FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Barry Vincent]

Hi there . I recently obtained a second hand copy of Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy.
It is in poor condition as far as the hardback cover is concerned but all the pages (851 of them) are undamaged, unmarked and clean
It is the 4th Edition (22nd Printing) 1966.
In one of my other mineralogical books (Pough's Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals) it is suggested that for further more advanced reading , one should try and obtain a copy of the above textbook but as a 5th Edition 1954.
I'm assuming that what I have is that version and that there is no 5th Edition.
Is this correct. ?
There is of course the System of Mineralogy but this is not what is being referred to here.
Yours Truly Barry J Vincent

[Peter Megaw]

I have the same volume in front of me...Ford's 4th edition of "Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy". Very good, superseded in many ways, but still a go-to for some things.

Checking on-line it appears that Fred was referring to Ford's 1954 5th edition "Textbook of Mineralogy"...a college textbook...note no "Dana"

Same author, almost the same title...but different books...a lot of overlapping content.
Both are about half basic mineralogical and crystallographic technical information and half mineral data compendia. Modern mineralogy is WAY past both of these, we now can tell what element fits where in the atomic structure, far more resolution than existed in the 50's. We can now even understand why certain valence states of the same elements occupy certain sites! Klein and Dutrow's "Manual of Mineral Science" is a much better place to start understanding the current level of mineral science.

For hard core mineralogy data-focused reference books...albeit not cheap and unlikely to be found at garage sales...look for Bideaux et als, "Handbook of Mineralogy" 5 volumes extremely carefully edited and full of top quality references to the original literature.

You can get a lot of the same species specific data on-line with mindat.org...which comes with links to hundreds of photographs.

All science is a moving target, so almost by definition a book is obsolete by the time it's published...but the up to date data on the internet needs a context, so get a good modern mineralogical science book and supplement it with solid compendia like Bideaux (who was incredibly careful about accuracy) and mindat.

When you've absorbed all of this we'll be happy to turn moderatorship of this forum over to you! (we get a pass...we're grandfathered in!)

[Barry Vincent]

Thank you Peter for your prompt reply to my question concerning Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy.
In Pough's Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals the listing of further recommended reading on page 378 is as follows.

Dana. Edward Salisbury Minerals and How to Study Them ------------
____ A Textbook of Mineralogy 5th Ed. revised and enlarged by William E Ford 1954 ---
Dana. James Dwight. Manual of Mineralogy -------
____ and Edward Salisbury Dana. The System of Mineralogy 7th Ed. 3 Vols.----

Note the dashes before the 2nd and 4th listings.

My interpretation of this is :-
(1) Dana. Edward Salisbury
(2) Dana. Edward Salisbury
(3)Dana, James Dwight
(4)Dana, James Dwight and Edward Salisbury Dana.

So I still feel that Pough's reference is in error.
Also I looked up on the internet and couldn't find any reference to William E Ford's Textbook of Mineralogy (A College Textbook) 1954 5th Ed.

[John S. White]

For what it is worth the one book in my library, in spite of its age, that I go to most often is Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy, 4th edition by Ford, 1932, 19th printing 1958, particularly the crystallography section, but the mineralogy section receives a lot of use as well.

[Mark Ost]

I frequently use the 2nd edition of "An Introduction to the Rock Forming Minerals"
Deer, Howie and Zussman 1999

Not being a mineralogist, this covers much of what I need in a concise fashion.

[Tom Tucker]

My copy of the 3rd edition of Dr.Pough's Field Guide ends with page 349, and I haven't searched elsewhere for the list of "recommended reading". However on page 339 there is a "Bibliography" which includes "Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy, 5th edition", and notes, "to be published in 1954". That never happened, and I think we still hear rumors that a new edition is being prepared. I second John's suggestion - Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy, 4th edition, in numerous identical printings, - is an excellent, useful, mineralogy reference, though well outdated in some respects. The crystallography is excellent. Mineral descriptions also. I recently had a question directed to John, and his response included a direct reference to the Textbook.
I believe that Klein and Dutrow's "Manual of Mineral Science" is the latest edition, the 23rd, of the old Dana's Manual of Mineralogy
Various authors have prepared lists of " suggested mineralogy books", but the lists seem to be pretty much ignored. There used to be such an article written by Julian Grey on the Georgia Mineral Society web site, but I can't find it now.
A good mineral book will never be replaced by "the web".

[Barry Vincent]

Hi Tom, Thanks for the information. I think that clears up the mystery. There has never been a 5th edition of Dana's Textbook of Mineralogy.
I have the 5th edition (1995) of Pough's Field Guide and it is my favourite pocket guide.
However it has fallen to pieces and is now mostly a stack of loose pages.(especially the pages with the coloured illustrations) It is a paperback copy. Pity it is not available as a hardback copy as this would have most likely not have happened.
I also use the on-line site MinDat which is a vast reference source , but yes, nothing on the internet is going to replace a real, well printed and informative book.

[John S. White]

The 4th edition of Pough's Field Guide is available through Roger Tory Peterson Field Guides. You can find it in a very nice leather bound edition.

[Tom Tucker]

Barry, I take it NSW is not within the USA domestic mail service, or I'd send you a hard-cover copy, 3rd edition of Pough. Tom

[Barry Vincent]

Tom , NSW is New South Wales, Australia.
But thanks for the offer anyway, that is very sporting of you.
I'll look for the 4th edition that John has mentioned.

[Peter Megaw]

I use a really powerful used book search engine called addall.com that screens about 20 used book sales networks. (The home page takes you to new books, but there's a tab for search used). A quick search for the Ford Textbook and Pough's Fieldguide yielded hundreds of hits at prices as low as $3 for a hardbound version in decent shape. The site has the capability to sort by ascending or descending price and screen out keywords...like paperback so you can refine quickly. It includes several UK networks.

Be careful it is really addictive...and revealing! Amazing the prices some dealers ask for things others sell reasonably...sounds like minerals

[John S. White]

The Peterson Field Guide edition is really a lovely book in all respects. I attach a photo here of the copy that I have. It may not be the cheapest you can find but it will be by far the most elegant.

[Barry Vincent]

Oh yes, I want. !
Thanks for that information John.

[Pete Richards]

[Barry Vincent]

Thank you Pete for your response.
So this is an error.
So it's not a case of 'read between the lines' but
'read the dashes'.