Reviews (11)

What you would expect.
I needed this book for my science olympiad team.It is exactly what you would expect from the Audubon society.Great colors, good quality, great examples. I ordered many other field guides at the suggestion from other teachers.

Audubon Field Guides Great Gifts
I purchased complete sets of Audubon Field Guides to everything for Xmas gifts this year - some given singly, some as sets.Fantastic quality; they were theme-appropriate depending upon to whom they were given and they were received with the most excitement and appreciation of any gift I have given for years.Plus, the prices were far below retail.Thanks for great service and top quality items.

Great feild guide for quick info
i loved this book i was doing a report on tourmaline and it gave me info that no othe book i looked at had ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collection and preservation    2. Collectors and collecting    3. Minerals    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. North America    7. Rocks    8. Rocks & Minerals    9. Nature / Rocks & Minerals    10. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (5)

Perfect Gift
I stumbled upon this book recently on Martha's Vineyard.It is a gem!Take the time to enjoy this book, with both prose and photos to appreciate the beach stones of your past, present and future.Buy it!

Take another look at the stones of the beach
It's amazing how Nature crafts beautiful objects from simple rocks strewn across any beach.These treasures are there for the enjoyment of anyone at any time.If you have time to stop and smell the roses, you have time to drink in the awesome charm of the stones of the beach as presented in this fine book.

An excellent book!
A must for anyone who has enjoyed collecting small, beautiful items - especially walking on a beach or along a stream bed.The text is interesting; the photographs are amazing with the stones beautifully arranged.An inspired way to look at nature's handiwork. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Iselin, Josie    3. Nature Photography    4. Oceans & Seas    5. Photo Techniques    6. Photography    7. Photography of rocks    8. Rocks & Minerals    9. Sedimentary Rocks    10. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    11. Nature / Oceans & Seas    12. Photographs: collections    13. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (9)

Great Balance of Text & Photos
This review is for the paperback version of the book, which I loved.It has a lovely balance of terrific photos & explanations of the various sources of the featured gems.It serves as a nice beginning reference when you have heard the terms sapphire & red sapphire (huh? I thought red gems were rubys or spinels) and would like to know more about which gems are related to others.
Stunning photography; an amazing collection
"The National Gem Collection," by Jeffrey E. Post, features photographs by Chip Clark.The book is a beautiful celebration of the title collection, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution.The informative text discusses the history of the collection, facts about types of different gemstones, and specific pieces in the collection. Beautiful
This is a beautiful book with lots of interesting information on the gem collection. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiques & Collectibles    2. Antiques/Collectibles    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    5. Earth Sciences - Mineralogy    6. Fashion    7. Gems    8. Jewelry    9. Mineralogy (General)    10. Art / Fashion    11. Museum, historic sites, gallery & art guides    12. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (4)

Jade
From this heavy tome, you will learn how artists "let the jade speak tothem" before carving wondrous works of art.The properties of jade areperfect for carving because its molecular structure is tightly bound.Jadecan suffer great detail in carving without cracking or chipping. Jade
From this heavy tome, you will learn how artists "let the jade speak tothem" before carving wondrous works of art.The properties of jade areperfect for carving because its molecular structure is tightly bound.Jadecan suffer great detail in carving without cracking or chipping. exceptional worldly jade book
Extremely great book on the subject of jade. Book even includes the very rare today "Wyoming Jade"...should be a book devoted to that subject. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiques / Collectibles    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. General    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Lapidary    6. Sculpture    7. Antiques & Collectables    8. Carving & carvings    9. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (2)

Very informative, shows more than only the best specimens.
I have used this book to refer to numerous times. A great guide to texas fossils
This book is easy to use, informative and quite helpful to the texasfossil hunter. The pictures cover a very broad range of texas fossils, andthough not always in color, are very helpful in identification. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fossils    2. Nature    3. Paleontology    4. Paleontology (General)    5. Reference    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Texas    9. Nature / General    10. Reference works    11. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (6)

Beautiful all-in-one guide to rocks & minerals
What a beautiful book!This coffee table book on rocks and minerals is absolutely stunning.
Lovely book, fine overview of rock collecting basics
This really is an exceptionally beautiful coffee table book.I didn't really have as much use for the photos and descriptions of commercial and artistic uses of the gems as some of the other reviewers, but did appreciate its excellent overview of the basics of mineral collecting.I'm fairly new to the hobby.I have a general idea of different forms of identification, but because this book goes over the basic groundwork so thouroughly, I was able to close up some of the gaps in my knowledge.Because the photographic reproductions are of such excellent quality, I was able to get a really good idea of what was meant by a velvety luster or a conchoidal fracture, etc.I am not qualified to comment on the factual errors in the book.If they really are that egregious, I'm in trouble, because I'm inclined to use this book as a reference.Being naturally cheap I wasn't sure that the book was really worth the list price of $40, but I do think it's worth the $26.40 that Amazon is (currently) asking for.

