Discover the fascinating world of the treasures beneath your feet. Minerals and Gemstones is an accessible and informative reference guide to 300 different minerals and gemstones, from simple sandstones to sanidine, jade and diamond. Learn what the Earth is made of, how its rocks were formed and how minerals and gems are used today. Minerals and Gemstones is divided into sections covering the internationally recognised classification groups. Each entry includes an accurately reproduced and representative colour photograph, and a key information table including specifications such as the colour, lustre, streak, hardness, specific gravity, cleavage, habit and crystal system of each type of mineral and gemstone. Full of facts and with an engaging but expertly written text, this handy, pocket-size book is a valuable reference source as well as a fascinating read.

Unearth a treasure trove of knowledge of over 130 gemstones from around the world. Learn how gemstones are formed and how to recognise them by their unique qualities and colours. A wonderful book for beginners, students, and gemstone-enthusiasts that includes the latest scientific research and gemstone classification. Gemstones is filled with all you need to know about these fascinating minerals - cut and uncut stones, organic gemstones, and precious metals. Inside you'll find: - Fast facts for quick reference, including chemical composition, hardness, gravity, lustre, and reflective value - Photo close-ups of key details and highlights of distinguishing features - Illustrations of faceting and shapes popular for each gemstone - A detailed introduction to everything a beginner gemologist needs to know including how gemstones form, the different properties, crystal shapes, faceting, and the history of gems Delve into the one-of-a-kind characteristics, colours, and attributes of more than 130 gemstones with this compact visual guide. For easy classification, each stone's entry includes annotated photographs to highlight distinguishing features and concise details about the attributes of gems. Designed for beginners and experienced collectors alike, this gemology book explores what gemstones are, how they are classified, and how to identify them by their physical and optical properties. It also shows you how they were fashioned and imitated throughout history. Learn the differences between varieties of cut and uncut stones, organic gemstones, and precious metals. It includes a glossary for many more technical and scientific terms and over 800 high-quality photos of gems. It's the ideal gift for any budding gemologist The DK Handbook series is an incredible collection of titles that fascinate curious minds. Other books include Rocks and Minerals, Dinosaurs, and Prehistoric Life, and Stars and Planets.

""This book is a splendidly illustrated and thoughtfully constructed account of one of the greatest ideas ever conceived by the human mind -- evolution. Eldredge has cleverly combined our knowledge of living organisms with instructive insights into the fossil record to convincingly argue that evolution is, indeed, the grand unifying idea of biology."" -- Donald C. Johanson, Founder of the Institute of Human Origins, and author of "From Lucy to Language"

"Extinction and Evolution" recounts the work and discoveries of Niles Eldredge, one of the world's most renowned paleontologists, whose research overturned Charles Darwin's theory of evolution as a slow and inevitable process, as published in "On the Origin of Species" in 1859. Darwin had concluded that evolutionary changes happened very slowly over millions of years. Eldredge's work, however, convinced him that Darwin was wrong and that major evolution of life forms does not happen to any significant degree until after a mass extinction event, thus disproving the traditional view of evolution.

Eldredge's groundbreaking work is now accepted as the definitive statement of how life as we know it evolved on Earth. This book chronicles how Eldredge made his discoveries and traces the history of life through the lenses of paleontology, geology, ecology, anthropology, biology, genetics, zoology, mammalogy, herpetology, entomology and botany. While rigorously accurate, the text is accessible, engaging and free of jargon.

"Extinction and Evolution" features 160 beautiful color plates that bridge the gap between science and art, and show more than 200 different fossil specimens, including photographs of some of the most significant fossil discoveries of recent years. This is a book with appeal to a broad general audience, including natural history readers and students.

Among rock-forming minerals, the zeolite group is large and widespread, and is enormously important to industry. Zeolites form excellent crystals. The group is structurally complex and notable for its ability to exchange cations with surrounding solutions. Numerous diagrams help visualize important structural features that define various framework types. Over 200 photographs of these beautiful minerals show each species in its geological context. After a brief introduction, the general treatment of the subject begins with an explanation of the structural chemistry and taxonomy of the group. A section on their formation and geochemistry explains the kinds of environments where zeolites are formed. Then, an entry for each mineral series provides locality information and full-color photos wherever possible so that collectors can see what good specimens look like and which minerals one might expect to find in association with them. An extensive bibliography is provided for readers who wish to learn more about particular topics.

Studying geology in the field will draw anyone curious about how our planet works into the field time and time again. Ireland is endowed with a spectacular variety of geology. The rocks that make up the island of Ireland offer a unique window into a 2-billion-year history, a history which includes almost all types of geological settings, including sedimentary basins, shallow tropical seas, high mountain ranges and active volcanoes. Seventeen field areas are described, showing how to venture into the field to explore the classic sites of Irish geology. Most excursions are on or near the coast and the variety of landscapes reflects the diversity of geology. Emphasis is placed on understanding processes that operated in the geological past to produce today's rocks. Detailed 'step-by-step' itineraries are provided and the material is presented in a manner accessible to the non-specialist.

