A Color Atlas of Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section [Hardcover]

W. S. MacKenzie (Author), A. E. Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0470236280 | ISBN-13: 978-0470236284 | Edition: 1

An introduction to the use of thin sections in the study of petrography—the scientific description of rocks. It covers all rock types—igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic—and provides readers with an excellent overview of the subject.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A Color Atlas of Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section is a clear and accessible introduction to the use of thin sections in the study of Petrography—the scientific description of rocks. Illustrated with a wealth of full color thin section photographs the book explains how to observe mineral and rock samples under the microscope. It covers all covers all rock types—igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic—with equal emphasis and authority, providing the student with an excellent overview of the subject. Each photograph, specially produced for the book, has been chosen to instruct the beginner and offer valuable resource material to the teacher and lecturer of geology. As well as being a useful teaching and learning tool, the atlas is a concise reference and review of rock and mineral identification. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470236280
• ISBN-13: 978-0470236284
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,075,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars MacKenzie produced a better text with C. Guilford, May 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Color Atlas of Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section (Paperback)

This book is overpriced and almost useless. It only serves as eye candy for someone with exposure to the petrographic microscope. Outside of pictures it contains terse explanations and alot of blank wasted space.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid confusion!, December 30, 2003

By 

Peter A Selkin (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Color Atlas of Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section (Paperback)

I agree with the reviewer from Fairbanks: this book should not be confused with the Mackenzie and Guilford atlas. The Atlas of *Rocks* and Minerals tries to be too comprehensive (by including both rocks and minerals) and in doing so has lost all of the information about less common and accessory minerals that was in the Mackenzie and Guilford text. Of course, much of what's in both books is now available on the Web, but it's still hard to find large format color photos like the ones in Mackenzie and Guilford.

Another (less expensive) alternative is A.R. Philpotts' "Petrography of Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks." In my experience as a student and then a TA in a mineralogy course, Philpotts' book does a better job of pointing out the distinctive characteristics of minerals than do the photographic atlases.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent book, October 3, 2005

By 

N. Watt "haggis" (North Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Color Atlas of Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section (Paperback)

The book is written in a consise and well laid out manner. As the previous writer stated, the colour photos are priceless and are exactly as you would see looking through a petrological microscope both in crossed polars and thin section