Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry

Rating:
Summary: good introduction
Review: I took Prof. Jacob's undergraduate class in atmospheric chemistry at Harvard. Not surprisingly, this was the book we used. Overall it is well written and a good introduction to the field, and is relatively inexpensive for a textbook.

As the other reviewer pointed out, the exercises are very good. Occasionally the book saves critical issues for the exercises which depending on your point of view could be a weakness. Also, some of the chapters are lacking in depth: the book is adopted from his lecture notes and indeed it often reads as a set of notes and is brief and terse in some parts.

Rating:
Summary: good introduction
Review: I used Prof. Jacob's pre-press web edition of this book to teach 20+ bachelor's students Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen during the fall of 1999. I have found it difficult to find an appropriate introductory level text for this class, and have usually been borrowing material for the class from four or five other books. The book is well written and a pleasure to read, but the real treat are the problems at the end of each chapter. Jacob has scoured the literature and illustrates important points in each chapter using recent advances in the field. The students and their instructor learned a great deal from the author's insightful choice of topics. The book reflects the author's perspective of the field, and is longer on atmospheric physics and shorter on chemistry than the title implies. I would have liked more information on aerosols, and the students definitely would have liked more introductory material on chemistry. Overall I would recommend this book to professionals interested in learning more about global warming or ozone depletion, and to teachers looking for a good book for bachelors or new graduate students.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent addition to the field
Review: I used Prof. Jacob's pre-press web edition of this book to teach 20+ bachelor's students Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen during the fall of 1999. I have found it difficult to find an appropriate introductory level text for this class, and have usually been borrowing material for the class from four or five other books. The book is well written and a pleasure to read, but the real treat are the problems at the end of each chapter. Jacob has scoured the literature and illustrates important points in each chapter using recent advances in the field. The students and their instructor learned a great deal from the author's insightful choice of topics. The book reflects the author's perspective of the field, and is longer on atmospheric physics and shorter on chemistry than the title implies. I would have liked more information on aerosols, and the students definitely would have liked more introductory material on chemistry. Overall I would recommend this book to professionals interested in learning more about global warming or ozone depletion, and to teachers looking for a good book for bachelors or new graduate students.