<p>My personal experience with Zumdahl? It’s really unnecessarily theoretical. It tends to assume knowledge where there may not be any, and it skips steps in practice problems sometimes. On some of the more abstract concepts, it fails to delve into deep enough explanation to reach the majority of people so that it leaves most behind. </p>
<p>In my opinion, MOST concepts aren’t covered in enough detail. I’m looking back on the text now and just realizing how much I don’t understand. Or how shallowly. And that’s not what you need from a textbook. Brown, Bursten, Lemay is doing wonders for me. I’m grasping the theoretical, I’m retaining it, I understand how and WHY I’m doing what I’m doing during the practice problems, and everything just ties together much easier.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m just not smart enough for Zumdahl. That’s entirely possible haha, and I don’t wanna rule that out! XD But for me, and from a LOT of what I’ve heard and read, it’s geared towards surprisingly few readers - and to me, that’s not what a textbook should be.</p>