus a lot of the discussion being dry and technical meant I often tuned it out and I missed a lot of the foundational material at the beginning needed to understand later topics. The accompanying PDF definitely helps, but I didn't usually have it handy while I listened.

I would only recommend this course in audiobook format as a refresher for someone already familiar with general chemistry or as a comprehensive summary for someone who doesn't mind being lost when the lectures dive into details. And if it's your first Great Courses audiobook, don't let this one discourage you from trying others.

Excellent classes, great author.

This set of lectures was great. The author was very interesting and informative. The one downside to these lectures was my ability to fully understand the information in audible format since there was a fair amount of math involved at certain points. I think that the full video version would be helpful, and since it is available, a good learning tool.

Visual aids do not help those who cannot see them.

I found the lab demonstrations to be super hard to listen to. In every case the lecturer visually shows the listener who cannot see the demonstration. There are frequent references to charts, tables, conversion factors, and equations we can only guess at.

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.

This should NOT be an audio presentation.

I made it 9 hours in before I had to throw in the towel. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "as you can see", "we can observe", "watch what happens", etc. I'd probably be able to pay for a year long subscription to Audible.

The lectures are informative and comprehensive. The audio/production quality is great. The only problem is that it was clearly not designed as a stand alone audio production. I understand that the .pdf is meant to supplement the audio, but it's a voluminous text in itself with a dizzying array of illustrations which requires one's full attention while navigating (which thereby negates any ability to listen attentively).

Bottom line: These lectures need to be be watched; listening is wholly inadequate.

Very clear and detailed understanding of everything chemistry

I really like how the material was presented with so many areas of chemistry in such a clear way. I would have like to hear more experiments with home chemistry but was was happy with what was presented

Chemistry is Both Pivotal and Complicated

I think the lecturer did a great job in summarizing a fiendishly complex topic. How this ranks as compared with other Great Courses, I believe the topic might be too complex to compare with other topics. I learned stuff, and that's the whole point. I am a systems architect so, lacking a chemistry background and coming away from this course feeling satisfied is a win in my opinion