Iowa's Minerals ― Their Occurrence, Origins, Industries and Lore

In his carefully written text, geologist Paul Garvin has combined scientific facts about minerals with an appreciation of their history and beauty to produce a book that will appeal to scholars, collectors, and the general public.
Garvin begins with a brief treatment of the origins of Iowa's minerals, moving from the oldest - with ages well in excess of a billion years - to those most recently formed. He describes the state's major mineral occurrences, providing detailed information for both specialists and amateurs, including how to obtain access to collecting sites. A history of Iowa's mineral industries complements Garvin's more technical information; this history is supplemented with stories about the Cardiff Giant (who now has his own web page), Ottumwa's Coal Palace, and the meteor falls of the late nineteenth century.

Paul Garvin is professor of geology at Cornell College.