I've tried to read various "beginner" books on chemistry since coming back from a twenty-one year science sabbatical. This one is by far the best.The author takes you from the very basic "what is an atom" and "how to read the periodic table" to more advanced concepts such as Nuclear Chemistry, with consumate ease. The book throughout is structured for the (nearly) absolute beginner, with few assumptions being made about your beginning level of knowledge.
My only gripe is that he doesn't quite explain chemistry symbology in as clear a manner as he does most topics - hopefully this can be rectified for the reprint.
In short: an excellent book for the beginner. The only "pre" knowledge you'll need is the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. If you can't do that what are you doing trying to learn chemistry?
I've yet to take General Chemistry I at college but this will probably act as a good primer. I'd expect you'll need to do some more work and look at a textbook before going onto studying at college. This book will, however, give you the basic information you need to get going.
