Fuzzybeard - 20-1-2008 at 23:34
Hi!
I'm a very late bloomer (42) into the realm of science (long story that boils down to undiagnosed ADHD), and I was hoping to get some advice about how
to get started in chemistry with a focus towards o-chemistry and energetics. I've been perusing the forums and I'm well past the kewl stage (Glycerin
& KMnO4 gone bad put paid to that! 
).
Advice, cheers, & jeers welcome!
Phosphor-ing - 21-1-2008 at 04:34
Hello and Welcome!
Browse the forum library for books on Organic Chemistry. I believe there are some on energetics too. You should find a months worth of reading in the
library here.
microcosmicus - 21-1-2008 at 08:47
There are also some good web-based resources out there which should
be use to a beginner. Here are some of my favorites.
chemguide --- Helping you to understand Chemistry
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/
This is an well-written and well-organized online chemistry textbook.
It is written in such a way that you can dive in and read any webpage
providing you are familiar with the background material (it tells you
what the prerequisites are on top of the page). In fact, that could be
a way to learn the subject --- pick a topic that interests you, go to the
page on that topic and read it (or back up if you need background material).
Experiment webpages:
http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chemistry/RedoxLP/Redox000.html
http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chemistry/SmallScale/SS000.html
http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chemistry/MicroScale/MScale00.html
http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chemistry/BeckerDemos/BD000.html
http://mattson.creighton.edu/AllGases.html
http://www.chem.leeds.ac.uk/delights/texts/
These webpages contain hundreds of experiments and demos designed
for use in the classroom and teaching lab. Many of them involve only
commonly available chemicals and no special equipment, so could be
done at home.
Readily Available Chemicals
http://www.hyperdeath.co.uk/chemicals/
http://web.archive.org/web/20070620170054/http://www.hyperde...
Since most home experimenters can't just order any and every chemical
from a scientific supplier, it is good to know what you can find in retail
stores. Admittedly the quality is not going to be anything like a proper
reagent, but it is good enough to get started. Also, as you build up skill
over time, you can purify retail chemicals and use them to synthesize other
chemicals, thereby building up a well-stocked lab.
Old magazines:
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/category/chemistry/
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m2071.htmll
Before concerns about safety and illegal activities (drugs and bombs)
quashed it, home chemistry was a popular enough hobby that
mainstream magazines catered to it. The first website is an electronc
re-release of chemistry articles form Modern Mechanix magazine --- you
might want to start with the article on how to set up a chemistry lab and
then try some of the experiments in the other articles. The second link
is for a place to buy a disk of of Scientific American amateur scientist
columns (they are no longer available online for copyright reasons).
If you are handy with tools and have a workshop next to the lab, the
Scientific American articles include directions for building all manner of
apparatus --- from glassware and chromatographs through various
spectroscopes, all the way to your very own particle accelerator!
[Edited on 21-1-2008 by microcosmicus]
Fuzzybeard - 22-1-2008 at 03:03
I've already downloaded and saved (not once, not twice, but thrice! 
) the
contents of Readily Available Chemicals; sensible precaution considering I live less than an hour away from Meth Central in Illinois.
Will keep you posted, of course!
Cheers!