Rocks, Gems and Minerals: A Fully Illustrated, Authoritative and Easy-to-Use Guide

by Paul R. Shaffer, Herbert S. Zim, Raymond Perlman (Illustrations)

This handy identification guide to the most common kinds of rocks and minerals offers concise and fascinating information on:
Physical and chemical properties
Origins and geologic significance
Gems and semiprecious stones
How to find and collect specimens
Illustrated in full color throughout, Rocks, Gems and Minerals is a gem of a guide for rockhounds and mineral collectors!

Genres: Science, Geology, Reference, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2014

About the author

There is more than one Paul R. Shaffer on Goodreads.

Reviews

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Golden Guides! I grew up reading many of these, and revisiting them always feels like meeting an old friend. For anyone new to Golden Guides, it’s helpful to know before diving into any of them that some are a bit dated, and none of them pretend to be exhaustive. Rather, they provide an excellent introduction or overview to their respective subjects. Especially written to appeal to younger budding scientists/naturalists, they are fun reading for all ages and knowledge levels.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, easy to use intro for the casual collector. Really just made me want to find something more comprehensive.

[Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent Golden Guide book but it has not been used as much as many of the others perhaps because I am not as interested in rocks as the life science side of things.

[Dennis Marothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lacking in illustrations.