Chemistry
Welcome!
This guide suggests chemistry resources that are free or accessible to the public from on-campus.
Priority for our collections, spaces and services is reserved for University of Calgary students, staff and faculty. Community and Alumni must book a computer or workspace before their visit
With the exception of SciFinder, individuals who are on-campus may use any of the resources listed. Most of those resources are "scholarly" or "academic", requiring a background at the high school chemistry level (or thereabouts) and above.
The Key Databases and Search Engines box also lists academic/scholarly databases.
The rest of this Resources for the Public page links to additional resources suitable for those with an interest (academic or otherwise) in chemistry.
Library Access for the Public
In general:
- All physical materials (books, maps, audiovisual, etc.) are available for the public's use
- Some physical materials may have borrowing restrictions
- Borrowing requires community reader card or a TAL card
- Electronic materials (e.g. ebooks, databases, journals): due to licensing agreements, most may only be used in the library, and will be inaccessible off-campus to the general public. If you're reading this from on-campus, feel free to use any of the resources, except for SciFinder.
- SciFinder (formerly Chemical Abstracts) is not available to the public. Licensing restricts use to UofC staff, faculty and students only.
For more detail on access policies regarding the public, see the Library's Borrower Privileges and Information page
Key Databases & Search Engines (Academic/Scholarly)
Due to licensing agreements, most electronic materials in this section may only be used in the library, and will be inaccessible off-campus
- ReaxysContains reaction and synthesis information, as well as physical properties of compounds.
- ScopusSearch for scholarly publications. While it does not cover chemistry literature as comprehensively as SciFinder, it is an alternative.
- Web of ScienceSearch for scholarly publications. While it does not cover chemistry literature as comprehensively as SciFinder, it is an alternative.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowTo set up Google Scholar to detect UofC subscribed resources, refer to Google Scholar setup (in the Natural Sciences Programme LibGuide)
Reference Materials
Encyclopedias
- Chemistry of the elements (book, and ebook) - not technically an encyclopedia, but there are separate chapters about each element, or group of elements (e.g. halogens, noble gases, etc.)
- Chemistry: foundations and applications
- McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science & technology (book)
- Van Nostrand's encyclopedia of chemistry (book)
Dictionaries
- Chemistry (ebook) has a glossary
- A dictionary of chemistry (book and ebook)
- Hawley's condensed chemical dictionary (book and ebooks)
Handbooks
- Common chemistry "...an open community resource for accessing chemical information. Nearly 500,000 chemical substances from CAS REGISTRY® cover areas of community interest, including common and frequently regulated chemicals, and those relevant to high school and undergraduate chemistry classes. This chemical information, curated by our expert scientists, is provided in alignment with our mission as a division of the American Chemical Society."
First-year chemistry texts
- The periodic table : a very short introduction (book)
- Physical chemistry : a very short introduction (book)
- Radioactivity : a very short introduction (book)
- Chemical Principles by Dickerson, Gray, Haight. "The starting point for this edition is the third edition of the textbook bearing the same title."
- Books by Caltech authors: search "chemistry" for chemistry texts
- The Price is Right: 11 Excellent Sites for Free Digital Textbooks: August 2013 article reviews free textbook sites. Chemistry-related sites reviewed include Boundless, California Learning Resource Network (CLRN), College Open Textbook Collaborative, The Global Text Project, OpenStax, Open Education Group, University of Minnesota Open Academics
Finding Books (including electronic ones) by Subject
- General Chemistry"Popular works" that may discuss the chemistry of everyday things, history, etc.
- HistoryNot all of these will be for the general reader.
Magazines
Electronic versions of these magazines may only go back to the 1990s.
- American Scientist
- Distillations (formerly Chemical Heritage Magazine) (free, online)
- National Geographic (results contains all magazines from National Geographic)
- New Scientist
- Popular Science
- Scientific American | Print version
Learning Chemistry
There are many open educational resources for higher education. They are essentially free, university-level courses.
- Basic IUPAC Organic Nomenclature"Step-by-step guide to learning organic nomenclature" for first-year organic chemistry students. A high school version for general chemistry is also available. Practice drills with answers included.
