Reviews

Review of the 1st edition, published in the March 2001 issue of CHOICE Detailed and highly technical, this work provides encyclopedic coverage of terms, techniques, places, and people related to gems and gemology. Each entry includes scientific and historical information, often illuminated by a line drawing. The volume,s strength lies in its comprehensive scope; it treats all aspects of gemology beginning with the gems themselves, elaborates on technical methods and procedures, explicates professional terminology, and identifies individuals and associated groups. Supplementing the text, 21 tables contain such relevant information as atomic weights, light spectrum, and geological timetables. Given its useful format and comprehensiveness, the book will serve as an invaluable reference source for practitioners and serious scholars in the field. L. Doumato, National Gallery of Art From the reviews of the second edition: "This is an extensively revised and extended second edition of a dictionary first published only five years ago. It contains approximately 25,000 entries (9,000 more than the first edition), 1,500 graphic figures and 42 tables. It does provide encyclopedic coverage of terms, techniques, people, laboratories, acronyms and places related to gems and gemology. ... the second edition of Dictionary of Gems and Gemology is a comprehensive work aimed at gemologists, mineralogists, geologists, jewel dealers, industry and hobbyists." (Helen Ashton, Reference Reviews, Vol. 20 (3), 2006) From the reviews of the third edition: "This new edition contains approximately 27,000 entries (about 2,000 extra entries than in the second), 1,500 graphic figures and 46 tables ... . provide encyclopaedic coverage of terms, techniques, people, laboratories, acronyms and places related to gems and gemology. Each entry includes scientific and historical information where necessary. ... this is a very comprehensive dictionary aimed at students, scientists, engineers and of course all interested in the fields of gems and gemology." (Helen Ashton, Reference Reviews, Vol. 23 (7), December, 2009)