Peter Atkins

Research Interests

Peter Atkins's research (at Leicester) was in electron spin resonance and (at UCLA) in theoretical aspects of spin relaxation. In Oxford, he collaborated with Keith McLauchlan on time-resolved electron spin resonance, focusing on its theoretical interpretation. His group also developed theories of the electromagnetic properties of matter, such as optical activity and intermolecular forces, drawing on techniques that had been developed by theoretical physicists.

Biography

Peter Atkins did his first degree (1961) and his PhD (1964) at the University of Leicester; he then had a Harkness Fellowship (1964-65), spent at UCLA. He returned to the UK in 1965, taking up a tutorial fellowship at Lincoln College and University Lectureship (later as professor) in physical chemistry. He retired in 2007.

He has honorary degrees from the University of Leicester, Utrecht University, and Kazan State Technological University; he is an honorary professor of Mendeleev University, Moscow and a foreign member of the Bologna Academy of Science. He has served on various IUPAC and RSC committees and was the founding chairman of IUPAC’s Committee on Chemical Education. He was chairman of the Davy-Faraday Laboratory Committee at the Royal Institution, a member of the RI’s council, and a member of the Court of the University of Leicester. He is an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Association and the National Secular Society and a patron of Humanists UK. He is currently (2024) a member of the Department’s Development Committee.

Peter Atkins has held visiting professorships in France, Israel, New Zealand, China, USA, Brazil, and Japan. He received the Meldola Medal of the RSC in 1969, the Annual Award of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland in 2008, and the Grady-Stack Award for the communication of chemistry (from the ACS) in 2016.

Publications

Peter Atkins has published about 100 technical papers but his principal output has been in university-level textbooks and books on science for the general public:

1	1967	The structure of inorganic radicals
2	1970	Molecular quantum mechanics
3	1970	Tables for group theory
4	1974	Quanta
5	1978	Physical chemistry
6	1978	Solutions manual for physical chemistry
7	1981	The creation
8	1982	Principles of physical chemistry
9	1982	Physical chemistry 2e
10	1982	Solutions manual for physical chemistry 2e
11	1983	Molecular quantum mechanics 2e
12	1984	The second law
13	1986	Physical chemistry 3e
14	1986	Solutions manual for physical chemistry 3e
15	1987	Molecules
16	1988	Chemistry: Principles and applications
17	1989	General chemistry
18	1989	Quantization
19	1990	Physical chemistry 4e
20	1990	Solutions manual for physical chemistry 4e
21	1990	Inorganic chemistry
22	1991	Atoms, electrons, and change
23	1992	Creation revisited
24	1992	General chemistry 2e
25	1993	Elements of physical chemistry
26	1994	Physical chemistry 5e
27	1994	Solutions manual for physical chemistry 5e
28	1994	Concepts in physical chemistry
29	1994	Inorganic chemistry 2e
30	1995	The periodic kingdom
31	1997	Molecular quantum mechanics 3e
32	1997	Solutions manual for molecular quantum mechanics
33	1997	Elements of physical chemistry 2e
34	1997	Elements of physical chemistry 3e
35	1997	Chemistry: Molecules, matter, and change (3e)
36	1998	Physical chemistry 6e
37	1998	Students solutions manual for physical chemistry 6e
38	1999	Inorganic chemistry 3e
39	1999	Chemical principles
40	2000	Chemistry: Molecules, matter, and change (4e)
41	2002	Physical chemistry 7e
42	2002	Students solutions manual for physical chemistry 7e
43	2002	Chemical principles 2e
44	2003	Galileo's finger
45	2003	Atkins' molecules
46	2005	Molecular quantum mechanics 4e
47	2005	Elements of physical chemistry 4e
48	2005	Chemical principles 3e
49	2006	Physical chemistry 8e
50	2006	Students solutions manual for physical chemistry 8e
51	2006	Physical chemistry for the life sciences
52	2006	Inorganic chemistry 4e
53	2007	Four laws that drive the universe
54	2008	Chemical principles 4e
55	2009	Elements of physical chemistry 5e
56	2009	Quanta, matter, and change
57	2010	Physical chemistry 9e
58	2010	Student’s solutions manual for physical chemistry 9e
59	2010	Instructor’s solutions manual for physical chemistry 9e
60	2010	Physical chemistry for the life sciences 2e
61	2010	Inorganic chemistry 5e
62	2010	The laws of thermodynamics: A very short introduction
63	2010	Chemical principles 5e
64	2011	Molecular quantum mechanics 5e
65	2011	On being
66	2011	Reactions: the private life of atoms
67	2013	Elements of physical chemistry 6e
68	2013	What is chemistry?
69	2013	Chemical principles 6e
70	2014	Physical chemistry 10e
71	2014	Quanta, matter, and change 2e
72	2014	Physical chemistry: A very short introduction
73	2015	Chemistry: A very short introduction
74	2016	Chemical principles 7e
75	2017	Elements of physical chemistry 7e
76	2018	Physical chemistry 11e
77	2018	Conjuring the universe
78	2022	Physical chemistry 12e
79	2023	Physical chemistry for the life sciences 3e
80	2023	Solutions manual for physical chemistry for the life sciences 3e
81	2023	Chemical principles 8e
82	2024	Concepts in physical chemistry 2e
83	2025	Elements of physical chemistry 8e [currently in production]

Many of these books are in a number of foreign languages (including French, Italian, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Romanian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Kmer) and many were written in collaboration with co-authors from the UK and the USA.

Peter Atkins

Professor Peter Atkins

Emeritus Professor of Physical Chemistry and Supernumerary Fellow of Lincoln College

Bibliography

Contact

College

Quick Links

Stay connected