V. Sidgwick
THIS book is an attempt to discuss in detail the properties of the
elements and their compounds in the light of modern ideas of atomic
and molecular structure. The development of these ideas in the last thirty
years has made it possible to transform 'Inorganic5 Chemistry from a mass
of disconnected facts into an ordered system of relations. Inorganic textbooks
are, however, usually so over-burdened with the details of mineralogy,
metallurgy, technical chemistry, and analysis that hardly any space is left
for the considerations of the theoretical relations; while the customary
exclusion of all but the simplest compounds of carbon deprives us of the
help of the best-known and most important of the elements