The best Mineralogy books: Reddit reviews

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Philosophy, writing, gaming, art (music, photography, /r/glitch_art). Honestly anything classified as a "soft science" kinda gets my motor going. I also really like anthorpology...specifically food anthro. I just started reading through Salt: A World History, and it's been interesting so far. From Amazon: > In his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

On sale for Kindle right now for $1.99:

<em>Salt, A World History</em> is an engaging book about the importance of salt. Before canning and refrigeration, salt-based methods were the only means of preserving food. Controlling the use of salt via taxation and by means of force was of great importance—one of Gandhi’s acts of civil disobedience was to go to the sea and harvest his own salt, which was illegal at that time. This is one of those books I think fantasy readers and writers will appreciate for the historical context, given that many fantasies are in preindustrial settings.

great read on this topic

Good article. Many people forget that the Manhattan Project was an effort between the US, UK, and Canada. Many of the heavy water production facilities for the Manhattan Project were in Canada. Poor Louis Slotin, the first victim of the Demon Core, was Canadian. Canada is a huge producer of uranium today, but my understanding was that the bulk of the uranium in the Little Boy bomb was from the Shinkolobwe mine in what is today the DR Congo. At least according to a book I read

Yes, sodium is sodium. There's plenty of salt around though — if you're into it, the book Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky is excellent, genuinely one of the best books I've ever read about a seemingly niche topic.

If you can find a clean source, yes. Remember, whatever went into the water may still be present in the residue.

Apparently, there is a sewage treatment plant in your immediate area that may dump to the sea.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g644214-d10642837-r683982725-Kalamia_Beach-Lassi_Kefalonia_Ionian_Islands.html

If you want to read the history of salt, and it's production, I highly recommend this as an audiobook.

https://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619

I believe where the British isles were was much warmer when it was living.

There’s a really awesome book called Jewels: A Secret History by Victoria Finley that’s a fun read. She does a chapter on the history of the gems that have been used the longest.

Jewels: A Secret History https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345466950/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_D70VG339T1Z66J47CJ76

I’m not an anthropology, just a reader of this sub. But my husband read a book on this exact topic and recommended it to everyone.

Salt: a world history, by mark kurlansky

https://www.amazon.ca/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0676975356/ref=asc_df_0676975356/?tag=googlemobshop-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=292872894410&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=1048842312817386141&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&am...

It's plausible as an option, but the white crystals don't really have the right crystal habit and lustre (too dull). I think it's something else.

I tried to find out for sure, but couldn't find confirmation. I did find out that the textbook is the second edition of Introduction to Mineralogy by William D. Nesse.

&quot;Gemstones of the World&quot; is an excellent book, got great info, the in depth moh's hardness scale is very useful.

And i recommend Andrew Berry on YouTube to get you up and running with soldering and general workshop basics.

Cheese is one of the many foods born of ways of trying to keep food from spoiling in all of human history before the advent of refrigeration. A variety of microorganisms could “process” milk into cheese that imparted flavor, transformed the easily-spoiled liquid into a transportable solid, and retarded the growth of harmful bacteria. Lactic acid produced by the lactobacillus (in yogurt and some cheeses) is bad for other microorganisms, and a hefty dose of salt helps to preserve the cheese, too. The now solidified cow/goat/sheep juice could also be wrapped or even sealed in a wax coating, waxed paper, oil cloth, etc.

So cheese was very important. As were a great many salty foods. If a food is considered salty by today’s standards, chances are it used to be a great deal saltier before refrigeration. I recommend you read <em>Salt, A World History</em> by Mark Kurlansky.

I just read a book which is titled "salt". It actually explains how salt was discovered in China, made it to Europe via the silk road during Roman times and then brought to the Americas by the Spanish. \s

For real though, that book is fascinating, going into the history of how salt became a critical necessity for agricultural and pastoral societies and therefore one of the most important trade goods moving on pre-historic trade routes. However, putting salt into everything is a characteristic European habit and for example traditionally not done in the Chinese sphere, where it was reserved for preservation methods.

