Peter Atkins is the author of about 70 books, including the world-renowned and widely used Physical Chemistry, now in its 10th edition [in Jan 2014] and is the winner of the 2016 Grady-Stack award for science journalism. After graduating from the University of Leicester and a post-doctoral year in the University of California, Los Angeles, he returned to Oxford in 1965 as Fellow of Lincoln College and University Lecturer (later Professor) in physical chemistry. He retired in 2007, but continues to write and lecture worldwide.

The collection A Very Short Introduction from Oxford University Press is directed to people who want a stimulating and accessible way into a new subject. From this perspective, Peter Atkins has successfully met the collection's goal. In his characteristic clear style, he walks us through a short but rather interesting journey through the core ideas that form the conceptual infrastructure of physical chemistry. This intellectual trip takes the reader through different levels at which physicochemical models describe, explain, and predict the structure and properties of matter. From the subatomic world to the macroscopic scale; from single-particle to multi-particle systems; from the theoretical realm to the experimental setting.

• Preface ; 1. Matter from the inside ; 2. Matter from the outside ; 3. Bridging matter ; 4. States of matter ; 5. Changing the state of matter ; 6. Changing the identity of matter ; 7. Investigating matter ; Further reading ; Index