This book helps the reader identify commom fossils found in Arizona. Includes common vocabulary, examples of fossil forms, and drawings.

Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the World, here turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions.  Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Kurlansky's kaleidoscopic history is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

With gold forecast to reach $2,000 an ounce by the end of 2012, and the economy as uncertain as ever, goldpanning is making a comeback. Why not pick up a piece or two of surprisingly simple equipment and check that stream by your campsite? The techniques, the pans, the pickaxes and the educated guessing required to pan gold haven't changed much since the Klondike Gold Rush. Garnet Basque's "Gold Panner's Manual" explains every aspect of goldpanning and prospecting. As you'll likely be competing with other prospectors, knowledge will give you the edge, and "Gold Panner's Manual" goes through all the necessary (and fascinating) background on gold's formation to support your understanding of the likeliest places nuggets or flakes will have surfaced or settled. Basque describes the ins and outs of the equipment you need, the tell-tale signs of gold and how to stake a claim. Find out how to spot a placer site and size up a valley for the best spot to start panning. First printed in 1974, "Gold Panner's Manual" remains a strong seller. This edition's text and images have been thoroughly reviewed, refreshed and updated.

The Cenozoic era began about 70 million years ago and still continues. In British Cenozoic Fossils 354 species from this period are classified and illustrated with accurate line drawings. This new edition has been fully revised and updated by John Todd, Curator of Molluscs in the Natural History Museum's Life Sciences Department, reflecting advances in our understanding of the fossil record over the past years. The book's 88-page identification section features those fossil animal and plant species that are most commonly found in Britain, from early plants, corals and fishes to gastropod and bivalve molluscs and the remains of mammals which lived in Britain during the Ice Ages. Each of the species is illustrated with at least one drawing, which is accompanied by details of where it can be found. There is a brief introduction to the subject, stratigraphical tables that show British Cenozoic rock formations, and a colour map of the distribution of Cenozoic strata.

Pebble-hunting is a pleasant hobby that makes little demand upon one's patience and still less upon one's physical energy. (You may even enjoy the hunt from the luxurious sloth of a deck chair). One of the true delights of the pebble-seeker is to read the stories in the stones - to determine whence and by what means they came to be there. We must always bear in mind that a pebble is a transient thing. It is in the half-way stage of a long existence . . .

This is a spirited guide to the simple pleasure of pebble spotting. Clarence Ellis is a charming, knowledgeable and witty guide to everything you didn't know there was to know about pebbles. He ruminates on what a pebble actually is, before showing us how they are formed, advising on the best pebble-spotting grounds in the UK, helping to identify individual stones, and giving tips onthe necessary kit. You'll know your chert from your schist, your onyx from your agate and will be on your guard for artificial intruders before you know it. Understanding the humble pebble makes a trip to the beach, lake-side or river bank simply that little bit more fascinating.

A handy illustrated guide to identifying pebbles is included on the reverse of the book jacket.

With this informative, fully updated and revised guide, you can explore the mineral-rich region of Montana. It describes the state's best rockhounding sites and covers popular and commercial sites as well as numerous little-known areas. This handy guide also describes how to collect specimens, includes maps and directions to each site, and lists rockhound clubs around the state. This is truly a complete guide to popular collecting sites in Montana and source-book brimming with advice that can be of use to both the novice and the experienced rockhounder.

The mechanisms of magma movement, chemical differentiation and physical development, are derived from the geochemistry of igneous rocks, and from studying exposures of deep magmatic systems that have since solidified and been uplifted and exposed at the Earth's surface. The Ferrar Magmatic System of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica provides an unparalleled example of a complete magmatic-volcanic system exposed in unprecedented detail. This book provides a unique and usual three-dimensional detailed examination of this system, providing insight into many magmatic processes normally unobservable, in particular how basaltic magma moves upwards through the crust, how it entrains, carries and deposits loads of crystals from great depths, and how this all contributes to Earth's evolution. Providing an explanation of how magmatic systems operate and how igneous rocks form, this is an invaluable resource ideal for researchers and graduate students in magma physics, igneous petrology, volcanology, and geochemistry.

