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.

Minerals, both metallic and nonmetallic, and building stones have played key role in shaping human civilization since ancient times. Demand for and production of these earth resources increased manifold during the Industrial Revolution and both have seen an exponential growth during the last century, keeping pace with growing national and global economies. Ever-widening base of mineral use has made minerals an integral part of our everyday life.

The solid part of the Earth is made up of rocks. Rocks are made up of minerals. A mineral is a naturally
occurring inorganic solid. It has a specific chemical composition and a characteristic crystal structure.
Quartz is a very common mineral. Most beach sand is composed of quartz. It has the composition SiO2
and forms elongate 6-sided crystals that terminate at a point <...>

This book contains chapters presented at the International workshop ‘Minerals as Advanced Materials I’ that was held in the hotel of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Imandra lake, Kola peninsula, one of the most beautiful places of the Russian North, during 8–12 July, 2007. The idea of the workshop originated from the necessity of interactions between mineralogy and material science, including all aspects of both these disciplines. Many important materials that dominate modern technological development were known to mineralogists for hundreds years, though their properties were not fully recognized. Mineralogy, on the other hand, needs new impacts for the further development in the line of modern scientific achievements, including novel insights provided by development of bio- and nanotechnologies as well as by the understanding of a deep role that information plays in the formation of natural structures and definition of natural processes. <...>