- Khan Academy - Chemistry"Videos on chemistry (roughly covering a first-year high school or college course)."
- ChemCollective"... a collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, tutorials, and concept tests...organized by a group of faculty and staff at Carnegie Mellon."
- Open Course Library (Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges)"collection of expertly developed educational materials – including textbooks, syllabi, course activities, readings, and assessments – in 81 high-enrollment college courses."
- Academic Earth - list of online chemistry coursesA list of links to online chemistry courses (incl. Khan Academy, MIT, etc.)
Teaching Resources
(Some teaching-related resources are also available at the Learning Chemistry box, above)
- Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) Chemistry Resources for TeachersThe search can be refined by subject, age group, and resource type (presentation, quiz, worksheet, etc.)
- Chemistry Education Research and PracticeAn Open Access journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Articles cover chemistry education for all levels. Contributions are refereed.
- ChemCollective"... a collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, tutorials, and concept tests...organized by a group of faculty and staff at Carnegie Mellon."
- Green Chemistry Education Network (GCEdNet)A "network of educators [who] research, develop, implement and disseminate green educational materials." See especially the "Resources" section.
- Chemical Education Digital Library (ChemEd DL)"...exemplary digital resources, tools, and online services—your 24:7 aid for teaching and learning chemistry. A collaborative, community-driven effort..." Includes e-texts, biographies, a glossary, textbook-correlated resources, and 360-degree models.
- Chalkbored"...resources for high school chemistry: worksheets, labs, handouts, and PowerPoint lessons"
- Resources for Chemistry Education"...annotated Web links to instructional materials and other resources of interest to Chemistry teachers and course designers"
- Virtual ChemistryA "three-dimensional simulated laboratory for the teaching of chemistry".
- Science in the ClassroomFrom the journal, Science, a "collection of annotated research papers and accompanying teaching materials". High school and university level.
- AMSER (Applied math & science education repository) - Chemistry"...portal of educational resources and services built specifically for use by those in Community and Technical Colleges but free for anyone..."
- OpenStax (formerly Connexions)Launched by Rice University, this is "a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc. "
- Merlot (multimedia educational resource for learning and online teaching)Peer-reviewed learning materials
- Educational Resources: Swain Chemistry & Chemical Engineering LibraryA long list of resources from Stanford University's chemistry and chemical engineering library.
- TOXinvadersiPhone and iPad game "supports middle school science concepts about environment and health. ...players learn about chemicals and the environment by
• engaging in an interactive shooter game - shooting bad chemicals while collecting good ones
• taking quizzes to progress between levels
• reviewing information about chemicals"
History of Chemistry
- IsisCB Explore History of Science Index
- Database based on the Isis Bibliography of the History of Science. On-campus, there will be links to full-text. Off-campus, use the database to search for references on the history of Science.
- Distillations (formerly Chemical Heritage Magazine) (free, online)
- Library books related to the history of chemistry
- Additionally, books with call numbers starting with Q125 cover the history of science. They can be found in the reference section (1st floor, TFDL ) or the 6th floor, TFDL.
- Selected classic papers from the history of chemistry
- Project Gutenberg - many historical books. A general search for "Chemistry" brings back 50+ books by Robert Boyle, Antoine Lavoisier...
The Case of the Poisonous Socks by ISBN: 9781849733243Publication Date: 2011In 1868, The Times reported that poisons contained in dyes were affecting the public's health. A doctor informed a London magistrate that brilliantly coloured socks had caused severe "constitutional and local complaint" to several of his patients. In one case, a patient's foot had become so swollen that his boots had to be cut off. Respected chemist, William Crookes, offered to identify the poison if doctors would send him samples of the deadly socks. The story of how he solved the mystery gives this book its title and forms the basis of the first chapter. Written by a respected science historian and established author, this collection of essays contains 42 tales of chemists and their discoveries from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Other topics covered include: the quirky beliefs of American philanthropist, George Hodgkins; the development of the chemical laboratory since the 1830s, and the career of C.P. Snow before he became a novelist. Its broad coverage and modern approach makes it of interest to chemists, teachers, historians and laypeople with an interest in science. Written with a light style and presented in a series of unconnected vignettes the book is easy to dip into at leisure.- A History of Chemistry in Canada byPublication Date: 1949
Biographies
- Chemistry (ebook) has a fair amount devoted to biographical sketches.