Astounding in its Gorgeousness...if that is even a word...
I LOVE this book! and, (I know!I know!)although people are not supposed to love things but sometimes my things have given me joy, while people were causing great pains...so I must say I love (some) of my things... as well as and including anyone who had anything to do with producing them and getting them to me!
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Subjects:  1. Minerals    2. Nature    3. Nature / Field Guide Books    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Precious stones    6. Rocks    7. Rocks & Minerals    8. Nature / Rocks & Minerals   

Reviews (8)

its my 10th gem book
and it is a little more technical than the rest (explains things like twinning, establishment of density, calculating specific gravity, cleavage, moh's scale, refractive indices, law of refraction, genesis, cutting, cutting styles etc).
If you need to learn about Gems, this is your book.
I can't believe how much information is in this book.I am just learning about gems.There are so many different gems that are the same color.These pictures are worth 10 times the cost of the book.My 10 year old granddaughter also loves it.
Interesting but lacking variety
Went to a gem show and saw that many folks had this book. Made a mistake and bought it here. I had a MUCH MUCH better book titled Gemstones by Cally Hall. The Simon and Schuster book has fascinating sections on how artificial gems are made and such like info (Doesn't include Moissanite.). However, it does not have any info on many many gemstones readily available today, such as Sphene, Sunstone (state gem of Oregon I'm told)and many others. (You can find these in the Simon and Schuster Rocks and Minerals book). If you are only interested in the mainstream gemstones, this book has them. However, as compared to the Cally Hall book, the info is not as well organized nor are the pictures (though mostly very nice) as useful. I will use this as a backup reference book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology    2. Gems    3. Natural Resources    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Precious stones    7. Precious stones, Artificial    8. Rocks & Minerals    9. Nature / General    10. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Subjects:  1. Nature / Field Guide Books    2. Rocks & Minerals   

Subjects:  1. Encyclopedias    2. General    3. Geology (General)    4. Reference    5. Reference And Information Services    6. Rocks & Minerals    7. Reference / General    8. Reference works    9. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (4)

Informative and beautiful guide...lots & lots of color photos!
I highly reccomend this guide book for anyone who is into rocks, stones, minerals and gems.
a great handbook but a cheap binding
This is the definitive handbook for the rockhound.Nicely updated with more and better pictures to help in identification of rocks and minerals.Too bad that Peterson's decided to save a nickel on the binding -- my copyof "Rocks and Minerals" was splitting out within a week. Excellent book for serious rock hounds & geology students
This book is arranged according to the mineral classifications, which isgood if you know your minerals.The mineral testing section (flame tests,bead tests, etc.) is not found in very many field guides.As aprofessional Geologist, I would recommend this to other geologists, not torock hounds.The National Audubon Society's field guide is better for rockhounds; there are more photos and they are arranged by color.TheAudubon's minerals are still by classification, but the testing informationis not included. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Mineralogy    2. Mineralogy, Determinative    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Rocks    6. Rocks & Minerals    7. Nature / Rocks & Minerals    8. Petrology    9. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Editorial Review

Roy Chapman Andrews was never much of a scholar, and anyone who looked at his high school report card might have foretold an undistinguished future. But, from an early age, Andrews's ambitions lay outside the social norm; an ardent fan of Read more

Reviews (17)

The flaming cliffs
This book tells the tale of Roy Chapman Andrews. He was an outdoors man, who talked his way into the American Museum of Natural History, and eventually becomes the director there. Andrews has the strong belief that the human race originated in Asia instead of the more common belief of Africa. Andrews is able to find backing to fund trips of Asia and Mongolia to find proof to back up his belief.
many errors in there
Gallenkamp did a good job in bibliographic research, but please be careful when you read this book. Don't believe everything therein is true. I have noticed that there is a tremendous amount of inaccurate information included in text especially in accounts of Andrews' whaling trip to Japan (I am a native Japanese, so I know more about Japanese geography than him!) although most of the errors do not affect significantly the whole story of Andrews' life with a full of adventure.

