Providing a holistic overview of general chemistry and its foundational principles, this textbook is an essential accompaniment to students entering the field. It is designed with the reader in mind, presenting the historical development of ideas to frame and center new concepts as well as providing primary and summative sources for all topics covered. These sources help to provide definitive information for the reader, ensuring that all information is peer-reviewed and thoroughly tested. Features: The development of key ideas is presented in their historical context All information presented is supported through citations to chemical literature Problems are incorporated throughout the text and full, worked-out solutions are presented for every problem International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry style and technical guidelines are followed throughout the text The problems, text, and presentation are based on years of classroom refinement of teaching pedagogy This textbook is aimed at an advanced high school or general college audience, aiming to engage students more directly in the work of chemistry. William Tucker 's passion for chemistry was inspired by his high school teacher Gary Osborn. He left Maine to pursue Chemistry at Middlebury College, and after graduating in 2010 he decided to pursue a PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Sandro Mecozzi, where he developed semifluorinated triphilic surfactants for hydrophobic drug delivery. After earning his PhD in 2015, he took a fellowship at Boston University as a Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow. There he co-taught organic chemistry while working in the laboratory of Dr. John Caradonna. In the Caradonna l boratory, he worked on developing a surface-immobilized iron-oxidation catalyst for the oxidation of C-H bonds using dioxygen from the air as the terminal oxidant. Throughout all of this work, his passion has always been for teaching and working with students both in and out of the classroom. He has been lucky for the past six years to work at Concord Academy, where his students have, through their questions, pushed him to think deeper and more critically about chemistry. Their curiosity inspires him, and their inquisitiveness inspired his writing.