Did you know culinary salt is the mineral halite? Or that the pigment vermillion is powdered cinnabar, a mineral whose name comes from the Persian for "dragon's blood"?

Discover the extraordinary mineral treasures that form our planet and that today we use in everything, from makeup and cookery to agriculture and high-tech.

Rocks and Minerals is your essential collector's companion, with illustrated entries on hundreds of minerals, gems, and rocks from actinium to zirconium. Its breathtaking array includes organic minerals, such as pearls and corals, as well as silicates and "native elements" like gold.

Browse to find wonderful gems, including opals, or pyropes - a deep-red garnet the size of a hen's egg. Rocks and Minerals reveals each mineral's defining characteristics, and explains how and where they were formed, how they were first identified, their uses, and their chemical composition.

Whether you are a geology student, or starting your own collection, this fact-packed book is both a fascinating read and an essential identification guide.