Product Review

Aquatic chemistry students need a solid foundation in fundamental concepts as well as numerical techniques for solving the variety of problems they will encounter as practicing engineers. For over a decade, Mark Benjamin’s Water Chemistry has brought to the classroom a balanced coverage of fundamentals and analytical algorithms in a student-friendly, accessible way. The text distinguishes itself with longer and more detailed explanations of the relevant chemistry and mathematics, allowing students to understand not only which techniques work best for a given application, but also why those techniques should be applied and what their limitations are. The end result is a solid, thorough framework for comprehending equilibrium in complex aquatic systems. The second edition includes a thorough introductory explanation of chemical reactivity and a new chapter on reaction kinetics, providing much-needed context, as well as full treatments of the tableau method and TOTH equation. The discussion of the thermodynamic perspective on chemical reactivity has been extensively revised. The entire book now integrates Visual Minteq—the most popular software for analyzing chemical equilibria—into the problem-solving approach. Additional exercises range more widely in difficulty, giving instructors more flexibility and diversity in their assignments.