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry: (Official Nobel Prize site). Go into each year and click on the winner name(s)
- Notable women in the physical sciences (book): 96 biographical essays with emphasis on 20th century women scientists.
- Women in chemistry and physics (book): 75 biographies of women who have made significant contributions to chemistry and physics. Each profile also gives a career discussion and a bibliography of works by and about the subject. The science mentioned is accessible to the every day reader.
- Biographical memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences "life histories and selected bibliographies of deceased National Academy of Sciences members"
Everyday & Kitchen Chemistry
- General Chemistry"Popular works" that may discuss the chemistry of everyday things, history, etc.
- ACS' "Explore Chemistry" page
- Chemical & Engineering News' "What's that stuff": articles looking at the chemistry behind a variety of everyday products
- Reactions: YouTube videos exploring the chemistry of everyday life
- Anytime, anywhere chemistry experience ("for Science Majors General Chemistry"): experiments that can be done at home
- Compound Interest: "a site that aims to take a closer look at the chemical compounds we come across on a day-to-day basis, explaining them with easy-to-understand graphics"
- Good Eats: a cooking show that includes fun chemical explanations for some cooking processes.
Culinary reactions: the everyday chemistry of cooking by Call Number: TX545 .F46 2012ISBN: 9781569767061Publication Date: 2012
Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by
For students, DIY hobbyists, and science buffs, who can no longer get real chemistry sets, this one-of-a-kind guide explains how to set up and use a home chemistry lab, with step-by-step instructions for conducting experiments in basic chemistry -- not just to make pretty colors and stinky smells, but to learn how to do real lab work: Purify alcohol by distillation Produce hydrogen and oxygen gas by electrolysis Smelt metallic copper from copper ore you make yourself Analyze the makeup of seawater, bone, and other common substances Synthesize oil of wintergreen from aspirin and rayon fiber from paper Perform forensics tests for fingerprints, blood, drugs, and poisons and much more From the 1930s through the 1970s, chemistry sets were among the most popular Christmas gifts, selling in the millions. But two decades ago, real chemistry sets began to disappear as manufacturers and retailers became concerned about liability. ,em>The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments steps up to the plate with lessons on how to equip your home chemistry lab, master laboratory skills, and work safely in your lab. The bulk of this book consists of 17 hands-on chapters that include multiple laboratory sessions on the following topics: Separating Mixtures Solubility and Solutions Colligative Properties of Solutions Introduction to Chemical Reactions & Stoichiometry Reduction-Oxidation (Redox) Reactions Acid-Base Chemistry Chemical Kinetics Chemical Equilibrium and Le Chatelier's Principle Gas Chemistry Thermochemistry and Calorimetry Electrochemistry Photochemistry Colloids and Suspensions Qualitative Analysis Quantitative Analysis Synthesis of Useful Compounds Forensic Chemistry With plenty of full-color illustrations and photos, Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments offers introductory level sessions suitable for a middle school or first-year high school chemistry laboratory course, and more advanced sessions suitable for students who intend to take the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry exam. A student who completes all of the laboratories in this book will have done the equivalent of two full years of high school chemistry lab work or a first-year college general chemistry laboratory course. This hands-on introduction to real chemistry -- using real equipment, real chemicals, and real quantitative experiments -- is ideal for the many thousands of young people and adults who want to experience the magic of chemistry.
ISBN: 9780596514921Publication Date: 2008
Videos
- Khan Academy - Chemistry"Videos on chemistry (roughly covering a first-year high school or college course)."
- Periodic Table of VideosOne video for each element.
More periodic tables are available on the Facts & Properties page
Blogs
- Cooking, Cakes and Chemistry - the chemistry behind baking and cooking