This student-friendly text is written in a casual, jargon-free style to present a modern introduction to mineralogy. It emphasizes real-world applications and the history and human side of mineralogy. The author approaches the subject by explaining the larger, understandable topics first, and then explaining why the "little things" are important for understanding the larger picture.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Chapter 1: Elements and Minerals Chapter 2: Crystallization and Classification of Minerals Chapter 3: Mineral Properties: Hand Specimen Mineralogy Chapter 4: Optical Mineralogy Chapter 5: Igneous Rocks and Silicate Minerals Chapter 6: Sedimentary Minerals and Sedimentary Rocks Chapter 7: Metamorphic Minerals and Metamorphic Rocks Chapter 8: Ore Deposits and Economic Minerals Part II: Symmetry, Crystallography, and Atomic Structure Chapter 9: Crystal Morphology and Symmetry Chapter 10: Crystallography Chapter 11: Unit Cells, Points, Lines, and Planes Chapter 12: X-Ray Diffraction and Mineral Analysis Chapter 13: Atomic Structure Part III: Mineral Descriptions Chapter 14: Descriptions of Minerals

About the Author

Dexter Perkins received his B.S. from the University of Rochester in 1973, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1979. After graduate school, his first faculty position was at the University of Chicago. He came to the University of North Dakota in 1981 where he is currently a Professor of Geology. During the past 25 years Perkins has had several 1-year appointments at European universities. Perkins is a past editor of American Mineralogist and the Journal of Geoscience Education (since 2000). Perkins's regular teaching duties include undergraduate and graduate mineralogy and petrology. He is also an active geology researcher. He has published almost 100 articles in professional journals and has written three books. Past research focused on high-temperature minerals and rocks; his current research concerns xenoliths from the Southwestern United States, and science education reform. So, he is both doing basic scientific research and contributing to educational research.