Greeves Reviews

This is undoubtedly the best modern book for learning Organic Chemistry. It simply cannot be compared with any of the traditional texts like Morrison and Boyd, because it presents Organic Chemical research as a cutting edge science of the present and future. Since it was first published in 2001, in this book you will find accounts of reactions and reagents that you will simply not find in any similar text. From Suzuki, Heck, and Sonogashira couplings to very important new reactions like Grubbs' olefin metathesis, it covers the whole gamut of current organic chemistry. The most important and fascinating aspect of the book is the almost countless examples of modern drugs, pesticides and other molecules that are presented to illustrate the reactions. In this, for example, one can find the example of how the simple concept of pKa of acids was used in the synthesis of Ranitidine, the best selling drug of today. Or a separate interesting chapter on Sulfur chemistry and Asymmetric Synthesis as applied to important problems in Biology and Medicine.
In fact, the whole approach is very much bioorganic as well as highly practical. From this book, we learn how organic chemistry is used in a highly exciting manner by real life chemists solving real life problems. It truly conveys the excitement in organic chemistry as practiced today. I believe that if you can thoroughly grasp the principles in this book, you are probably comparable to the best organic chemistry graduate in the world. The informal and honest style of the authors is almost too good to believe. Boxed material which contains key points and the colour used in the book make it a very attractive one. The book is a source of an incredible amount of information. The authors must have really spent a lot of efforts in writing it. Truly a book for the 21st century.
A book which is an absolute must on the shelves of practicing chemists and students alike.

I bought this book on the suggestion of one of the reviewers to get an overview of fundamentals of Organic Chemistry in my way to clear cumulative examinations.I'm in total agreement with the previous reviewers.I went through many of the undergrad texts in organic and I'm certain that this is the best among available.This is really a 21st cetury organic text.The approach adopted is very personal(as if the authors were directly talking to you).The language used was piquant.This book is a bonanza of information.The good things about this book are they used pKa values to predict the rates of different reactions and they widely used the MOT to interpret the reaction mechanism and stereochemistry in many reactions.They made the embittered subject caviar to the general. Students who have read this book can't be overwhelmed by the mind boggling mechanisms their professors write. I would also like to suggest Norman & Coxon's "Principles of Organic Synthesis"(published by nelsonthornes)for a comprehensive coverage of synthesis stuff.That's a reader friendly text and gives you the logic of synthesis(unlike the Carey's book that presents all the reactions sequentially which are often not rationalized)

This is an exceptionally good book of organic chemistry. The detailled mechanistic of different substitution reactions has no equivalent in other textbooks. The quantitative use of pKa values to explain reactivity and the good discussion of Hammett relationships makes it also excellent. The book is specially good for biological or pharmaceutical oriented students. They will found plenty of examples why their work is relevant.
As the authors clearly stated, it could not be directly used in a sophomore american course. However, it would be very good as a reference and for advanced organic chemistry courses.

C.S. Lewis believed that letters should be about a person's readings, thinkings, and doings, and this nearly half century of correspondence between Lewis and his friend Arthur Greeves richly fulfils all three of these areas. Only a few letters are by Greeves, the rest being Lewis's correspondence to him. Walter Hooper has done a fine job in ordering these letters and writing a fine introduction to fill in the background for these two. The letters are often funny, sometimes pensive, and usually insightful, but they are never dull. I enjoyed them greatly.

I looked for this book for quite a while before I finally got a library copy. I read it all, but was glad I hadn't actually bought it. (Note that I own more than 20 books by Lewis, including Letters and Letters to Children, and have read about 30 of his books; so one could safely say I am a fan.)

The book's idea is very interesting--letters from a man who wrote good letters, written to his lifelong best friend. Since Lewis greatly valued friendship (as I do), I wanted to see what he said. But the introduction was disappointing: Hooper spends pages telling Lewis's brother's faults in detail to the world, and only God knows whether he has done so honestly. It was also disappointing that Hooper chose to "scientifically restore" passages in the letters that talk about the correspondents' youthful indiscretions, passages that Greeves had carefully crossed out. In other words, the book fails to appropriately respect either Lewis's friendship or his loyalty to his brother--tabloid editing even if the restorations are accurate.

But the letters themselves are interesting and tell Lewis's story from a different angle than his other books. I'd say it's worth 3 1/2 stars.

This book is a finely edited collection of letters from C.S. Lewis to one of his closest friends, Arthur Greeves. Besides the usual day to day chat, Lewis lets Arthur in on the three things he thinks should go into a letter: a person's readings, thinkings, and doings. Not only was this correspondence fun to read, but several specimens are as good as anything I've read in the way of sage advice to aspiring writers. Lewis's letters are candid, often whimsical and full of good humor, and entertaining in giving insightful commentary on the books he read. Walter Hooper has done a fine job of editing the correspondence and I strongly recommend obtaining a copy of the book if you can get hold of one.