Earth Materials

Cornelis ('Kase') Klein is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. He received his BSc and MSc in geology from McGill University, Canada, and his PhD from Harvard University, Massachusetts, also in geology. He has been a member of the geology faculty at Harvard University, Indiana University, Bloomington, and the University of New Mexico, and has taught courses in mineralogy at all these universities. His published books include Manual of Mineralogy (19th-21st editions), Manual of Mineral Science (22nd-23rd editions) and Minerals and Rocks: Exercises in Crystal and Mineral Chemistry, Crystallography, X-Ray Powder Diffraction, Mineral and Rock Identification, and Ore Mineralogy, 3rd edition (2007). He has received two awards for excellence in teaching from the University of New Mexico. Anthony R. Philpotts is Emeritus Professor of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Connecticut, a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University, Connecticut and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts. He received his BSc and MSc in geology from McGill University, Canada, and his PhD from the University of Cambridge. He has taught igneous and metamorphic petrology courses at McGill University and the University of Connecticut for more than forty years. His published books include Principles of Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, 2nd edition (Cambridge, 2009) and Petrography of Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks (1989, 2003).

• 1. Introduction; 2. Materials of the solid Earth; 3. How are minerals identified?; 4. Fundamentals of crystal structures; 5. Introduction to crystallography; 6. Minerals and rocks observed under the polarizing optical microscope; 7. Igneous rock-forming minerals; 8. The direction and rate of natural processes: an introduction to thermodynamics and kinetics; 9. How do igneous rocks form?; 10. Igneous rocks: their mode of occurrence, classification, and plate tectonic setting; 11. Sedimentary rock-forming minerals and materials; 12. Formation, transport, and lithification of sediment; 13. Sedimentary rock classification, occurrence, and plate tectonic significance; 14. Metamorphic rock-forming minerals; 15. Metamorphic rocks; 16. Some economic minerals, mainly from veins and pegmatites; 17. Some selected Earth materials resources; 18. Earth materials and human health.

'Earth Materials is a magnificent textbook that illustrates in a wonderful way how petrology and mineralogy relate to our planet Earth, its formation and modification by igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary processes. Outstanding photographs and detailed thin section images are neatly combined with clear illustrations, fostering the link between observations and fundamental theoretical principles. A new section in the second edition about thermodynamics and kinetics nicely complements the thorough coverage of key concepts in petrology and mineralogy. The available online resources are an essential aid for teaching, and students will benefit from the review questions at the end of each chapter. Earth Materials is simply a great textbook, which I can highly recommend.' Ralf Halama, Keele University