A DIFFICULT BOOK FOR ME TO REVIEW
I must start by admitting that as a young boy, many a many a year ago, that I thrilled to Andrews' first hand accounts of his adventures.They were the sort of stuff a small boy in the midwest dreamed of.That being said, and having to admit that I am no longer that little boy (well, not much anyway), I had very mixed emotions about this book.I was a bit disappointed in the scholarship shown at times.Some of the writing was a bit flat, and viewing Andrews through the eyes of what I know now and did not know then, Andrews' image has been sort of tarnished for me.
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Subjects:  1. 1884-1960    2. Adventurers & Explorers    3. Andrews, Roy Chapman,    4. Asia - Central    5. Biography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Fossils    8. General    9. History: World    10. Naturalists    11. Naturalists & Gardeners    12. Scientific Expeditions    13. Travel    14. United States    15. Central Asia    16. History / General    17. History of science    18. Rocks, minerals & fossils    19. Travel & holiday guides    20. World history   

Reviews (2)

Fantastic photos!
It's such a shame this book went out of print because the photographs in it are stunning and exactly what you need for field recognition. The big size was probably it's undoing but at second hand prices it's a great buy despite it's age.

This is the best introductory guide I've ever used.
You can throw away those rock and mineral guides you've been collecting through the years; this well-written and well-thought out guide makes them pale and obsolete. I bought this for myself, then needed another one for ayoung niece who was captivated by its straightforward style andunbelievable photos. It is clean and organized and easy to use as areference. It would also make a great text for self-education as it placesrocks and minerals in context, including photos and descriptions of famouscliffs, sills, and other geologic formations around the world. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - General    2. Fossils    3. Identification    4. Mineralogy    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Rocks    9. Rocks & Minerals    10. Petrology    11. Science / General   

Reviews (5)

Great book about fossils
This book has very accurate illustrations.It is very helpful for people who are interested in fossils, and everything that has to do with collecting them.It is easy to understand, and interesting to read over and over.

Best Fossil Reference Book, Ever
Frank Garcia pierces the veil of paleontology and brings you right down to the surface of your own dig. Great guide to get you started in fossil collecting
A very good guide book to get started in collecting fossils.Great advice on equipment, locations and methods for collecting.The illustrations of typical specimens are extremely helpful in identifying finds.Mr Garcia writes with a great wit and a genuine love of science.His matter of fact story telling coupled with the excitement of discovery makes it obvious that to him, science is a verb. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Archaeology    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Collection and preservation    4. Fossils    5. Paleontology    6. Paleontology (General)    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Palaeontology    10. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Subjects:  1. Engineering - Mechanical    2. Material Science    3. Metallurgy    4. Mining    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Geochemistry    9. Mineralogy    10. Mining technology & engineering    11. Rocks, minerals & fossils    12. Technology / Material Science   

Reviews (1)

Simply a wonderful book and invaluable tool
for your next trip to a Lake Michigan beach.As a novice rock collector who was both fascinated and curious as to the identity of the stunningly beautiful stones covering many Lake Michigan Beaches, this book answered countless questions.A large variety of Lake Michigan rocks & fossils are identified and beautifully illustrated, with accompanying information on where they are likely to be found.Following Bruce Mueller & Kevin Gauthier's tips on how, when and where to find rock specimens has astronomically increased my success in rock collecting.The information on the formation, history, preparation [cleaning/grinding/polishing techniques] and craft/jewelry uses of Lake Michigan stones provided in this book are priceless.Humorous and philosophical at times, this wonderful book has what it takes to educate, entertain and reveal the nature of the treasures lying along Lake Michigan's shoreline.
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Subjects:  1. Collection and preservation    2. Guidebooks    3. Michigan, Lake    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Rocks    7. Rocks & Minerals    8. Travel - United States    9. United States - Midwest - Michigan    10. Michigan    11. Rocks, minerals & fossils    12. Travel & holiday guides    13. Travel / United States / Midwest / East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)   

Reviews (3)

Attractive...mildly biased?
This is a highly attractive book; the photographs actually almost made me salivate. The majority of emeralds in the marketplace are reprehensible--the ones pictured here prove that emeralds done right are among the most transcendently lovely objects on earth.
A great introduction to emeralds
This book is a fairly short book on Emeralds.Ward gives the reader a great introduction to the world of emeralds without losing the reader in a bunch of scientific jargon.Though the book is very short for its price,it is full of great color pictures and information.The photography in this book alone makes it a must have for emerald lovers.The only complaint that I have about the photograph is that many of the pictures are taken zoomed in so the reader has a tough time determining the actual size of the subjects.Ward touches on the ancient history of these beautiful gems and explores modern day sources of the world's emeralds.Ward also discusses treatments of emeralds before sale, care of emerald jewlery, and there is a particularly interesting section on the making of synthetic emeralds. I would recomend this book to anyone with an interest in emeralds, but I would not recomend it to those looking for a particularly scientific book or a buyer's guide.This little book is packed with information and photographs that won't let you down.

