Mineralogical Society of

This text covers the range of microanalytical techniques available for the analysis of geological samples, principally in research applications. Each chapter is written in a clear, informative st

William Phillips (1773–1828) was a printer and geologist who became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1827. A founder of the London Askesian Society, he was also an active member of the British Mineralogical Society. In 1807 he and twelve others founded the Geological Society of London, and he was described by the Society's historian as 'the most distinguished, as a geologist, of the original founders'. His pioneering 1818 digest of British geology, Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales, was the most ambitious and influential work of its kind. Phillips gave free lectures to young people in his village in 1814, and these were published the following year. This work followed in 1816, and both went on to become standard textbooks. Aimed at students, it collects observations of a wide range of minerals' characteristics and occurrence, incorporating crystallographic work using the new reflecting goniometer.

Concrete Vaulted Construction in Imperial Rome examines methods and techniques that enabled builders to construct some of the most imposing monuments of ancient Rome. Focusing on structurally innovative vaulting and the factors that influenced its advancement, Lynne Lancaster also explores a range of related practices, including lightweight pumice as aggregate, amphoras in vaults, vaulting ribs, metal tie bars, and various techniques of buttressing. She provides the geological background of the local building stones and applies mineralogical analysis to determine material provenance, which in turn suggests trading patterns and land use. Lancaster also examines construction techniques in relation to the social, economic, and political contexts of Rome, in an effort to draw connections between changes in the building industry and the events that shaped Roman society from the early empire to late antiquity. This book was awarded the James R. Wiseman Book Award from the Archaeological Inst

This monograph has its origins in a two-day meeting with the same title held in London, England in the spring of 1987. The idea for the meeting came from members of the UK Mineral and Rock Physics Gro

The surgeon William Ainsworth (1807–96) acted as the geologist of the 1835 Euphrates Expedition, his account of which is also reissued in this series. Great interest was aroused by the scientific and archaeological findings of that journey, and the Royal Geographical Society helped to fund a further expedition, ostensibly to make contact with the Nestorian Christians of the region, but covertly to make further mineralogical investigations. Ainsworth was the leader of the expedition, and his two-volume account was published in 1842. Starting from Istanbul in 1839, he took a route through Asia Minor, northern Syria, Kurdistan, Persia and Armenia, returning to Istanbul in 1840. The expedition was not regarded as a success, as Ainsworth had massively overspent the budget originally allotted by the sponsors, and his secret activities were discovered by the Ottoman authorities, but the work remains a vivid account of the area.