Chemistry and biology

Areq

Im going away soon after the exams , i need to buy the biology and chemisty book in 2 days time .
what titles d you recomend ? i look out for the best ones and would be cool if weren't too big or too heavy xd but firstly the good ones ! ;p :pac:

BarnhallBull

I didn't use a book for Chemistry but common feeling seems to be that Chemistry Live is the best.

I used Discovering Biology and never had any problems with it at all

zam

Revise Wise Biology... has all you need to know

Victoria.

zam wrote: »

Revise Wise Biology... has all you need to know

Second this!

For chemistry our class book is Understanding Chemistry - it's just ok. Not fantastic but it looks nice, well organised and that makes it easy to study. Lacking detail in some topics though. Revise wise by the same author works well with it. I use the book when I'm studying stuff for the 1st time and then revise wise which is just like the book but more condensed and I find doing this makes the topic stay in your head for ages.

The other book I have is Chemistry Live by Declan Kennedy. I think this one is great. More words on the page than the other one and more detailed which I like but this could put some people off. Only problem is that it has some things that are no longer on the course in it so is a bit out of date. Comes with a workbook which is great so you have lots of practice questions which is useful.

For Biology I have the book by Michael O'Callaghan. Yeh it's fine. I have no complaints. Again I have the Revise Wise which has all you need to know in it and it complements the book well. I covered the entire biology course a couple of times during the year in a weekend with the Revise Wise without any problems. The Essentials Unfolded is good too especially for the experiments and would be ideal if you want something small.

Hope that helps.
I've got chemistry tomorrow so better get going!

Captain-America

BarnhallBull wrote: »

I didn't use a book for Chemistry but common feeling seems to be that Chemistry Live is the best.

I used Discovering Biology and never had any problems with it at all

Completely agree with both of these. Especially Chemistry Live. It's like the bible of Leaving Cert chemistry.

MaggieNF

Chemistry Live is good, but some of it just waffles on about irrelevant crap.

i reckon revise wise chemistry is as good as any book

dee o gee

I use chemistry live by declan kennedy, I have the rapid revision by the same author and its good too. For biology I have 'biology' by michael o callaghon, well layed out and easy to read. I don't think you'd get a small biology book as the syllabus is so long, unless you went with a revision book but they are small for a reason and I don't think they go into enough detail, their great for just doing quick revision though.

Orlaladuck

Revise wise chemistry combined with Chemistry live works well I think. Exam Edge is really handy as well - it just gives you the answers haha.
Really study hard for the chemistry! I only just figured out how titrations even Work and the damn exam is tomorrow!

Mayoegian

Does Declan Kennedy do the Revise Wise as well? I thought it was only Rapid Revision, as I have that book and he wrote it...

FordieMUFC

Mayoegian wrote: »

Does Declan Kennedy do the Revise Wise as well? I thought it was only Rapid Revision, as I have that book and he wrote it...

And loads of other books too e.g. exam edge for chemistry.
He's one of the leading guys supposedly with leaving cert chemistry in Ireland. Professor of chemistry in UCC or something.

aine92

Rapid Revision Chemistry by Declan Kennedy (the same chap as chemistry live) has been a saviour this past year, literally has everything you need to know, no more, no less and its so concise and clear.

In saying that, we'll see if Im saying the same thing at 5pm tomorrow :rolleyes:

My biology book is the Michael O Callaghan one. Its grand, did the job?

dee o gee

Mayoegian wrote: »

Does Declan Kennedy do the Revise Wise as well? I thought it was only Rapid Revision, as I have that book and he wrote it...

Oh sorry I meant to say rapid revision, thats the one I have too and what my teacher reccommended. Don't think he does revise wise.

wayhey

Chemistry: I've only used "Chemistry Live!" by Declan Kennedy as a main textbook but it's great. Boring as hell but covers a lot and the examples on mathematical problems are really well done imo. I think that "Rapid Revision" by Declan Kennedy and Pat Walsh is really good too, especially with respect to exams and it copies diagrams and some text out of it so the two complement each other well. Found it useful instead of lugging the textbook in and out everyday. If you're going at the course for two years I'd recommend the Chemistry Live! Workbook too, it helped me with understanding some stuff during the year, especially maths based problems because it gives you some more to do beyond the textbooks. "Exam Edge" is a great one too, has all the marking schemes in a handy book listed by chapter following the Chemistry Live! textbook, so you can do all "Fuels and Heats of Reactions" questions say in one go. You could probably pick all this up in Chapters on Parnell St. secondhand, especially Exam Edge, and then just print out the 2010 marking scheme when it comes.

Biology: IMO "Biology" by Michael Callaghan is great- it's clear, colourful and it's actually interesting to read. He explains concepts well. Bar something like Photosynthesis or Respiration (the latter wasn't well-explained without a teacher I thought) you could learn the course yourself if you're intelligent enough. There's a new version out with more pictures and exam paper questions at the back of each chapter. Could probably pick up the older version cheaply in Chapters or somewhere like that again. Only flicked through the new book but tbh it's mostly colours and exam paper questions, but sure you'll buy exam papers anyway.

Good luck!

Orlaladuck

Sugar it is Rapid Revision I meant as well! Always get them both mixed up!

Areq

So the revision books would be enough to get an A in honours? Its grant i prefer to use one instead of "proper" book
So its Rapid for chemisty
and revise wise for biology and i should be grant ,yeah ?