Step-by-step Q&As with detailed colour photographs for easy identification. The Firefly Guide to Minerals, Rocks & Gems is designed for easy and reliable identification of minerals, gems and rocks. Beginning with the stone's colour and any streak, and using a sequence of straightforward questions and answers - aided by 1,300 photographs and drawings - it's easy to narrow down the possibilities among 350 minerals, gems and rocks to the conclusive classification. The book organizes the rocks by colour: Blue, Red, Yellow, Brown, Green, Black, and White. Identification begins with noting the colour of the rock's streak (i.e., vein, line). Identification is then further narrowed down with respect to Colour, Crystal form, Hardness, Lustre, Density, Cleavage, Break and Tenacity. Each rock's main photograph shows the general or typical view, and identification tips about features are noted in the margins of the respective page. Similar stones are presented for comparison and tips are provided that can eliminate imposters. Drawings show the mineral's crystal shape. The chemical formula reveals the elements from which the mineral is composed. There is also information about where the stone is typically found and some of the ways that humans have utilized it. Packed with beautiful photographs of earth's many rocks, minerals and gems, The Firefly Guide to Minerals, Rocks & Gems is perfect for amateur mineralogists and collectors.

Mineral collecting by amateur “rockhounds” has never been more popular. Old quarries, road cuts, and exposed landscapes are being examined by new generations of minerals enthusiasts. Each needs a comprehensive guidebook with clear photographs and accurate data. This is it. In a thick but handy format, more than 700 different minerals and rocks are grouped by colour (for ease of location in the book) — blue, red, yellow, brown, green, white and black crystals; brown and grey sedimentary rocks; and meteorites for anyone lucky enough to find one. Each has a picture – four to a page—opposite detailed but clear data: Chemical formula; Hardness; Colour; Density; Lustre; Cleavage; Fracture; Tenacity; Crystal form; Similar minerals and where they are likely to occur. And many will have a diagram of its crystal form—up to four, for fluorite, for example. The Minerals Encyclopedia is unusual for the number of minerals it covers: more than 700 in 444 pages, with a useful glossary, an introduction to mineral collecting, and printed front and back flaps that offer quick reference in the field, and a measuring rule on the back cover. This is a superior reference for rockhounds, geology students and outdoors people with an interest in what’s under their feet.