Free? The interwebs. Not free? I really enjoyed reading Jewels: a Secret History. I also taught myself a lot with this Smithsonian beginners’ gem book

Play Oregon Trail and discuss your decisions.

https://archive.org/details/msdos_Oregon_Trail_The_1990

And for more horrors on migration, look up

https://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=salt&amp;qid=1565746099&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1

Jewels

I LOVE this book. It only discusses ~~ten~~ nine gemstones, but it is so interesting. The author traveled the world to study each of them.

I recently read a book called Salt: A World History. It was mentioned in it,, that soy sauce was initially developed in China and not Japan. Is there any solid proof to this?

Thanks for the recommendation! I just bought this book: Gemstones of the World: Newly Revised Fifth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1454909536/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pPGIybE1G50X2

Given that I didn't know an Amethyst was a quartz, I figured it's a good place to start. The book you recommended seems like a logical next step once I've upped my technical knowledge of gemstones themselves!

I learned this in a book by Victoria Finlay called Jewels. (Apparently it has a new name now.) I love that book! Her other book is great too - Color.

Also in an article in National Geographic, March 2002:

>Goldberg had bought the diamond over the phone from Tel Aviv. When it arrived, he had taken it out on his terrace so he could be photographed holding it. Diamonds can shatter if struck in the wrong place, so one man had lain full length on the flagstones beneath Goldberg's outstretched hands, a human cushion in case Goldberg dropped the rough stone.

Edit: this comment was a misunderstanding. I thought we were discussing diamond durability.

Reflected light microscopy is a bit of a lost art. I was never taught it formally, and had to learn it later. You'll want to look for old used books, but for most silicates reflected light isn't the way to go. Are you looking at ore samples? Because that is really when it becomes useful.

This is my go-to book for mineral identification: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199827389/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687462&amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;pf_rd_i=0199846278&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_r=JH49Y9MM8HG4CQ9X8A0G

You might find this book interesting. Salt: A World History

It's just full of interesting shit.

Random Question - You said you loved the cold war, right? I just finished "Uranium the rock that shaped the world". Very very interesting in depth history presented in a good journalist first person mixed 3rd person format, about the history of Uranium, from it's early reaches all the way through WW2, Cold War and into the current middle east crisis, check it out

http://www.amazon.com/Uranium-Energy-Rock-Shaped-World/dp/014311672X

<em>Minerals in Thin Section</em> by D. Perkins

I assign this usually as a required book for mineralogy and a recommended book for ig/met petrology. It is pricey, but you can find it cheaper elsewhere. It is worth every penny you pay.

Ninja edit: Didn't see you already had a thin section book listed. I'm not familiar with Mackenzie, but I imagine it's along the same lines as Perkins.

>In his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt by Mark Kurlansky is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

There's a really great book by a guy banged Mark Kurlansky, called Salt: A World History. I'd definitely recommend it if you like history.

Salt, a world history of the world's most interesting spice by Mark Kurlansky. Really cool. Will definitely be reading "Cod" next. Marvelous books, looking at something simple and easily taken for granted, and then dissecting the most interesting bits of the history of those things. Salt looks at how it played a role in Ghandi's movement to break free of British imperialism, Rome's ability to rule the world through the power of food preservation, and of course, Tabasco Sauce.

http://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619

A really interesting history of Salt that I read a couple year's back is Kurlansky's (sp?) "Salt: A World History". It's pretty long, but I found it intriguing!

Edit: Here's an Amazon link - http://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619

Edit 2: He also has a couple of good books on Cod and Oysters!

I love documentaries, personally. :) I read a book that reads a lot like a documentary on salt... fascinating. I need to go buy all the artisan salts now.

Salt liquorice uses ammonium chloride; a few other foods use non-NaCl salts. I read Salt: A World History a few years ago.

Klein and Dutrow is fantastic as is mentioned elsewhere, as is Deer, Howie, and Zussman's <em>An Introduction to Rock-Forming Minerals</em>.

I recommend Mark Kurlansky's book Salt: a World History It's a very interesting look at the role the mineral that we take for granted has played in world events. His other books, Cod, a Basque History of the World, and a History of Non-Violence are similarly good, but *"Salt" is nothing short of great.