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E105 Introduction to
Minerals
This
exciting new title joins our incredibly popular Introduction to Fossils and
Introduction to Rocks. All use the same graphic design,
resulting in a matched set. Together they provide a comprehensive
overview of the building blocks of earth science.
The poster begins by defining a mineral and then explores the
relationship of minerals to atoms and molecules. The all-important
crystal structure is introduced, followed by informative text and
illustrations that introduce all six crystal structure classes. This
is followed by an outstanding presentation of the actual mineral
classes - natural elements, suflides, sulfates, carbonates, etc.
Collectors and students naturally want to identify their specimens.
However, specimens of the same mineral can vary greatly, which can
make that a difficult task. Identification has traditionally been
based on the observation of physical properties: hardness, habit,
luster, cleavage, specific gravity, color, fluorescence, streak,
etc. The bulk of Introduction to Minerals presents those
properties through informative captions, illustrations and carefully
selected photographs. The emphasis is on how to use the physical
properties for identification.
There are approximately 100 common minerals. Over 60 of them
are shown on this poster, making it even more helpful for
identification. For even greater help, use Introduction to Minerals with our
popular Minerals
(see link at left), as it presents a whopping 162 magnificent
mineral specimens, all grouped by class. They include almost all of
the common minerals and most of the 50 minerals classified as
scarce. The others are considered rare to extremely rate. |
