A contemporary successor to the Louis V. Pirsson and Adolph Knopf editions, providing a guide and reference that explains how rocks occur, their commercial usage, and how to identify them through macroscopic, handspecimen features. Gives complete coverage of rock-forming minerals, rocks and man-made, rock-like materials, as well as meteorites, impactites, grossans, and more. Tables are provided for identifications based on megascopic examinations and simple field tests that require no sophisticated laboratory equipment. Plus, numerous illustrations represent rocks and rock-forming minerals as they appear in nature.

'Every person on earth uses, either directly or indirectly, ten metric tons of minerals each year.' So write Dr R. V. Dietrich and Dr Brian J. Skinner in their new book Gems, Granites, and Gravels. Minerals and mineral products are involved in all aspects of our lives; we depend on them to keep us alive and ensure the continuity of our society. As a consequence, they have been a source of fascination and study throughout human history. In this book, Drs Dietrich and Skinner consider not only the beauty of minerals and rocks, but also their utility and their roles in our everyday well-being. Gems, Granites and Gravels is a valuable introduction to mineralogy and to related specialities such as petrology (the study of rocks), crystallography (the study of crystals), and soil science. Discoveries in these fields are described in a historical context, while the authors explain what minerals and rocks are, how they are distributed around the world, how we depend on them, and where to see the most beautiful specimens of both minerals and rocks. This book will appeal to anyone interested in natural history and curious about rocks and minerals, including rock and mineral collectors, students of geology, and professional geologists.