Following the Tabby Trail provides a guided tour of some of the most significant tabby structures found along the southeastern coast and includes more than two hundred illustrations that highlight the human and architectural histories of forty-eight specific sites. Jingle Davis explains how tabby-a unique oyster-shell concrete-helps us to understand the complex past of the coast. A tabby structure is, as the author puts it, "a storehouse of history." Each of the site descriptions includes the intriguing profile of a historic figure associated in some way with the tabby. Though the first documented use of tabby in North America was in 1672 in what is now St. Augustine, Florida, Spanish colonists had used many of its constituent parts a century earlier. In addition to their Spanish-speaking competitors, colonizers from France and the British Isles also enthusiastically adopted the building material for their colonial missions. This meant, of course, that enslaved Africans and Indigenous peoples built with the material. Tabby remained a fashionable, effective, and enduring building material until shortly after the Civil War. This richly photographed work provides readers with a guide to the underexplored string of tabby structures still standing along the stretch of coast between Florida and South Carolina, an approximately 275-mile trail traced by the book from just south of St. Augustine north to the dead town of Dorchester near Summerville. Sites include such varied structures as ancient Late Archaic shell mounds called middens and rings of shells thousands of years old; Fort Matanzas, built in 1742 but named for a sixteenth-century massacre of French colonists by St. Augustine's Spanish founder Pedro Menendez de Aviles; Fort Mose, a significant feature of Florida's Black Heritage Trail; and homes of the enslaved, warehouses, Charleston's seawall, churches, and cemeteries.

From caverns deep underground to sky-high mountains, the rocks and stones all around us are ancient. Greedy oni lurk in a cave in Japan; a stonecutter becomes a mountain; and a story of romance, revenge and tragedy plays out on the face of a plate. Revealing hidden fossils, gemstones, folklore and secrets, storyteller Jenny Moon's tales are interwoven with interesting facts and geological observations that will catch the imagination of readers young and old, making this more than just a book of stories.

Explore the mineral-rich region of Wisconsin with veteran rockhound Robert Beard's Rockhounding Wisconsin and unearth the state's best rockhounding sites, ranging from popular and commercial sites to numerous lesser-known areas. Featuring an overview of the state's geologic history as well as a site-by-site guide to the best rockhounding locations, Rockhounding Wisconsin is the ideal resource for rockhounds of all ages and experience levels.

Find success on your rock hunts for popular gems and minerals by selecting the best locations to look for them. Agates, copper, gold-you want to find them! But if you're searching without a plan, the odds are stacked against you. Whether you're new to rock hunting or already hold an interest, prospecting is the way to maximize your success. This beginner's guide by rockhounding expert Jim Magnuson helps you to confidently hunt for a variety of collectible and valuable gems and minerals, including agates, fossils, geodes, and gold. In each chapter, Jim introduces sought-after targets (like Lake Superior Agates to Keokuk Geodes). Then he provides a simple, step-by-step process to finding, collecting, and identifying them in the Upper Midwest. Full-color photographs show the specimens as you're likely to see them in the field, while range maps tell you if you're in the right place. Jim points you to locations where you're allowed to hunt and collect, and he also includes need-to-know information about equipment recommendations, safety, and the legality of collecting. Inside you'll find: Expert advice: discover what to look for, where to look, and how to prospect Professional photos: see specimens as you're likely to find them in the field Essential information: learn about collecting rules, safety, and affordable equipment Bonus content: get advice on polishing your finds, metal detecting, and more Perfect for residents and visitors of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, Rockhounding & Prospecting: Upper Midwest is everything you need in one handy guide.

This is the ultimate photographic guide to the world of rocks and minerals, as well as how to build your own collection. An extensive introduction section describes the impact of factors such as time, weather and water erosion on the development of these substances, and the part played by natural phenomena such as volcanoes and earthquakes. Specimens are grouped according to their chemical composition and characteristics, and all entries include quick-reference identification checklists to aid recognition. A scientific introduction looks at the origins of these materials and their impact on the landscape, with examples of striking natural formations and explanatory diagrams. The amateur geologist is shown how to identify specimens by their appearance, texture, hardness, and density, as well as how to extract samples safely, how to clean and store rocks and minerals, and build and present their own collection. Featuring over 800 images, this book is a classic illustrated encyclopedia and field guide on an endlessly fascinating and richly consuming subject.

"The ultimate dino tour."--Library Journal, Best Reference 2019 "Perhaps the easiest way to glimpse . . . all this new knowledge is to leaf through Norell's The World of Dinosaurs. . . . One of the principal paleontologists of our time."--New York Review of Books "A delight."--Open Letters Review "Possibly the best general audience dinosaur book of 2019."--Paleoaerie Dinosaurs have held sway over our imaginations since the discovery of their bones first shocked the world in the nineteenth century. From the monstrous beasts stalking Jurassic Park to the curiosities of the natural history museum, dinosaurs are creatures that unite young and old in awestruck wonder. Digging ever deeper into dinosaurs' ancient past, science continues to unearth new knowledge about them and the world they inhabited, a fantastic time when the footprints of these behemoths marked the Earth that we humans now walk. Who better to guide us through this ancient world than paleontologist Mark A. Norell? A world-renowned expert in paleontology, with a knowledge of dinosaurs as deep as the buried fossils they left behind, Norell is in charge of what is perhaps America's most popular collection of dinosaur bones and fossils, the beloved displays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In The World of Dinosaurs, he leads readers through a richly illustrated collection detailing the evolution of these ancient creatures. From the horns of the Protoceratops to the wings of the Archaeopteryx, readers are invited to explore profiles of dinosaurs along with hundreds of color photographs, sketches, maps, and other materials--all rooted in the latest scientific discoveries--sure to both capture the imagination and satisfy a prehistoric curiosity. The World of Dinosaurs presents an astonishing collection of knowledge in an immersive visual journey that will fascinate any fan of Earth's ancient inhabitants.

