This Third Edition of the widely-used fundamentals textbook for science majors maintains the conversational writing style that made the previous editions so popular, while including up-to-date treatments of important and current topics. Emphasizes descriptive chemistry--chemical reactions and properties--while maintaining a solid treatment of chemical principles. Common chemicals are used, whenever possible, as examples in both theoretical discussions and in problems and exercises. Incorporates many pedagogical aids: each chapter begins with a brief table of contents, and each section begins with a preview of topics covered. Chapters include frequent margin comments, figures, and photographs.