Customer Reviews

Minerals: Their Constitution and Origin

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Having been wowed by DK Publishing's gorgeous "Rock and Gem", I was looking for a more technical volume that would cover the basics of mineralogy. The intended audience for this book is likely 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates in an earth sciences program. I compared this book with several others, particularly Nesse's "Introduction to Mineralogy" and Klein's "Manual of Mineral Science", which are the two most commonly used mineralogy textbooks. This volume covers the same basic content as those two, but has a more concise, clear writing style and includes more material on the applied aspects of mineralogy (ore deposits, gems, minerals in human health, etc.). I was pleased with my choice - this book makes some difficult concepts and technical material (e.g. crystal symmetry) understandable for the layperson with a decent knowledge of basic math, chemistry, and physics. It is also excellent in its descriptions of the analytical tools that professional mineralogists use to study crystal structure and advance our understanding of mineralogy. Recommended.

The used book was claimed to be like new. But I don't think it is anything like it. It has carvings on the cover and there are markings all over the pages. Is it really the definition of 'like new'?!! The package didn't arrive so late, but I think the estimates should be claimed more reasonably. Anyway, I would never call this a good purchase.