Introduction to Optical Mineralogy

The third edition of Introduction to Optical Mineralogy provides comprehensive coverage of the optical properties of minerals. It describes in detail more than 125 common rock-forming minerals and a selection of common ore minerals. Revised chapters on optical theory discuss the petrographic microscope, the nature and properties of light, the behavior of light in isotropic and anisotropic materials, and uniaxial and biaxial anisotropic optics. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in optical mineralogy, this accessible text is also an essential resource for petrology/petrography courses.

Features of the Third Edition


·Includes a new section on reflected light optics


·Reorganizes material so that silicates-which comprise over 95% of the earth's crust-are discussed first in order to reflect their abundance and petrologic significance


·Contains numerous photomicrographs and revised illustrations throughout


·Provides step-by-step procedures for using the petrographic microscope and a flow chart detailing the process of identifying unknown minerals

Also Available: Companion CD
A Textural Atlas of Minerals in Thin Section by Daniel Schulze contains color images of 65 minerals in thin selection, pictures of common alteration products-all indexed by mineral structure and composition-and more than 200 illustrations of important optical properties used in thin selection identification.

WILLIAM D. NESSE is Professor of Geology at the University of Northern Colorado, where he has taught for more than 25 years. He is the author of Introduction to Mineralogy (OUP, 2000) and the Instructor's Manual for Putnam's Geology (OUP, 1989). He is a member of the Geological Society of America, the Mineralogical Society of America, the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, and the Colorado Scientific Society.