FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[jrg]

Today I received a very interesting and magnificent news for all the lovers of mineralogy and crystallography in particular. The researcher and crystallographer of Belgian origin Eddy Van Der Meersche has published the book "Crystal Forms of Fluorite - Kristallformen von Fluorit" (German-English bilingual edition), which throughout its 296 pages shows 88 crystallographic forms with exemplary real photographs and the pictures of the 127 possible for this mineral combinations.
It's a really exhaustive work that far exceeds the 51 forms described by Goldschmidt in his "Atlas der Krystallformen" published in 1918.
For a lover of the fluorite like me it is an essential work in the mineralogical library because of the great contribution to the study of the crystallography of this mineral and also the quality, definition and beauty of the images that illustrate the book.
Congratulations to the author for this magnificent work.

[Herman van Dennebroek]

It's indeed a magnificent book, not only for fluorite lovers. For more than a month I have fun with looking at the pictures and crystal forms.

[Jesse Fisher]

I agree with Jose - this in one of the best works on morphological crystallography I have seen published in many years. 295 pages of test with hundreds of high quality photos and crystal drawings. My only complaint is that no attention is given to twinning, but I guess one must stop somewhere or the project never gets finished. The book is also hard bound and of a quality that should stand up to repeated use as a reference.

The test is published in both German and English, and I noticed that if one emails the author, the text is further available in both Dutch and French. I purchased my copy from a Belgian fellow Herwig Pelckmans, who was visiting California to promote the book. I do not know if they have any distribution arrangements yet for North America, however.

[bugrock]

Perhaps someone on the forum knows of a North American distributor.

Might it be available for sale at the Rochester Symposium?


George

[Roger Warin]

Hi,
Eddy is my friend for 40 years. I can ask him to manifest on this forum, if you wish.
His book is remarkable and there is not another like it. All the most amazing crystal habits are represented, with a theoretical drawing and a picture of a specimen.
This book is bilingual German-English.
Here is a copy of a half-page at random.
Roger.

[John Nash]

Hi Roger,

Yes, please invite your friend to manifest on this forum. And let us know how to purchase this book. Fluorite with its colors and crystal forms is my continuing fascination.

John

[Ivan Blanco (PDM)]

Here I upload some more pics that the author sent me to publish.

The book is really a great work!

[Eddy Van Der Meersche]

Hello everybody,

Thanks for appreciating my brand new book! It's my life's work: 29 years of investigations!
I'm the inventor, investigator, photographer, crystal figure draftsman, lay-out artist, and editor.
For more information you can contact me on:
e.vandermeersche(at)skynet(dot)be
Thanks!
Eddy

[Philip Mostmans]

I got my copy yesterday at the MKA show in Antwerp along with two Fluorites from Okorusu . Practice starting to identify the several crystal forms can begin :-). The book has tons of nice photographs and drawings and the text is understandable even by a complete crystal newbie like me. A must have for reference.

Thank you Eddy for your work and I am still truly sorry you didn't get to see my collection a few years ago.

[John Nash]

Thanks to Eddy for this historical work! Magical is the only way I can describe this. I got the book in the mail last week. I'm only beginning to sample the richness of the photos and diagrams. The key at the top of each page showing the crystal forms present in each specimen - color coded to the faces shown in the crystal drawings - is a fantastic idea that makes crystallography sooo much easier to see and understand.

Thank you so very much for the innovations and work you put into this project, Eddy!

John Nash

[Roger Warin]

Hi,
I met Eddy in Antwerp today. He sold all his latest books "Fluorite". The only ones left are for sale at dealers.
Eddy is very pleased with the enthusiastic reception you have given to his book.
It is a perfection which coincides well with his character. Eddy was already specializing in film photography minerals of Belgium and Eifel (Germany) from 25 to 30 years.
Today, it takes a well deserved rest.
Roger.

[Martin Rich]

A short story:

I'm very interested in crystallography and crystal-morphology, so I got my exemplar yesterday. Wow! What a perfect work! I'm sure this is Eddy's magnum opus.

Eddy dedicated his book Erich Offermann (1920 - 2009), here in Europe well known for his crystallographic books. Erich Offermann is a role model for me. Anyway, I purchased the book from Ch. Weise-Verlag, Munich. By the way, I purchased here a further book from the 2nd hand book-shop: Kleber et al.: Einführung in die Kristallographie ("introduction in crystallography"). And I was very surpriced, the book has an ex libris from Erich Offermann, he was the former owner of this exemplar! Now, for me, the circle is closed.

Martin