In this collection of essays, M. Dane (`Duke') Picard takes the reader on journeys across deserts, mountains, canyons, and rivers from the American Southwest to Italy and France. His blend of vivid description and humor evokes the rugged days of field petroleum geology in the Great Plains and pastel Badlands of Utah and Wyoming in the 1950s and later days unlocking the geological secrets of sandstone in the Rockies. Along the way, he pokes gentle fun at the academic life in stories that will make anyone smile who's ever sat on a faculty committee or chaired a professional meeting. The final essays on his travels through Provence and Italy are rich with details of the beauty and the history - both human and geological - of the regions. M.D. Picard is the author of numerous professional articles and books, and has served as president of the National Association of Geology Teachers, the Society of Sedimentary Geology, and the Rocky Mountain section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He is well known to the geological community for the essays and book reviews he has published over the last ten years in geoscience journals and magazines.

In this collection of essays, M. Dane (`Duke') Picard takes the reader on journeys across deserts, mountains, canyons, and rivers from the American Southwest to Italy and France. His blend of vivid description and humor evokes the rugged days of field petroleum geology in the Great Plains and pastel Badlands of Utah and Wyoming in the 1950s and later days unlocking the geological secrets of sandstone in the Rockies. Along the way, he pokes gentle fun at the academic life in stories that will make anyone smile who's ever sat on a faculty committee or chaired a professional meeting. The final essays on his travels through Provence and Italy are rich with details of the beauty and the history - both human and geological - of the regions. M.D. Picard is the author of numerous professional articles and books, and has served as president of the National Association of Geology Teachers, the Society of Sedimentary Geology, and the Rocky Mountain section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He is well known to the geological community for the essays and book reviews he has published over the last ten years in geoscience journals and magazines.

Picard (geology, U. of Utah) writes gracefully with wit and humility of geologizing from 1950 on. A cloth edition (unseen by Book News is priced at a monstrous $50. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Describes the formation of rocks and minerals and tells how to find, collect, and identify them. Includes a chapter on locating and collecting fossils and reading topographic and geologic maps.

This illustrated introduction to geology offers young readers insights into everyday signs of our constantly changing environment. Fascinating subjects include rivers of ice, the rise of volcanoes, and the formation of precious stones.

Rocky Voices: The memories of minerals that form the Rocky Mountains is a roadside geology book for children traveling through the Rocky Mountains. Unlike similar geology books, these twelve creatively written stories give ancient minerals a voice and capture the surprisingly adventurous, sometimes heartbreaking, and always entertaining truths of the minerals of the Rocky Mountains. Featured personified minerals include Lucy Calcite, Ray Clay, Sir Charles Zircon, Emma Amphipora, Bridget Cement, David Rock Flour, and more. Each story shows the minerals’ captivating perspectives of today’s well-known destinations in the Rocky Mountains, such as Lake Louise and Banff. These factual stories are as educational as they are fun and mesmerizing. Visit these locations, have a picnic, and read a story about the fascinating processes of rock forming and mountain building over the past millions of years.

By studying rocks, we can reconstruct the history of the earth. Even the most insignificant rocks can tell stories about other times because rocks have been around since the beginning of the universe. They provide clues about previous geological events and about what the earth's surface was like in the past. In addition, nearly all the modern products that surround us have elements provided by rocks and minerals, including aluminum cans, copper cables, and titanium spaceships. In this lavishly illustrated volume loaded with timelines, infographics, and diagrams, readers will find invaluable information about the language of rocks and will learn to identify the most important minerals, know their physical and chemical properties, and discover the environments in which they form.

A Guide for Collectors, Prospectors, and Rock Hounds

With this informative, fully updated and revised guide, you can explore the mineral-rich region of Montana. It describes the state's best rockhounding sites and covers popular and commerical sites as well as numerous little-known areas. This handy guide also descirbes how to collect specimens, includes maps and directions to each site, and lists rockhound clubs around the state. This is truly a complete guide to popular collecting sites in Montana and source-book brimming with advice that can be of use to both the novice and the experienced rockhounder.