[ItsMe000001]

I recommend not just any chemistry course but specifically this one:

MITx 3.091 "Introduction to Solid State Chemistry"

https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-solid-state-chemistr...

It's "archived" - good enough, everything is accessible, you just won't be able to get a "grade".

It's the gateway to "materials science" too. It is more at the edge of chemistry, towards physics and engineering. Not to mention that the teaching in this course is pretty good. Also, it is not dumbed down, you can go to MIT, take the same course and feel right at home. It's about properties of materials as a consequence of the chemical/physical properties of the components (atoms/molecules) and how they are structured (example: diamond and graphite are both made of carbon, then why are they so different).

If you want to get up to speed on "just chemistry" try Khan Academy, their explanations are pretty good and you can easily select what interests you because it is broken down into many small pieces.

[alex_hitchins]

Some very good suggestion there, thanks for taking the time to reply. I'd not even thought about something like the MIT course or indeed Khan Academy but looks like a good route to a better understanding.

Thanks again!