This revised edition explores the nature of gems, their beauty, rarity and durability, and the mineral properties that govern these qualities. It describes the most popular gemstones in detail and looks at how gem minerals form, where they are found and mined, and how they are identified.
A guide to gemstones. Ranging from Amber to Rubellite, it lets you discover over 130 varieties of cut and uncut stones, organic gemstones and precious metals. It covers from what a gemstone is and where they occur to the natural properties they have and how they have been fashioned and imitated through the ages. It is suitable for gemstone lovers.
Helps you learn how to identify more than 450 rock and mineral specimens through stunning photographs and detailed characteristics. This guide to rocks, minerals, crystals and gemstones presents fascinating stories behind the world's natural treasures; from the Hope diamond to the Great Mogul emerald.
Rocks and minerals are all around us, in our hills, gardens and buildings. This work features over 100 of the most common European rocks and minerals with bitesize information on characteristics, mode of formation, distribution, similar types and uses.
A guide to rocks and minerals. Featuring 600 photos, precise annotations and descriptions - from the distinguishing features of rocks to which crystal system a mineral belongs to - it helps you identify different rocks and minerals quickly and easily.
Snowdonia has a great story to tell, of ancient oceans, mountains, volcanoes and climate change. The mountain landscape of Snowdonia is the result of everything that has happenend to it over geological time - the product of the ancient landscapes that went before it, and fragments of which are preserved by rocks and landforms within the landscape.
The twelfth book in the New Holland series examines New Zealand's fascinating geology. Almost every kind of rock found on Earth can be seen in New Zealand, and most of the common minerals too. This guide will help you recognise and make sense of common (and some rare) rocks and minerals found on beaches and hillsides, in streams and elsewhere.
Beach stones, abundant and free for the taking, are objects of contemplation, beauty, and sentiment. They come in many colours, shapes and patterns, are fun to collect and even have sensuous qualities. This book helps you understand the life of beach stones. It also brings us the stories of such stones.
Illustrated with colour photographs, this guide covers the classifications of fossils, with over 190 fossils featured. It gives information for each fossil including its genus name, the identifying characteristics of the genus, and its maximum or average size. It is useful for those interested in uncovering the mysteries of the Earth's fossils.
Amber is a remarkable substance that originates from the resin of trees that lived millions of years ago. This book provides an overview of this prehistoric substance and its fossilized inclusions. It explains how amber is formed, where it is found and how to distinguish genuine amber from fakes.
A guide to fossils. Featuring more than 1, 000 photographs of over 500 species, it enables you to recognize species instantly. It offers coverage ranging from what a fossil is, how they are classified to how to start a collection. It is suitable for fossil lovers, as well as for collectors.
Explores the history, lore, evaluation, geographic sources, and identifying properties of lesser-known gems. This volume has 288 colour photographs of mounted and loose tanzanite, ammolite, zultanite, rhodochrosite, sunstone, moonstone, labradorite, spectrolite, andesine, amazonite, bytownite, orthoclase and oligoclase.
Using all the available fossil record as evidence, this book presents the four-billion-year story of life on Earth. It features a 50m-long artwork displayed across 200 pages, supported by hundreds of photographs and illustrations, that tells the story of life on Earth.
This volume examines all aspects of the metal gold, from its scientific properties and minerology, to the myths that surround it and the history of its exploitation. It describes the geological processes that form gold deposits, where they occur and the practicalities of extraction.
A guide that introduces fossils from British Columbia, from delicate insect wings to razor-sharp shark teeth to coiled ammonites the size of truck tires, each of which was once a living part of an ancient ecosystem. It includes information for locating, collecting, studying, photographing and preserving fossils.
Part of a series of identification guides, this book helps you distinguish between varieties of natural phenomena. It features over 100 of the most common plant and animal fossils of Europe along with bitesize information including identification features, stratigraphy and distribution and similar or related fossils.
In contrast to gems mined in Africa, Canada's stones are considered pure 'ice' and they are also 'clean' - not tainted by bloodshed and war as they are in such parts of the world as Sierra Leone and Angola. The discovery of diamonds in Canada's Arctic is an amazing story of perseverance in the face of immense odds. This title tells that story.
Explains how to use pocket, portable and laboratory instruments to identify diamonds and coloured gems and to separate them from imitations and 'look-alikes'. This work helps you learn how to tell the difference between them; and recognize the limitations of your skill and when to employ the services of a professional gemmologist or laboratory.
This text chronicles millions of years of evolution, linking extinct larger feline species with those still living, including lions, tigers, cougars, and cheetahs. It explains how living species and fossil remains make possible the reconstruction of the cat's social and predatory behaviour.
A handbook of fossils that contains more than 1 000 full-colour photographs of over 500 species. It features entries that combine a description with annotated photography to highlight a fossil's chief characteristics and distinguishing features. It explains what a fossil is, how fossils are classified, and how to start a collection.
Part of a series of compact identification guides designed to help you distinguish between varieties of natural phenomena. This title features over 100 of the most common plant and animal fossils of Europe, along with information on identification features, stratigraphy and distribution and similar or related fossils.
Fossils are the petrified remains of former living organisms. Their systematics and their former living conditions are studied and described in palaeontology. This book attempts to show the character of these life forms as signs and to pursue the question of whether fossils and representations of fossils can be considered 'beautiful'.
A visual encyclopedia of rocks and minerals that instructs the amateur geologist on how to identify and extract samples safely, clean and store specimens, and build and present their own unique collection. It provides guidance on simple home testing techniques, to gauge shade, hardness, cleavage, lustre, tenacity, transparency and more.
Earlier life-forms are buried all over the earth's surface, in oceans, on mountain slopes and in back gardens. This guide shows where to look for these fossils, how to scan for textures and shapes, how to extract and protect finds, and which tools to carry. It also suggests suitable clothing.
Gems exert a powerful influence on the modern world, enlightened though it is said to be: once poverty-stricken, Botswana has found sudden wealth under the desert sands, where diamonds have been hiding for a hundred million years. This title presents the history of the legendary gems.
Fossils provide us with a tantalizing glimpse of Britain's prehistoric past and hold the key to unlocking the secrets of life's history and evolution. This book looks at some fossil stories from around the country. It includes a regional gazetteer of fossil-hunting sites and places to visit, and guidance on identifying your fossil finds.