The book is concerned with the physical properties, chemical composition, and origin of minerals, and also with the systematic description of the latter. The petrographic sections of the text introduce to the essentials of igneous sedimentary and metamorphic rocks: their composition, occurrence, and origin. The description of minerals and rocks is, where appropriate, supplied with an indication of their practical value and sites-of occurrence.

The present textbook has been prepared in compliance with the course in mineralogy set by the university curriculum. The first part contains a traditional crystallochemical characterization of minerals. Information on the types of crystalline structure and structural motifs of minerals has been supplemented by a discussion of polymorphic modifications and polytypes. A special section dealing with structural imperfections (defects) has also been introduced. Phenomena pertaining to isomorphism, resolution of solid solutions have received due prominence together with the role of water in the composition of minerals. The graphical representation of the chemical composition of minerals and the calculation of crystallochemical formulae have been illustrated. The description of physical properties is discussed in terms of their nature, the methods of their analysis and the importance for diagnostic purposes, in prospecting, the enrichment of ores, technology, etc. <...>

The title of the short course reads "Natural Zeolites"; however, the subject matter treated in the course and reviewed here deals primarily with those zeolites that occur in sedimentary rocks and which have formed by authigenic or burial diagenetic processes. Unfortunately, only limited coverage has been given to the classical occurrences of zeolites--the megascopic crystals in the vugs and cavities of basalts and other basic igneous rocks. Our only justification is that since the late 1950s, almost all major efforts on zeol ites have been directed towards the "sedimentary" occurrences, and it is these occurrences of zeolites in sedimentary rocks that are still unfamiliar to many geologists and mineralogists. It is our intention that this short course and these notes will playa small role in alleviating this unfamiliarity. <...>

Many new mineral species have been documented in Arizona since the third edition of Mineralogy of Arizona was published in 1995. This new edition adds to the extensive work of the previous authors, who built the foundation on which this new effort rests. This edition is dedicated to these men: John Anthony, Sidney Williams, and Richard Bideaux.The field of mineralogy has undergone many changes since the third edition.