"Emeralds, filled with information"
I read Fred Ward's book "Emeralds", a part of his gem series, for an oral report I had to do for school. This book is packed with information on emeralds, from general info, to the cutting process; this book has it all! Not only is Fred Ward a talented author and researcher, but also he takes magnificent photographs. This book has lots of beautiful pictures of emeralds from all over the world. Fred Ward gives you a history of emeralds and their importance with the ancients.And shows and tells you about some of the beautiful jewelry that emeralds are in today, as well in the past. It even has a buying guide that shows what to look for when buying emeralds. I did tons of research for my report, and used a lot of books, but none of them even came close to "Emeralds". ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Emeralds    2. Natural Resources    3. Nature    4. Nature / Field Guide Books    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Precious stone industry    7. Rocks & Minerals   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Applied Sciences    2. Earth Sciences - General    3. Earth Sciences - Geology    4. Geology    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Petroleum    8. Rocks & Minerals    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Sedimentary basins    12. Geology & the lithosphere    13. PETROLEUM_GEOLOGY    14. Technology / Petroleum   

Reviews (2)

An essential buy
No mineral engineer should be without this classic text book

It's a good book for mineral dressing
I want to know,how much is it? There's no price My name is Lorena Rodr�guez ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Material Science    2. Metallurgy    3. Minerals    4. Mining    5. Ore Processing    6. Ore-dressing    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Geochemistry    11. Mineralogy    12. Mining technology & engineering    13. Rocks, minerals & fossils    14. Technology / Material Science   

Reviews (1)

What? You don't already have this book???
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Subjects:  1. Amber    2. Amber art objects    3. Amber fossils    4. Gems    5. Jewelry    6. Lapidary    7. Nature    8. Nature / Field Guide Books    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Rocks & Minerals    11. Economic geology    12. Geochemistry    13. Gold & silversmithing    14. Jewellery & jewellery-making    15. Mineralogy   

Reviews (2)

Beautifully done, David
The book has a wonderfully readable text to compliment the beautiful color plates, and David's illustrations of inclusions and the rainforest are impeccable.You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand and learn aboutamber from this work, however, I must say, David, you are a talented genius and I read every word.All my friends are fascinated by the book and the author.

