The Preface introduces an exciting new series of books entitled "Mineralogy and Optical Mineralogy." This series is specifically designed to take full advantage of digital media technology to empower students and teachers of mineralogy. Using color photographs, illustrations, movies, 3D models that can be rotated, interactive diagrams, and review questions, this series makes a challenging subject approachable. Also, each chapter in the series is available separately allowing the reader to pick and choose only those chapters they need for their specific course.
The Preface introduces the authors and the subject of mineralogy:
"Welcome to the world of mineralogy! Mineralogy, while usually associated with geology, is really a stand-alone discipline that weaves itself into such diverse fields as chemistry, art, forensic science, wine production, and health-related issues, to name only a few. While this book is geared toward mineralogy as it applies to geology, it addresses mineralogy as a discipline in itself, and shows you how it is related to the other sciences, arts, and everyday life. The material that you hold in your hands is the product of [over 45] years of experience teaching mineralogy, and many more years than that spent thinking about the best way to teach this material!"
This series of books differs in several ways from a traditional mineralogy textbook: (1) it promotes learning in a digital environment by providing embedded color diagrams, photos, animations, videos, and custom widgets; (2) the authors use modern pedagogy; (3) each chapter is a separate book allowing the reader to choose only those chapters they wish to study; (4) it is written so that the more advanced chapters build on information learned in earlier chapters.
Chapters in the Mineralogy and Optical Mineralogy Series are:
Chapter 1 The Essence of Mineralogy
Chapter 2 Hand Sample Identification
Chapter 3 Crystal Chemistry
Chapter 4 Crystallography
Chapter 5 Optical Mineralogy
Chapter 6 Systematic Mineralogy
Chapter 7 Chemistry of the Elements
Chapter 8 Bonding and Packing in Minerals
Chapter 9 Chemical Analysis of Minerals
Chapter 10 Mineral Formulas
Chapter 11 Introduction to Symmetry
Chapter 12 Symmetry
Chapter 13 Mathematical Crystallography
Chapter 14 Representation of Crystal Structures
Chapter 15 Diffraction
Chapter 16 Introduction to Optics
Chapter 17 Optical Crystallography
Chapter 18 Optical Crystal Chemistry
Chapter 19 Mineral Identification
Chapter 20 Environments of Mineral Formation
Chapter 21 Nomenclature and Classification
Chapter 22 Silicate Minerals
Chapter 23 Non-Silicate Minerals