Discover Rocks & Minerals

This beautiful printing of Joel Arem's popular Rocks and Minerals is a real bargain for anyone looking for a color guide to rocks and minerals. The pocket size and the 200 color pictures make it a handy reference for field collectors. it is well organized and written in a style that beginners will fin interesting and understandable. The book begins with basics, such as how to study rocks and minerals, crystal systems, and the properties of minerals. Following the chapter on classification there are brief descriptions of popular gems, both inorganic and organic. The chapter on rocks is exceptionally well illustrated with colorful diagrams showing igneous formations, batholiths, oil traps and other geological occurrences, as well as clear pictures of many rock types. Information on moon rocks is included. There is also a table of chemical elements plus a useful table of minerals packed with information giving formula, luster, color, streak, crystal system, hardness, specific gravity, and refractive index for 240 minerals. Arem, a mineralogist, photographer, author, and lecturer is also author of Color Encyclopedia of Gemstones. Rocks and Minerals is especially recommend- ed to teachers of earth science and to students of mineralogy, petrology, and lapidary. -- Lapidary Journal