 | By: William D. Nesse Binding: Hardcover Publisher: OUP USA ISBN: 0195149106 ISBN-13: 9780195149104 Released: 02 Oct 2003 RRP: Average Rating:  |
The first third of the text deals with the properties of light, the use & care of the petrographic microscope, & the optical properties of minerals & how to use these to identify mineral grains in thin sections.
Much of the text contains detailed descriptions of the commoner rock-forming minerals from the standpoint of the petrographer. Descriptive diagrams & photographs, & capitalized section headings, separated paragraphs, & alll typeface (font) easy to read. Paper is quality glossy & easy to use.
Appendices include Identification Tables based upon various optical properties, tables which have proved their use to students taking the course. Also includes the standard fold-up Interference Color Chart, on quality glossy paper, & on its reverse a table of birefringence versus relief (difference in refractive index).
The author retains consideration for students, including photos of such non-minerals as may confuse the tyro, such as textile fibers, bubbles, & grinding compound, alll of which get into thin sections (petrographic slides).
Excellently laid out & organized, it also contains a good Index. This text was written for college students taking petrography & optical mineralogy, & has been kept, rather than sold, even by some students who never expect to use a petrographic microscope again. College instructors take notice, as for a junior to senior level petrography course this text probably rates a 9 or a 10. [DMM]
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