After completing the first four chapters, which was half the Water section I submitted my proposal to the nine most prolific publishers of chemistry textbooks. Three were sufficiently interested to see what I had written but none wanted to publish it … all for the same reason which could be summarized as follows.

It has been our experience that chemists are very traditional when it comes to selecting a textbook, particularly if the decision is made by a group.

   For example, they pointed out that the ACS sponsored textbook (Bell, J. et. al.,Chemistry: A General Chemistry Project of the American Chemical Society, 1st edition, W. H. Freeman, 2005) which is non traditional was not a big seller. I was not surprised by their response. A few years earlier I would have agreed wholeheartedly. But still, I felt it was worth pursuing. So over the next six years I completed the 13 chapter version to a sufficient degree that I could try it out on students.

Six years ago I came out of retirement and used the text in two classes.  In the summer of 2007, I used the entire text with a class of three students and in the winter of 2008 covered the last chapters of the Sun portion with 19 students. None of the students had taken a chemistry class previously.  My biggest question was: can introductory students handle this?  The answer from both classes was yes.  In terms of content it provides the foundation that one expects in a topical, calculus-based introductory course for majors. For the class of 19 students I provided each student with a CD containing pdf versions of the text they needed. One hard copy version was on reserve in the Library.  In an end-of-quarter, anonymous survey, all students favored the paper-free experiment. Three years ago the text was used by an Evergreen faculty member for a class of 20 students. The college’s Media Services created 16 copies of the DVD which students purchased from the college bookstore for about $6 to cover the production costs.  Two hard copy versions were on reserve in the Library.  Students’ written responses were enthusiastic.