Carter carefully ties each discussion to relevant, concrete examples. He provides a fuller treatment of both group theory and its applications than George Davidson's Group Theory for Chemists , although Davidson nicely divides his development into short, concise, topical chapters. By contrast to almost all the other texts I have mentioned, I particularly appreciate the careful inclusion of data throughout Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory . For example, in writing molecular orbital diagrams, Carter provides the photoelectron spectra of example molecules and relates the peaks to the MO diagram. Likewise, the chapter on vibrational spectroscopy includes both infrared and Raman spectra of compounds discussed.
Excellent problems accompany each chapter.
In terms of coverage and depth, Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory is well suited to an introductory group theory course. I enjoyed reading the book and am likely to adopt it in my own course. All rights reserved.