An excellent book for both the expert and browser
Some of youmay be aware of the current amber exhibition at the Natural History Museum in NewYork. At the same time as the launch of this exhibition David Grimaldi; chairman, associate curator and organiser of this display has authored and published a new book on amber to compliment the show. New books on amber, particularly in English are so rare that I have taken the liberty of reviewing the work here for those who are interested. My credentials are thin for this task. I collect amber and have an extensive collection of pieces with flora and fauna inclusions. I read and collect articles, books and any work on amber I can get my hands on. I have had work published myself in my other existence as a management consultant. So I have some idea of the demands made on writers and authors.However, with your forgiveness I submit this review for your interest; `tis a meagre a thing, but mine own1. The book, `Amber - Window to the Past1 is immediately impressive both by its size and rich colour jacket. The cover shot at first sight might be some kind of artistic abstract picture, but is actually a photograph of several insects trapped in a piece Dominican Republic amber, a great attention grabber. The book was printed and bound in Japan and this countries predilection for quality and precision is clearly present in this work. There are 230 illustrations, which include 115 colour plates. Amongst these are some old line drawings and pictures which have been published in other works. These seek to illustrate certain inclusions and methods of amber collection. They help contextualise and place amber in an historical setting and their presence is understandable. The majority of pictures are however entirely new, 95+%. The photography is exemplary. Photographing amber myself I recognise the difficulties and problems one encounters, but here only the best and most lavish illustrations have been used. The pages simply ooze class. The book is principle divided into two sections: Amber in Nature and Amber in Art. The nature section begins by illustrating the origins of amber, how it came into existence, the types of trees which created it and is replete with interesting quotes and diagrams. Having already mentioned the graphical content of this work I will emphasise that nearly every page of text is supported with pictures and drawings which are comprehensible and useful. They helps immensely with understanding some of the processes and concepts dealt with in the work. There are the merest handful of areas where both facing pages are full of text with no graphical content. That in 208 pages is quite a feat. The following chapter covers geographical distribution of amber deposits. A minor exception here is the Isle of Wight amber deposit just off the South coast of the United Kingdom. This is a rich if very small source of some of the most ancient amber in the world and yet other than a few papers published by Dr Edward A. Jarzembowski has received scant to little attention by the academic press. The emphasis in this section is given to the major source deposits of amber, namely the Dominican Republic and the Baltic Coast though other areas are covered such as Mexico, Burmese, Japanese and the Middle East. A marvellous picture on page 58 shows quite literally gigantic `dunes1 of crude amber being bagged after being extracted from the now defunct Bitterfield mine in Germany. This illustrates better than any list of figures the vast quantities of amber which must have flowed out of this general Baltic region. I have seen a very similar photograph taken of the same scene in the 1995 book `Stenen som flyter och brinner` authored by Ake Dahlstrom and Leif Brost of the Swedish Amber Museum. This is a book written in Swedish, so it has limited distribution. I am glad that Grimaldi has included this picture here, for those people for whom amber has a special attraction or interest, it is simple awesome, and I use this word carefully. There then follows a rich selection of photographs illustrating the different types of inclusions which can be found within amber. Only the best and rarest are presented here and might give the casual reader the impression that this type of inclusion is present in nearly every other piece of amber ever found. Nothing could be further from the truth. These pieces are only the Creme de la Creme of the amber world. It is only when flicking through these pictures, time and time again and reading where they have come from that one realises the gargantuan task Grimaldi undertook in gathering together so many of these items not only for photography but also for display in the NHM exhibition. As well as the normal photographs in this section there is also a range of electromicrographs. These illustrate the micro preservative qualities of amber rather than the macro aspects which the normal pictures do so well. This leads logically into a section on DNA and its presence within such well preserved inclusions. This latter issue seems to have become a hot topic amongst many journalists, no doubt inspired by Crichton1s Jurassic Park and all the accompanying publicity. What frankly is more interesting I believe are the deductions and insights which can be drawn from the range of inclusions in amber about the ancient forests, their ecological workings, the animals present and the environmental conditions which existed. This too is also addressed in the book with a section on the ancient communities of the amber forests and woodlands. A final chapter in this section addresses amber forgeries and is especially interesting showing the lengths to which some people have gone in creating fake or counterfeit amber pieces with large or rare inclusions. This chapter draws on an earlier article written by Grimaldi et al in the NHM Journal which specifically addresses amber forgeries. This earlier work shows in even greater detail the deviousness of some amber forgers. However, the best photographs have been transferred to the book, with the exception of a Tarantula allegedly found in Dominican amber but which the author was unable to tests for its authenticity. The lack of confirmation one way or the other no doubt accounts for its omission from this volume. The second half of the book looks at Amber in Art. The initial part of this section begins by looking at the uses of amber through the ages starting at the Mesolithic Period. This whole section has a predominantly European slant. Here again are some unique illustrations and diagrams. The famous Hove cup from the Booth Museum in Brighton, United Kingdom is shown. It differs from many I have seen in the way the lighting has been set up to illustrate its translucence and the fine craftsmanship needed to have produced this piece. The text goes into some depth on the histories of amber and gives a broad though not heavily detailed account of its prominence in antiquity. It makes for good light reading without becoming bogged down in too many dates or claustrophobic details. The segment on Medieval and Renaissance amber shows some examples of woodcut prints detailing how amber was obtained in the Baltic but only one 17 century piece of jewellery is actually illustrated. The years leading to the beginning of this century are well structured. Ample information provides a rich description of the uses and the levels to which amber in art aspired during these years. Nothing is present on the contemporary use of amber in art and jewellery and would have been interesting. As DNA in amber has become a focus for many people so too has the `amber room1, an 18 century concoction of the Prussian and later Russian nobility. In essence this was a room completely covered in amber which mysteriously went missing during the second world war. Russian craftsmen are now in the slow and laborious process of re-creating this masterpiece from old photographs and diagrams. Some of the first pictures I have ever seen of their efforts appear in this book and show the amazing level of opulence they have achieved to date. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Amber    2. Amber art objects    3. Antiques & Collectibles    4. Antiques/Collectibles    5. Arts And Crafts    6. Glass & Glassware    7. Mineralogy (Specific Aspects)    8. Nature    9. Nature / Field Guide Books    10. Rocks & Minerals    11. Gold & silversmithing    12. Jewellery & jewellery-making    13. Museum, historic sites, gallery & art guides    14. Palaeontology