Organic chemistry is often perceived to be incomprehensible and disjointed from general chemistry. And while scientists ponder the complexity of nature and provide us with concepts of bonding, descriptions of organic mechanisms, and explanations of reactivity in functional groups, there is another reason why organic chemistry is so important-organic chemistry makes up our life.

In What's the Matter?-Personalizing Principles of Organic Chemistry, Dr. Nichole Coleman uses everyday imagery to personalize organic principles in a way that will help students understand not only how atoms behave but also how atoms and molecules feel. The goal is to help students of organic chemistry and those generally interested in chemistry understand the basic chemical principles of organic chemistry through the power of metaphor and analogy.