Introduction to Mineralogy

A course in mineralogy is a rite of passage for most undergraduate Earth sciences majors. As fluency with minerals is so basic for deciphering a range of geologic processes, many Earth scientists can recall long hours in the lab memorizing mineral samples, their chemical formulae and crystal systems, and perhaps staring through a petrographic microscope wondering, what exactly is 2V? In this venerable field with so many classic textbooks, one might ask why another mineralogy text is warranted. Introduction to Mineralogy is organized in a traditional way, with Part I covering the topics of symmetry, crystallography, crystal chemistry and structure, and crystal growth. Part II covers physical properties of minerals and methods for studying mineral structures and chemistry (including optical mineralogy and x‐ray diffraction), and Part III presents the systematic mineralogy of all of the mineral groups.