Gems & Minerals of the Southwest

The spectacular terrain of the American Southwest contains some equally spectacular gems and minerals. Jennifer Sano provides an easy to read resource for identifying more than 80 minerals, including both real gold and fool's gold, familiar gems such as opal and garnet, and more surprising specimens like hairy blue green cyanotrichite, fluorescent purple fluorite, petrified wood, and talc. About the Author: Jennifer Sano received a degree in journalism from the University of Rhode Island and an M.S. in geosciences from the University of Arizona. She lives in Houston, Texas. About the Photographer: Jeffrey A. Scovil's photographs have been published in the United Sates, Russia, German, Spain, Poland, and France. He is associate photographer for Mineralogical Record magazine. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona.