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Title: Manual of Mineral Science, 22nd Edition (Manual of Mineralogy)
ISBN: 0471251771
Author:
Cornelis Klein
Publicate Date: 2001-04-20
Publish: 2001-04-20
List Price: $80.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $80.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $81.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $127.00
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great book, *after* an introduction to the topic...
Into the 5th week of Mineralogy class, this book *then* became extremely informative - this is not a self-instructional manual, and I do not believe it was intended to be so. Most students will find the writing style in this text a bit intellectually heady, having been written by a distinguished Harvard PhD professor. It could have been written more concisely, perhaps more simplisticly, but all the information is there, and from what I understand, past editions were more comprehensive than this 22nd edition. I personally love this text, and only *after* an introduction to the subject will this text make real sense to the reader. And yes, I agree with the previous posts regarding certain statements about crystal structures that require some sort of base level knowledge of chemistry or physics or math (i.e. symmetry concepts) in order to fully comprehend a particular passage, but that's what you get from an Ivy League PhD-er! I believe this text was designed for the third year student who should already have taken 1 semester each of at least chemistry and calculus. Although calculus isn't necessary for the class, it presupposes that you know and understand some basic conceptual geometry.
I would suggest reading some basic introduction to mineralogy websites before tackling this book. Also, I have found that for the conscientious mineralogy students who possess a "more refined" reading level and who are putting genuine effort into the class, this book is a valuable edition. Other texts simply do not cover as much material as found here, such as x-ray diffraction and optics. Overall meant for students and not the self-taught, although that depends on the individual, but in general I would not recommend this for the beginner who wants to learn on his/her own. Still, a great text. Try getting some olders editions with less sub-subjects edited out for a real comprehensive text!
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2: old-school text
Oi, how much more convoluted can a text get? With every edition, this text gets less organized. Or that is at least true for the last 3 editions, anyways ... Eg. In how many chapters can the topic of "symmetry" be covered? Keeping it to 1 would be much easier to digest, thankyou.
The text is written in old-school rambly style... sure, it covers all topics, but it is hard to learn from (and in my experience, even harder to teach from). There are better options out there. Nesse "Intro to Mineralogy" text.
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3: Dana's Manual of Mineralogy Review
Dana's Manual of Mineralogy is one of the most important manuals ever written on mineralogy. It has been re-edit by Cornelius Klein after the death of the author.
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4: Thorough and Well Illustrated
The book contains excellent diagrams, graphs and other illustrations, which are useful for all students. Although the CD has valuable tutorials for beginning students, the text is often too technical and "dry" for beginners. Besides discussing crystallography and mineralogy, the book also provides a good review of chemistry and methods for analyzing minerals. Overall, the book is an excellent reference for upper level undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. Lower-level undergraduates may require a less technical textbook.
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5: From a student's perspective
I just finished the semester, so I think I have a pretty good feel for the book now. At the beginning I found it difficult simply because it occasionally used terms and diagrams before explaining them. As the semester progressed and I became more knowledgable about the subject, I found the textbook increasingly helpful and readable. Certainly there is a lot of good stuff in here, and the CD was unecessary but fun. Overall, it was a good complement to the lectures.
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