Introduction to Mineralogy

The fourth edition of Introduction to Mineralogy combines material now covered in both traditional and optical mineralogy courses and focuses on describing minerals within their geologic context. Introduction to Mineralogy is suitable as a primary or supporting text for mineralogy, optical mineralogy, petrology, earth materials, and/or economic geology courses. It presents the important content of mineralogy including crystallography, chemical bonding, controls on mineral structure, mineral stability, and crystal growth to provide a foundation that enables students to understand the nature and occurrence of minerals.

William D. Nesse is Professor Emeritus of Geology at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado. He is the author of both Introduction to Mineralogy and Optical Mineralogy. Graham B. Baird is a Professor at the University of Northern Colorado; he succeeded Dr. Nesse in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department upon Dr. Nesse's retirement. Dr. Baird contributed to both the second and third editions of the text and is coming onto the fourth edition as a full coauthor. Dr. Baird teaches the introduction to mineralogy course, as well as physical geology, petrology, and geologic field techniques. He is actively doing research in the Front Range of Colorado, the Adirondacks of northern New York, and in the Kebnekaise region of northern Sweden. In addition to working with both undergraduates and master-level students on their research projects, Dr. Baird created a TED-Ed lesson on crystals.