Mineralogy
Scientific study of minerals, their properties, and crystal structures.
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These properties include density, hardness, tenacity, cleavage, fracture, luster, color, and streak.[1] Systematic mineralogy involves the identification and grouping of minerals according to their characteristics.[2] Examining physical properties on a hand sample is a common first step in mineral identification.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Geology
- Known for
- Scientific study of minerals
- crystallography
- and mineral classification
- Key contributors
- Pliny the Elder
- Al-Biruni
- Georgius Agricola
- Nicholas Steno
- René Just Haüy
- Jöns Jacob Berzelius
- James D. Dana
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Early writings on mineralogy come from ancient Babylonia, the Greco-Roman world, China, India, and the Islamic world.[3] Pliny the Elder's Natural History described many minerals and their properties.[3] René Just Haüy showed that crystals are periodic and established the law of rational indices.[4] William Nicol developed the Nicol prism in 1827–1828.[4]
A chemical-based mineral classification was put forward by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1814.[4] Henry Clifton Sorby demonstrated that thin sections could be identified through optical properties using a polarizing microscope.[4] The Commission of New Minerals and Mineral Names was established by the International Mineralogical Association in 1959.[2] More than 6,000 minerals have been named or remain unnamed, with roughly 100 new ones discovered annually.[2]
What the research sources say
Hazen's 2015 paper states that 34% of approved mineral species are known from only one or two localities.[5][6] Statistical analysis suggests thousands of other plausible rare mineral species await discovery or have been lost.[5][6] Data science methods can make mineralogy predictive instead of just descriptive, according to Morrison.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Mineralogy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nesse, "Introduction to mineralogy", Oxford University Press, 2012; Klein, "Earth materials : introduction to mineralogy and petrology", Cambridge University Press, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mineralogy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parsons, "International Mineralogical Association", Elements, October 2006, p. 388; Higgins, "A census of mineral species in 2010", Elements, October 2010, p. 346; Klein, "Manual of mineralogy : (after James D. Dana)", Wiley, 1993 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mineralogy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Needham, "Science and civilisation in China", Cambridge University Press, 1959, p. 637–638 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mineralogy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nesse, "Introduction to mineralogy", Oxford University Press, 2012; "Law of the constancy of interfacial angles", International Union of Crystallography, 24 August 2014; Nesse, "Introduction to mineralogy", Oxford University Press, 2012; Rafferty, "Geological sciences", Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services, 2012, p. 14–15; Nesse, "Introduction to mineralogy", Oxford University Press, 2012; Rafferty, "Geological sciences", Britannica Educational Pub. in association with Rosen Educational Services, 2 en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Mineralogy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hazen, "Mineral ecology: Chance and necessity in the mineral diversity of terrestrial planets", The Canadian Mineralogist, March 2015, p. 295–324; Hazen, "Mineral Ecology", Carnegie Science; Kwok, "Is Mineral Evolution Driven by Chance?", Quanta Magazine, 11 August 2015; Kwok, "How Life and Luck Changed Earth's Minerals", 16 August 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Hazen, "Mineral Ecology", Carnegie Science. facts only, no text reused. hazen.carnegiescience.edu
- Oleson, "Data-driven discovery reveals Earth's missing minerals", Earth Magazine, 1 May 2018. facts only, no text reused. earthmagazine.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mineralogy (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Mineralogy (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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