Posted July 6, 2026 / No comments

Product details Organic chemistry can be a challenging subject. Most students view organic chemistry as a subject requiring hours upon hours of memorization. Author David Klein’s Second Language books prove this is not true―organic chemistry is one continuous story that actually makes sense if you pay attention. Offering a unique skill-building approach, these market-leading books teach students how to ask the right questions to solve problems, study more efficiently to avoid wasting time, and learn to speak the language of organic chemistry.Covering the initial half of the course, Organic Chemistry as a Second Language: First Semester Topics reviews critical principles and explains their relevance to the rest of the course. Each section provides hands-on exercises and step-by-step explanations to help students fully comprehend classroom lectures and textbook content. Now in its fifth edition, this valuable study resource covers the characteristics of molecules, the nature of atomic bonds, the relationships between different types of molecules, drawing and naming molecules, and essential molecular reactions. About the author David Klein is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at The Johns Hopkins University where he has taught organic chemistry since 1999. Having worked with thousands of students, he has intense first-hand knowledge of how they learn and the difficulties they encounter. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The Johns Hopkins University and his PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles under the supervision of ProfessorOrville Chapman. Motivated by his experiences teaching organic chemistry as a graduate student at UCLA, David wrote Organic Chemistry as a Second Language (John Wiley & Sons, 2004, updated 2nd edition published in 2008), which has become a highly valued student study resource. David has received numerous teaching awards at both UCLA and Johns Hopkins for his unique, skill-building approach to organic chemistry instruction. David is married, with five children, and enjoys skiing, scuba-diving, and Tae Kwon Do.