Understanding the Gem Minerals: A Practical Guide

Special Publication Volume 12

By William Revell Phillips and James Shigley

This book is intended to bridge the gap between the complex science of mineralogy and the rock hound’s field guide of rocks and minerals. We begin with the elements, the building blocks of minerals, and which of the ninety-two naturally occurring elements are really important to us in building crystals of the minerals we call gems. The arrangement of these building blocks is as important as the identity of the elements themselves, and the crystal structure (ie., atom arrangement) is expressed by crystal form and symmetry resulting in crystal systems and classes.

Softcover. 272 pages. 2016.