Discovering rocks and minerals. A nature and science guide to their collection and identification / Знакомство с горными породами и минералами. Природоведческое и научное руководство по их сбору и идентификации

A rock you might hold in your hand tomorrow could contain evidence of a world once filled with dinosaurs or a continent once underwater. It is, in fact, from the study of rocks, and the fossils which they sometimes contain, ” that we have been able to learn all of what we know about the Earth’s past — such things as how long it takes a river to form a valley or a volcano to build . a 5,000 foot cone; when the Rocky Mountains were formed; and when the first forms of life appeared on the planet. 
This is a handbook for the identification of rocks, minerals, and fossils. It is designed for people, young and old, who want to learn how to collect and identify rocks and minerals — what tools are needed, what maps, where to collect, how to categorize and file specimens. Two new, easy-to-follow keys — created especially for this book— enable the collector to identify the Earth’s common rocks and minerals by following a few simple steps. <...>