Magic of Minerals and Rocks - Hardcover

Wiersma, Dirk J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3540210539 ISBN 13: 9783540210535

Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K, 2004

Synopsis

Features 135 splendid color photographs, ranges from vast rock-landscapes recorded in Europe, America, Australia, and Iceland right down to finely detailed images of a few square millimeters. Close-ups of crystals, gems, and fossils are alternated with micro-images of the minute textures and patterns that emerge from thin, translucent sections of rocks and minerals. Literally, as well as figuratively Dirk Wiersma, the photographer, 'zooms in' on the subject matter, leading the reader deeper into various spaces of surprising new forms and perspectives, at times abstract, at other times (pseudo)realistic. Brief accompanying texts are written in a style that is accessible and appealing to a general audience, while also providing the necessary factual information.

About this title

Review

From reviews of the Dutch-language edition - "...a stunningly illustrated guide to rocks, crystals, geodes, fossils, minerals and all manner of other things geological." Nature "This beautifully illustrated large "library table book"... (is) a worthwhile treasure for browsing... Just wait until you see Wiersma’s oftentimes breathtakingly colorful photographs and his microphotographs..." HGS Bulletin "I never saw a geological book like this, and I probably never will again... It is not just a photo book: one should rather consider it an art book. Photographs as an expression of art; and art with the earth sciences as the object.... They show how well Wiersma manages to discover the beauty of the earth..." J. Sedimentary Research From the reviews: "The author tries to show the beauty of his scientific world to a broad and general public. I think he really succeeded ... covering the whole gamma of his working field. As a geologist he shows us ... landscapes of splendid rocks and forms, the result of geological processes as mountain formation and erosion. ... The merit of the book is the skilful photography and the very artistic composition of the images ... ." (Herman Goethals, Geologica Belgica, Vol. 8(1-2), 2005) "This book brings together the author’s fascinations for geology and photography. The photographs range over a scale from whole landscapes down to the microscopic. In the field the rocks can be seen in their natural settings – in mountains, outcrops, riverbeds, on the coast and in quarries. ... On the microscopic scale there is yet another universe with finer details and abstractions. ... There is a short explanatory text to accompany the plates." (Book News on the Internet, January, 2005) "Photo-artist Wiersma gets up close to geological sparklers and captures them lovingly on large format film. The result is a treasure trove, as his trained eye reveals details, colours, textures and relationships that most of us either miss or take for granted. ... This is an ideal present for a geologist, and more serious photographers will appreciate it too." (Nick Chang, Focus, October, 2004)  

About the Author

Dirk Wiersma was born in 1939 in Bandung, Indonesia and is of Dutch nationality. In 1965 he graduated in geology at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands and then worked as a geologist for many years, in the Netherlands as well as abroad. Wiersma has always been a photographer and after obtaining a diploma (in 1993) at the School of Professional Photography in Apeldoorn this became his 'second trade'. Wiersma practices many kinds of photography, including landscapes, street scenery and portraits. Since the late 1980s he has directed part of his photography on specific subjects such as minerals, rocks, ores and metals, in all their various forms and appearances. His photographs are regularly exhibited in galleries and museums and have often been published in Dutch, as well as foreign magazines and newspapers. 'Magic of Minerals and Rocks' is his first book.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3540210539
• ISBN 13: 9783540210535
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160