Issue 29 of The Journal of Inglomayor brings together six books that, taken as a whole, form a coherent course in physical chemistry and its applications, running from the molecular and quantum foundations of matter to

the industrial processes of Chilean mining and metallurgy. Three titles appear in the Books section and three in the Education section. All six are authored by Professor Andrés Soto Bubert, two of them jointly with Professor Roberto Acevedo Llanos, and together they amount to more than six hundred pages of theory, worked problems and applications. The collection combines rigorous theoretical development with problem solving, numerical and computational methods, and direct reference to real operations, among them copper electrowinning and electrorefining, SX-EW hydrometallurgy, the Teniente Converter, molybdenite roasting, gold and silver

cyanidation, caliche leaching and lithium production from the brines of the Salar de Atacama. Its unifying purpose is to show how a molecular understanding of matter explains, and helps to control, the processes on which a large part of the Chilean economy depends.

General Character of the Collection

The collection is both foundational and applied. Its most theoretical volumes start from classical and quantum mechanics and statistical thermodynamics and build towards the macroscopic properties of gases, solutions

and solids. Its applied volumes take these principles into electrochemistry, aqueous equilibria and chemical kinetics, and from there into the plants, reactors and operations of the mining industry. Three features run through every title. First, a steady emphasis on worked examples and proposed exercises, which makes the books directly usable in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. Second, a consistent link between

thermodynamic or kinetic models and quantities that can be measured or controlled in practice, such as cell potentials, pH, solubility products, rate constants and current efficiency. Third, an explicit regional anchoring in Chilean mining, which gives the material a relevance and identity that general textbooks rarely offer.

Main Thematic Axes

1. Molecular and statistical foundations of physical chemistry

Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, the Schrödinger equation and its model systems (particle in a box, rigid rotor, harmonic oscillator), statistical thermodynamics, partition functions, the kinetic theory of gases,

intermolecular forces and transport phenomena. This axis supplies the conceptual language for the rest of the collection.

2. Electrochemistry and copper processing

Faraday's laws, the thermodynamics of electrochemical cells, the Nernst equation, electrodes and batteries, corrosion, electrode kinetics (Butler–Volmer and Tafel), Pourbaix diagrams, and a detailed treatment of

SX-EW, electrorefining, cathode handling and quality control in the copper industry.

3. Aqueous equilibria and Chilean mining applications

Activity and fugacity, acid–base chemistry, pH, solubility and the solubility product, titrations, buffer solutions and the systematic solution of multicomponent equilibrium problems, applied to copper, molybdenum, rhenium, gold and silver, iodine and nitrates, and lithium brines.

4. Chemical kinetics, catalysis and metallurgical reactors

Rate laws, temperature effects, collision and activated-complex theories, reaction mechanisms, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, and the design and comparison of PFR and CSTR reactors, illustrated with Chilean metallurgical and hydrometallurgical operations.

5. Structure of matter: atoms, molecules, crystals and minerals

Atomic models and the hydrogen-like atom, periodic properties, nuclear stability and decay, molecular orbitals, crystal symmetry and structure, bonding and hardness, Miller indices, Bragg's law and the physical properties

of minerals.

Editorial Significance

• Coherence. The six books read as a sequence. Books 1 and 6 provide the atomic, molecular and statistical foundations; Book 5 extends them to the solid state; Books 2, 3 and 4 apply them to electrochemistry, aqueous equilibria and kinetics.
• Pedagogical value. Every title combines theory with worked examples and proposed exercises, which makes the collection directly usable for teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
• Industrial and regional relevance. The repeated reference to Chilean copper, molybdenum, precious metals, iodine, nitrates and lithium connects fundamental science to the country's main productive activities.
• Methodological balance. Analytical derivations sit alongside numerical, graphical and computational solutions, including regression analysis and Mathematica, preparing readers for both understanding and calculation.
• Service to Spanish-speaking readers. Written in Spanish, the collection offers advanced, carefully structured material in a field where much of the specialized literature is available only in English.

Concluding Statement

Issue 29 is a substantial and well-integrated contribution to the teaching and application of physical chemistry. Its strength lies in continuity: the same concepts that explain the energy levels of a molecule or the statistics of a gas are followed step by step into the design of an electrochemical cell, the control of a leaching solution or the choice of a reactor. By uniting fundamental science, problem solving and the realities of Chilean industry, the collection serves students, lecturers and engineers alike, and strengthens the journal's role as a platform for rigorous, useful and regionally grounded scholarship.