A complete guide to finding, collecting, and preparing the state's gems & mineralsRockhounding Idaho is a must-have book for anyone interested in collecting rocks, minerals, fossils, and gold in the Gem State. Completely up-to-date with over 200 GPS coordinates in ninety-nine collecting locales, it covers popular and widely known fee-dig operations as well as four-wheel-drive adventures into the desert, and long winding drives through the mountains. The result is a complete and accurate guide to the state's vast riches.The author-a long-time field collector in the Pacific Northwest and an award-winning writer-clearly explains the broad outlines of Idaho's many collecting locales and mining districts, and provides an appreciation for the geology underneath. You can use this guide to plan expeditions straight across the state or to devise looping road trips that cover a single region in great detail. From agates to zeolites, from garnets to gold, Rockhounding Idaho is the ideal resource for rockhounds of all ages and experience levels. Look inside to find:* Maps and detailed site descriptions with directions* Suggested tools and techniques* Land-use regulations and legal restrictions* Information on nearby camping

When fossils of birds from China's Jehol region first appeared in scientific circles, the world took notice. These Mesozoic masterpieces are between 120 and 131 million years old and reveal incredible details that capture the diversity of ancient bird life. Paleontologists all over the world began to collaborate with Chinese colleagues as new and wondrous fossil-related discoveries became regular events. The pages of National Geographic and major scientific journals described the intricate views of feathers as well as food still visible in the guts of these ancient birds. Now, for the first time, a sweeping collection of the most interesting of Jehol's avian fossils is on display in this beautiful book. Birds of Stone makes visible the unexpected avian diversity that blanketed the earth just a short time (geologically speaking) after a dinosaur lineage gave rise to the first birds. Our visual journey through these fossils is guided by Luis M. Chiappe, a world expert on early birds, and Meng Qingjin, a leading figure in China's natural history museum community. Together, they help us understand the "meaning" of each fossil by providing straightforward narratives that accompany the full-page photographs of the Jehol discoveries. Anyone interested in the history of life-from paleontologists to inquisitive birders-will find Birds of Stone an irresistible feast for the eyes and mind.

Get the perfect guide to rocks and minerals of the Grand Canyon State! The book features comprehensive entries for 106 Arizona rocks and minerals, from common rocks to rare finds. The easy-to-use format means you'll quickly find what you need to know and where to look, while the authors' photographs depict the detail needed for identification - no need to guess from line drawings. With this field guide in hand, identifying and collecting can be fun and informative.

A lively account of how dinosaurs became a symbol of American power and prosperity and gripped the popular imagination during the Gilded Age, when their fossil remains were collected and displayed in museums financed by North America's wealthiest business tycoons. Although dinosaur fossils were first found in England, a series of dramatic discoveries during the late 1800s turned North America into a world center for vertebrate paleontology. At the same time, the United States emerged as the world's largest industrial economy, and creatures like Tyrannosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Triceratops became emblems of American capitalism. Large, fierce, and spectacular, American dinosaurs dominated the popular imagination, making front-page headlines and appearing in feature films. Assembling the Dinosaur follows dinosaur fossils from the field to the museum and into the commercial culture of North America's Gilded Age. Business tycoons like Andrew Carnegie and J. P. Morgan made common cause with vertebrate paleontologists to capitalize on the widespread appeal of dinosaurs, using them to project American exceptionalism back into prehistory. Learning from the show-stopping techniques of P. T. Barnum, museums exhibited dinosaurs to attract, entertain, and educate the public. By assembling the skeletons of dinosaurs into eye-catching displays, wealthy industrialists sought to cement their own reputations as generous benefactors of science, showing that modern capitalism could produce public goods in addition to profits. Behind the scenes, museums adopted corporate management practices to control the movement of dinosaur bones, restricting their circulation to influence their meaning and value in popular culture. Tracing the entwined relationship of dinosaurs, capitalism, and culture during the Gilded Age, Lukas Rieppel reveals the outsized role these giant reptiles played during one of the most consequential periods in American history.