Reddit reviews Organic Chemistry
We found 7 Reddit comments about Organic Chemistry. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Oxford University Press USA
We found 7 Reddit comments about Organic Chemistry. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
The CE mass produced your typical OTC drugs for pharmacies like Walgreen. He made literally millions of pills a day with fancy machines which--as the boss of a small company--he didn't even operate. In fact I don't even remember him doing anything CE technical, just doing phone calls and stuff. Anyways because drugs are a hot industry, he made serious bank. Millionaire, easily. So much money in the field, not a lot of workers.
But IMO, relatively boring. The chemist on the other hand was making NEW drugs. Never before used, never before tested. He used his vast knowledge of chemistry theory to predict and answer questions like "How would the molecule's function be different if it was less polar or more soluble?" and stuff like that. Then he'd put the theory in practice by making the molecule and testing it in vitro or something. Makes waaay less money. No hot wife or condo in Hawaii. But much more satisfying and requires much more knowledge.
Every job is different, everybody is different. Disclaimer, experiences are not typical. Whatever you decide to do, you can easily make it less boring by being an exciting person.
I've never really used books except for organic Chemistry.
For organic Chemistry I first used this (Prof used it in the lecture): http://www.springer.com/springer+spektrum/chemie/organische+chemie/book/978-3-642-36592-8
which is terrible, don't use that!
Many people say this is pretty good but on the other hand Vollhardt is teaching at Berkeley and it's just a translation which brings me to the point: most good german text books are just translated english ones.
I personally like the Warren but I'm using it in english, not sure if there's a german version but imo the best basic org.chem book.
A really good book written by a german is this, I guess that one is translated in english too. But it's for an advanced level and there it can easily blow your mind ;-)
In the UK the standard textbook is Organic Chemistry by Clayden et al - it is absolutely brilliant and I highly recommend it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Organic-Chemistry-Jonathan-Clayden/dp/0199270295/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=550XCD3M66R1R0Q29C28
To understand organic synthesis you need to understand organic chem and spectroscopy methods, so here, this book is the best on the market in my opinion and starts with basic reactivity and spectro methods and ends in hetrocyclic synthetic methods, protecting groups and such things. So, here you go! Oxford Press
Well I posted this in another thread, but here you go.
Greenwood and Earnshaw Chemistry of the elements - This is pretty much prefect for main group chemistry.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chemistry-Elements-N-N-Greenwood/dp/0750633654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345966730&sr=8-1
Atkins Physical - This is okay and pretty useful as it is full of questions. There's a smaller version called 'Elements of Physical Chemistry'
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Atkins-Physical-Chemistry-Peter/dp/0199543372/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345966803&sr=1-1
Clayden Organic Chemistry - A very good guide to organic chemistry, however the lack of questions in the new edition is a bit annoying.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Organic-Chemistry-Jonathan-Clayden/dp/0199270295/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345967204&sr=1-2
Hartwig Organotransitional Metal Chemistry - Very good but goes a little beyond most chemistry degrees if not focussing on organometallic chemistry.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Organotransition-Metal-Chemistry-Bonding-Catalysis/dp/189138953X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345967182&sr=1-1
For cheap and detailed books on a very specific subject the Oxford Chemistry Primers are extremely useful.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=oxford+chemistry+primers&x=0&y=0
> generally reading and working through a book will provide you with greater depth of knowledge and experience than any lecture or lecture + practice problems course could give you
I completely agree, I've learned a lot by working through problems in "Linear Algebra and Its Applications". I'm on page 17 so far, it made me realise how long it'll take to digest the book.
I know from my Experience as a Chemist, if someone with minimal chemical experience read through all of Clayden's textbook on Organic Chemistry then they would probably know much better Organic Chem than I do. (I can't remember if it has problems, that's how much I feel like I wasted my time at University.) Though, this person would be missing on lab experience and having a video view into Inorganic and Physical chemistry would be useful. They would probably need to set their goal first.
(Edit: After checking, it seems Clayden does have practice questions. I can't believe I didn't take advantage of this.)
At least I know that I want to do data science, though I understand the job specifications can vary a lot based on what companies need. That's partly what's causing me some confusion.
My big question is, how badly will I be judged for doing this outside of University and not having a piece of paper saying that I've done the work?
I'm more than happy to work out of a textbook. I'm happy to study for years if I have to. I'll do what It takes, and I've already spent the last couple of months learning using MOOCs. I just want to know if that'll work. (Well, I guess it always has been a calculated risk from the start.)
I'm aware that I can do some networking, when I am done doing all this studying I can join some Meetups, I already have a blog that I write in (perhaps not often enough, but still) and I'm quite active on LinkedIn and the community you can find on there. I know that if I do a couple of Kaggle competitions, that will also help prove the case that I know what I am doing.
What do you think?
Edit: I looked at the link you gave me and it seems to hit the nail on the head in terms of what's useful. But it will take me a long time to work through this, which is fine by me, I just don't know how someone in HR will view it. (Although that's why I mentioned networking above.)
No no no no. This is the perfect example of how not to learn. You need to learn how to learn. Learning form videos is a horrible idea if you want to beat the average. Please I tell you this from experience. There are studies out there if you don't believe me. If you're looking for a textbook to read check out http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Jonathan-Clayden/dp/0199270295