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Book Review
Introduction to optical mineralogy, by William D.
Nesse. Third edition. Oxford University Press, 2004, 348 pp.,
$79.95, hardcover, (ISBN 0–19–514910–6)
the properties of minerals in hand specimen and in thin not entirely robust means of identifying the right mineral, but
section are thorough and pleasingly concise—most are 1–2 it is a handy tool to get a novice in the right ball park of the
pages in length and are accompanied by a smattering of black mineral world. These minor points apart, Introduction to
and white photographs of minerals. The “occurrence” section optical mineralogy by William D. Nesse is very close to my
with each description, however, is probably a little too idea of a perfect mineralogy book, and is worth investigating
concise. A handy addition to the book is the fold-out if you find yourself puzzled when squinting down the
interference color chart, in color, at the back. You may be microscope eye piece with an expectant student awaiting your
surprised to learn that this essential plate is not always present authoritative opinion with baited breath.
in optical mineralogy books. Matthew Genge
One particularly nice section of the book is “tactics for Imperial College London
mineral identification” which gives a clear and organized Department of Earth Science and Engineering
description on how to actually go about matching a mineral London SW7 2AZ
with a mineral name. It may sound unneccessary, given the UK
other sections of the book, but when it comes to identifying
minerals, I certainly need all the help I can get. In the January 2004 issue of MAPS, we published Dr.
There are a few criticisms you could make about Ludolf Schultz’ review of Meteorites, ice, and Antarctica, a
Introduction to optical mineralogy by William D. Nesse. It book by William A. Cassidy. By our mistake, we incorrectly
would be nice to see an optical mineralogy book that also credited that review to Dr. Matthew Genge. Our apologies to
gives a short description of a few common textures, since this Dr. Ludolf Schultz of Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie in
is something students struggle with and could be achieved in Mainz, Germany.
a few pages. I also give my students a mineral cheat tree—a MAPS staff.