A detailed and extensively illustrated handbook.
The colors, shapes and properties of minerals vary from the bland to the magnificent. Guide to Minerals, Rocks and Fossils is a practical and authoritative handbook that is both comprehensive and easy to use.
Each of the 600 specimens is shown in full color, sometimes in two or more forms. There are also drawings that show the structure of the crystalline specimens. It covers the basics like granite, as well as oddities like meteorites and tektites.
Fossils include sponges, corals, arthropods, brachiopods, and fossil land plants.
Each is described in detail, with notes on:
- color and transparency
- grain size
- hardness
- structure
- occurrence
- mineralogy
- distinguishing features
- habit
- cleavage
- texture
- alteration
- luster
Mineral names, chemical formulae and structural data accord to international standards. This is a very complete, but attractive and useful volume in a respected series.
In-depth descriptions and color photos... useful for amateur geologists, rock and fossil collectors, and specialists in these areas.-- (08/13/2005)
As a most useful field guide for explorers or as a straightforward, beautifully illustrated and written general reference, this book is unparalleled. Summing Up: Essential.-- (10/01/2005)
If you are looking for a good book on minerals, rocks and fossils this "new edition" which has been "revised, updated and redesigned, and includes new extended introductory sections and appendices" is a good one. There are over 600 specimens in colour along with over 300 line drawings. The book is divided into sections on minerals, rocks and fossils. Minerals featured include native elements, carbonates, nitrates and borates, silicates and many others. The rocks covered are igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks, sedimentary rocks and meteorites and tektites. Fossils include sponges, corals, mollusks, arthropods, graptolites and others. Informative text accompanies the quality photographs and line drawings. Nice reference book.-- (03/19/2014)