Handbook of Rocks, Minerals, and Gemstones

Rating:
Summary: A reviewers are not equal
Review: After reading a negative review on these pages at the advice of the reviewer I bought the Cambridge book he recommended. That was a mistake. Whereas the Cambridge book is a good reference book with lots of technical info and good photographs, it has not one photograph of rock in the field - precisely what I need. I've since purchased Schumann's Hand Book and I like it considerably more. The Cambridge book will sit on my shelf, Schuman's will get out in the field and serve me well.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a waste of money, it is very poor
Review: I have actually reviewed this book for publication but the journal's policy is to not use negative reviews so it never appeared. It is difficult in just 1,000 words to summarize my review but I will say that the book is loaded with technical deficiencies, flat-out errors and inconsistencies that make it a very poor reference work. Furthermore, it was translated by someone who knew nothing of minerals so the errors introduced by the translator are monumental, hundreds! There are terms devised by the translator that mean nothing to English readers and don't appear in any other mineral/gem book of any kind!

A truly bad look, yet it enjoys good sales because the public is so ill-informed about mineralogy.

Rating:
Summary: Fine coffee-table book with great color photographs.
Review: Originally published in German in 1985, this paperback is full of wonderful color photographs. Many specimens are from Germany or from other parts of Europe, and anyone wanting to view such specimens, but cannot travel to a museum in Europe, is advised to get this book as it would be an easier trip.

The text is non-technical, written for the layman with brief descriptions of the minerals, and is not to be used as an identification guide (as indeed some definitions are imprecise; e.g. the definition of a mineral), but is an interesting book and would make a fine coffee-table book for those interested in minerals (and in rocks, as half the book is devoted to rocks), with beautiful photographs. It might also make an introduction to the subject for friends of mineralogists who enjoy the beauty of minerals.