The fundamental principles underlying the planning of the present book have been expressed in the preface of my earlier textbook, "General Chemistry, An Introduction to Descriptive Chemistry and Modern Chemical Theory," published three years ago. The first two paragraphs of the Preface of "General Chemistry" summarize these principles: "Chemistry is a very large subject, which continues to grow, as new elements are discovered or made, new compounds are synthesized, and new principles are formulated. Nevertheless, despite its growth, the science can now be presented to the student more easily and effectively than ever before. In the past the course in general chemistry has necessarily tended to be a patch-work of descriptive chemistry and certain theoretical topics. The progress made in recent decades in the development of unifying theoretical concepts has been so great, however, that the presentation of general chemistry to the students of the present generation can be made in a more simple, straightforward, and logical way than formerly.