A detailed and extensively illustrated handbook.

The colors, shapes and properties of minerals vary from the bland to the magnificent. Guide to Minerals, Rocks and Fossils is a practical and authoritative handbook that is both comprehensive and easy to use.

Each of the 600 specimens is shown in full color, sometimes in two or more forms. There are also drawings that show the structure of the crystalline specimens. It covers the basics like granite, as well as oddities like meteorites and tektites.

Fossils include sponges, corals, arthropods, brachiopods, and fossil land plants.

Each is described in detail, with notes on:

• color and transparency
• grain size
• hardness
• structure
• occurrence
• mineralogy
• distinguishing features
• habit
• cleavage
• texture
• alteration
• luster

Mineral names, chemical formulae and structural data accord to international standards. This is a very complete, but attractive and useful volume in a respected series.