John T. Moore - Chemistry For Dummies

Chemistry For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by John T. Moore, EdD
Associate Professor of Chemistry,
Stephen F. Austin State University

Chemistry For Dummies, 2nd Edition

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Copyright 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2011926326

ISBN: 978-1-118-00730-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

John T. Moore, EdD, grew up in the foothills of western North Carolina. He attended the University of North CarolinaAsheville where he received his bachelors degree in chemistry. He earned his masters degree in chemistry from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. After a stint in the United States Army, he decided to try his hand at teaching. In 1971, he joined the chemistry faculty of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he still teaches chemistry. In 1985, he started back to school part-time, and in 1991 he received his doctorate in education from Texas A&M University.

Johns area of specialty is chemical education. He has developed several courses for students planning on teaching chemistry at the high school level. In the early 1990s, he shifted his emphasis to training elementary education majors and in-service elementary teachers in hands-on chemical activities. He has received four Eisenhower grants for professional development of elementary teachers and has served as coeditor (along with one of his former students) of the Chemistry for Kids feature of The Journal of Chemical Education. He is the author of several books on chemistry and is coauthor of several more, including Biochemistry For Dummies and Organic Chemistry II For Dummies.

Although teaching has always been foremost in his heart, John found time to work part-time for almost five years in the medical laboratory of the local hospital and has been a consultant for a textbook publisher. He is active in a number of local, state, and national organizations, such as the Nacogdoches Kiwanis Club and the American Chemical Society.

John lives in the Piney Woods of East Texas with his wife Robin and their two dogs and two cats. He enjoys brewing his own beer and mead and making custom knife handles from exotic woods. He also loves to cook. His two boys, Jason and Matt, along with his daughter-in-law Sarah and two grandchildren, Zane and Sadie, remain in the mountains of North Carolina.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to those children, past, present, and future, who will grow to love chemistry, just as I have done. You may never make a living as a chemist, but I hope that you will remember the thrill of your experiments and will pass that enjoyment on to your children. This book is also dedicated to my family: my wife Robin, who encouraged me and put up with my foul moods close to deadlines; my two sons, Jason and Matthew; Jasons wife Sarah; and the two most wonderful grandchildren in the world, Zane and Sadie.

Authors Acknowledgments

I would not have had the opportunity to write this book without the encouragement of my agent, Grace Freedson. She took the time to answer my constant e-mails. I owe many thanks to the staff at Wiley, especially executive editor Lindsey Lefevere, senior project editor Chad Sievers, copy editor Caitie Copple, and technical editors Michael R. Mueller, PhD, and Todd Crabill, MA. Thanks also to my colleagues, who kept asking me how it was going, and especially Rich Langley, my friend and writing partner. And let me offer many thanks to all my students over the past 30 years, especially the ones who became teachers. Ive learned from you, and I hope that youve learned from me.

Publishers Acknowledgments

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