An Elementary Introduction to the Knowledge of Mineralogy
Including Some Account of Mineral Elements and Constituents

This 1816 classic textbook by a founder of the Geological Society includes observations and descriptions of over 250 minerals.

William Phillips (Author)

9781108049382, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 July 2012

418 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.4 cm, 0.53 kg

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.

Preface
Introduction
Explanation of terms
Contents
Earthy minerals
Alkaline minerals
Native metals and metalliferous minerals
Combustible minerals
Index.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX]