Simon & Schuster's Guide to Rocks & Minerals

I bought this book on a recommendation from a geology professor. There are other good books, but a strong advantage to this book is how the photo of a rock or mineral is directly adjacent to the written description. That’s not the case with some other popular rock and mineral guides. The photos in this sometimes look like they were taken before digital cameras, being somewhat less than super sharp and in dark colors, so it’s not perfect, but as a small, relatively inexpensive but inclusive field guide it’s easy to use. Repeated exposure to names, descriptions and photos in a very accessible guide book really does help me memorize unfamiliar rocks or minerals. I keep the book on hand, and I’m enough of a nerd to enjoy plain old browsing through the large number of listings. Recommend.

Easy to use. Lots of information. I bought this because a geologist recommended it as a good choice, and I have to agree.

The book is chock full of information but much of the introductory material seems to assume some knowledge of the field.If you are already involved in rocks and minerals, it is very good.It is not a “key” in the sense you can look at some specimen and the guide will take you through the steps needed to identify it.

It's a book about rocks which was recommended off of Reddit. So I said "well... if i ever get out of my apartment in the winter I can go see what rocks won't give me a toxic reaction." and also the side thought of "I bet this might turn out to look pretty after weeks in a tumbler!"I got a book about rocks AND minerals and it has pretty pictures and lots of text which looks all scientific n stuff. I'd order it again if it was a consumable resource.

An excellent, easily transportable field guide with plenty of photos, this used book arrived in virtually like-new condition. While the explication of Miller Indices was somewhat rarefied and outdated, the volume is recommended for all serious rockhounds and amateur geologists.

I found the minerals covered and their color photographs to be amazingly useful compared to the other mineral books I own. Really glad I purchased this one, highly recommend to other collectors. NOTE: This is NOT a beginner's book - many terms will seem alien to someone new to rocks and minerals. But a beginner might still find the photos to be very useful in identifying a mineral.

This thing is great. The pictures and mineral information are easy to use and useful. Will be using this for a gold exploration project this summer, and having it in my pocket will really help. Has a really nice summation of most of the different types of rocks that I forgot about since optics and petrology, complete with hand sample and thin section pics.If you want a detailed, useful field guide, this is the one. It is written for people who already know a little bit about minerals, which makes it very useful for geologists and rock hounds alike. For 13 bucks you can't go wrong, even if the binding is not the best quality.Enjoy, and cheers.Igor

As I am getting more into collecting rocks and minerals I decided it was time for a reference book to take out with me. This book meets all my expectations when it comes to a reference book - identifiable photos, decent description and is organized for easy viewing. Would recommend.