[.ca] Thermodynamics and Kinetics for the Biological Sciences (ISBN 0471374911)

Excellent:
I used this book as a supplement in a 4th semester chemistry course targeted for biology and premedical students this past term. It has excellent up-to-date examples and good problems. Hammes does a nice job of presenting at an appropriate level topics from thermodynamics and kinetics needed to read and understand biochemical articles. Such things as the meaning of the biochemical (as opposed to the chemical) standard state are particularly well done -- better than in other books I have seen for this audience. But why does Wiley price \oit at its cost\c? Perhaps it is the nice color plates --- but at a lower price I would have had everyone in my class buy this as a suppplement to the text. At this price I am reluctant to do so.

Biologic Thermo without all the ideal gas BS:
I enjoyed reading and studying this "thermodynamic/kinetics with a biochemistry twist". Most thermo books get too bogged down with ideal gases and the cost in time versus the benefits of material learned is too great. Dr. Hammes however has an easy reading style and focuses in on the "meat" of physical biochemistry pertaining to thermodynamics and kinetics. I am not a formal student, but a cardiologist interested in physical biochemistry. P-Chem learning requires doing the problems. The only drawback to Professor Hammes's textbook is that there are no solved problems or solutions manual for the problems in the back of each chapter. Nerds like me find these problems as a useful exercise in learning to insure that we have mastered the material. You will not be disappointed in this book.