Product Description

Gemstones have been a source of delight and fascination for many thousands of years. This revised edition explores the nature of gems, their beauty, rarity and durability, and the mineral properties that govern these qualities. It describes the most popular gemstones in detail and looks at how gem minerals form, where they are found and mined, and how they are identified. It includes information about the popular most popular and the lesser known stones, and describes how to distinguish the real from the fake.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142557 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 75 pages

Review
"'Aesthetically pleasing, enjoyable, accurate, succinct... One could say a gem among books of its kind.' New Scientist on the first edition."

About the Author
Cally Oldershaw worked on the development of exhibitions in the geological galleries at The Natural History Museum. A Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (GAGTL), she now works at the Geological Society. She continues to work as a freelance author, editor and consultant.

Christine Woodward prepared and produced geological exhibitions at the Museum until 1990. She still works with the Museum delivering adult education courses.

Roger Harding is Director of the GATL, a body providing membership, educational outreach and gem testing services. He was curator of gemstones at the Museum, from 1972-90.

Customer Reviews

Clear and informative, as expected from Nat.Hist.Museum
Gives information on the most common gemsones in an easy to read format. The photographs are excellent.A very good introduction to the subject, suitable for all age ranges.

interesting little guide book to jewelry gems
Although the cover shows a raw gem, this book is oriented towards jewelry gems, and most photos show faceted and polished gems. Most entries are brief (generally one per page, but some more), but each one I've looked at is interesting, with information about where the stone comes from, and technical information about chemical composition and crystal form. There are technical charts and tables at the end. The book is small but gives the impression of being a reduced-size version of a larger book, because the print is small and each entry is fairly contentful. Definitely an interesting & informative browse in a fairly small package.