Rocks & Minerals

Smithsonian Handbooks are the most visually appealing guides on the natural world in the book marketplace. Featuring more than 500 full-color illustrations and photographs, along with detailed annotations, Smithsonian Handbooks make identification easy and accurate.

Perfect for mountain climbers and hikers, this valuable reference covers more rocks and minerals in North America than any other available guide. 794 full-color photographs depict all the important rocks, gems, and minerals -- in many variations of color and crystal form -- and the natural environments in which they occur; written descriptions provide information on field marks, similar rocks and minerals, environment, areas of occurrence, and derivation of names. Includes a guide to mineral collecting and a list of rock-forming minerals

The Book of Stones is a new edition of the best-selling guide to some of Earth’s most beautiful natural objects. Two introductory chapters detail the authors’ theories about how to work with crystals and stones—including the concept of crystal resonance and the scientific observation that living organisms (such as ourselves) are liquid crystalline structures. An illuminating alphabetical journey through the mineral kingdom, stone by stone, follows.

Each entry begins with the stone name and photo, plus its elemental and chakra correspondences, as well as keywords that indicate its properties. Next comes a description of the crystal structure, hardness, history, and known locations of each mineral, plus any relevant legend or lore from the past. Each author then offers an essay on the subtle energy properties and spiritual applications of the stone. The entries conclude with summaries of the spiritual, emotional, and physical healing qualities of the stone, and an affirmation for evoking its potential benefits. The book’s presentation is straightforward enough to make it an excellent introduction for beginners, yet the level of detail and the depth of research make it an invaluable resource for the most experienced stone practitioners.

Whether you are a dedicated rock fan or an up-and-coming geologist, learn everything you need to know to quickly and easily identify over 325 rocks and minerals commonly found in the UK and Europe. From acanthite to zoisite this is your ideal in-the-field and on-the-move reference.

Practical, concise, and easy to use, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Rocks and Minerals contains everything that the rock and mineral enthusiast needs to know. This field guide is divided into two large sections -- one devoted to minerals and one to rocks, each prefaced by a comprehensive introduction that discusses formation, chemistry, and more. All 377 entries, beautifully illustrated with color photographs and helpful visual symbols, provide descriptions and practical information about appearance, classification, rarity, crystal formation, mode of occurrence, gravity of mineral, rock chemistry, modal classification fields, formational environments, grain sizes of rocks, and much more.

Whether you are a serious collector or an information-seeking amateur, this incomparably beautiful, authoritative guide will prove an invaluable reference.

This edition of The Pocket Book of Stones, featuring a handy lay-flat binding, was created in response to demand from readers for a more portable metaphysical crystals guide than the author’s Book of Stones. It is an ideal introduction to stones and their energies for those who are new to the field, as well as being an invaluable reference for well-versed readers. Every entry contains a vivid color photo and quick-look list of keywords, elemental and chakra correspondences, plus the beneficial physical, emotional, and spiritual qualities of each mineral, crystal, or gemstone. Author Simmons also provides a description of each stone, including scientific data and the story of each stone’s spiritual and healing qualities, as well as recommendations for other stones that combine harmoniously with it. The scientific information offered welcomes those not yet familiar with crystal energies by providing a familiar frame of reference and also broadens the knowledge of those who come to stones primarily for spiritual purposes. A comprehensive index cites the healing qualities and emotional and spiritual qualities of all the stones in the book. This affordably priced edition makes an ideal gift for any rock-lover. “There is no one any better, any deeper, and more knowledgeable, and more heart-filled with the Wisdom of Stones than Robert Simmons.”—Robert Sardello, PhD, author of Love and the Soul.

Modern policing is a vital institution for the defense of political and civil rights, and the protection of citizens from crime and fear of crime. Private security is also playing an increasingly important role in crime prevention and order maintenance, and also in protecting government assets and services. At the same time, crime and disorder remain major problems in contemporary societies, and there are ongoing issues of integrity and competency in many police departments and in the security industry. Policing and Security in Practice: Challenges and Achievements addresses questions of 'best practice' across police and security work by focusing on what the scientific literature says about how to achieve optimal outcomes in law enforcement, crime prevention and professional standards. Each chapter is written by subject experts with many years of research experience and collaborative work with policing and security agencies. The book is a highly readable, inspiring and fully grounded guide to achieving the best in policing and security.

The first book on the hunt for evolution's 'missing links' over the last three decades - and what palaeontologists' findings mean for our place on earth. Darwin's theory was for more than a century dogged by a major problem: the evidence proving the connections between the main groups of organisms were nowhere to be found. By the 1970s this absence of 'transitional fossils' was hotly debated. However, during the past three decades fossils of walking whales from Pakistan, feathered dinosaurs from China, and many more bizarre creatures have all been unearthed. WRITTEN IN STONE is the first account of the remarkable discovery of these gap fossils and of the new stories they tell about the evolution of life.