3 comments about Gems of Wisdom, Gems of Power: A Practical Guide to How Gemstones, Minerals and Crystals Can Enhance Your Life.

1. Clear, concise and engaging...Kennedy's insight into the world of crystals and gemstones is engaging and informative. Illustrated with great 4-color photos for readers to easily identify stones in their natural state, the book is a winner. Lots of history, lots of research and lots of insight that crystal lovers won't want to miss. There are quite a few crystal books out there, but this is definitely THE one to own for anybody who wants to learn about the qualities of crystals and minerals and why they have enchanted us for centuries. I love this book! Kudos!



2. Teresa Kennedy has written a book with very good, clear and practical information addressing both mystical and scientific aspects of crystals and gemstones. The book is divided into sections such as "The Love Stones" "Stones of protection ", "Stones for physical healing ", etc., with some stones occurring in more than one of the nine categories. This is an extremely useful book for a beginner and will be a valuable addition to any crystal library.
   I have over 50 crystal healing books and have written quite a bit about crystal healing myself. This book is one I'll recommend highly. There is no perfect crystal healing book and there probably never will be, but this is one of the best I have seen yet. I practice different styles of crystal healing and use some more intuitive methods than the author, so a few of my personal recommendations might be different. This is a very good book and if you can get only one book about crystals, this is the one I'd suggest. This book has relatively little information about detailed methods of working with crystals but that is probably an asset. The Author gives sound advice and guidance based on her experience and allows the reader to determine the way they will work with the stones. Each stone entry has a color photograph of the stone. This book could be very useful for helping someone choose stones to work with for specific purposes.This is a very solid guide with a lot for both beginners and as a reference for more advanced practitioners.



3. Obviously a great number of books of crystals have appeared in the last twenty years since the resurgence of interest in crystal healing occurred in the early 1980s. Therefore when a new title comes along which clarities existing knowledge, has a pleasing layout, and includes large clear photographs of each specimen, then it warrants inclusion on the bookshelf of any stone enthusiast or healer. However, when it goes beyond meticulous organization of information and ease of use, and also has its information presented by a level headed narrator with pleasing tone and seems to offer just the right amount of information on each stone, it just may be the book you find yourself reaching for first.
   
   Starting with the premise that her readers are intelligent, reasonably open-minded and interested in the practical application of the stones into their lives, Teresa quickly establishes a down-to-earth sensibility that encourages a combination approach to the use of stones. She advocates understanding stones from a structural as well spiritual perspective before selecting your healing stones. She also includes a lot of very practical advice in highlighted in pink "Buyer Beware" sections so that you stand the best chance of avoiding some of the inferior or inauthentic merchandise that is on the market.
   
   The layout of the book undertakes to guide the reader quickly to the correct stone by arranging the stones into categories such as "love stones" or "stones of transformation" so you can find what you need quickly. If you already have a stone or a specific idea of the stone you would like, no problem -- there is an extensive index at the back.
   Reviewed by Megan Mitchell

5 comments about Crystallography Made Crystal Clear, Third Edition : A Guide for Users of Macromolecular Models (Complementary Science).

1. When it comes to this field of research, you get two types of references: (1) the 2-5 page quick intro that leaves you with the most basic overview of crystallography and (2) the 'hard core' books that go into such detail as to leave you breathless. This book is, in my opinion, the best transition book.

   For non-crystallographers, this book will teach enough about crystallography to allow you to read crystal structure articles and understand what is meant by all of the used statistics and such.

   For apprentice crystallographers, this is a wonderful intro into the field. Master the book, then move on to harder books to master it.

   Highly recommended. I still go back to it, when I teach people, to help me explain in the way that Gale Rhodes does!




2. This is the best introduction to crystallography I have ever come across. Which is quite an achievement, because its a difficult subject to understand. In crystallography, its very rare to find a book which does not deal with either a totally descriptive approach or a totally mathematical approach. Rhodes' book bridges the gap between the two and gives the reader the right dose of jargon and explanation. He illustrates every point with plenty of figures as well as real life computer models of proteins. Before I came across this book, I was struggling and failing to understand Isomorphous Replacement, MAD, Solvent Flattening, Maps and Models, as well as the iterative refining of models. I think no other book comes even close to this book in explaining all these concepts in simple format. This, I think is as clear as it can get without becoming oversimplified. A must have for all researchers and students whose work is even remotely connected to crystallography.



3. This book is a good one. Explains every aspect I always want to know about crystallography. In my first class of biochemistry I discover that I really like the macromolecular models, but my biochemistry book doesn't content much information about this subjet. When I discover this book I bought it, and read it, and I must to say that this book explain every aspect of the process of create a molecular model.
   After read this book I thinking about to become a crystallographer.



4. Crystallography Made Crystal Clear does clearly explain the principles of X-ray Crystallography. I used this book for a graduate class in introductory x-ray crystallography when I deemed that the assigned book for the class, Principles of Protein X-Ray Crystallography, unhelpful.
   
   Crystallography Made Crystal Clear presents the theory behind crystallography in the most straightforward way possible. Whenever possible, concepts are explained in words and by examples instead of with equations. This elimates derivations that are not necessary to understand key concepts.
   
   Although explanations in the book are clear, they are often too brief. The book also does not have any practice problems, which is a major drawback. If you are taking a crystallography class, I would take a look at this book but focus more heavily on the lecture notes and problems from class. Honestly, I haven't found a really good crystallography book, but this one at least is not too confusing.



5. The delivery was prompt and in the item was in an excellent condition

No comments about Inorganic Chemistry: Shriver and Atkins.

1 comments about Introduction to Mineralogy.

1. This is a very informative book. It is quite helpful in the field of gemology, as well as the intended field of geology.

3 comments about Introduction to Crystallography (Dover Classics of Science and Mathematics).

1. This book is definitely a good starting point to learn Crystallography. As a matter of fact the title is in my opinion a little misleading since the book really introduces the reader to X-ray Crystallography... The book starts with a concise yet elementary discussion of crystal lattices, point groups and space groups. The chapters are nicely woven together so that the reader easily develops a sense of continuity as the the concepts are introduced. Principles of diffraction phenomena and determination of atomic positions are very densely discussed. However the treatment is "crystal" clear and no vital details are ignored for the sake of "simplicity". The overall treatment is very elementary and requires an extremely modest amount of mathematical background. Fourier series a briefly introduced in the discussion of electron density and structure factors in an effective manner. The effect of glide planes and screw axes on the structure factor (systematic absences) are elegantly described in the examples. I wish D. Sands would have written an longer book and have included more material in structure determination as well as powder diffractometry itself (that's why the books is rated 4 stars only). He certainly has the ability to effectively get the points across throughout his book in a elegant fashion making the book easily readable. The book is ideally suited for those who would like to make their first steps into X-ray crystallography. In addition, the price is so right (as is the case with all Dover Series) you can not go wrong. I highly recommend it.



2. Together with Group Theory and Chemistry this book makes a good guide to the world of chemical,and geological crystals. Crystalography has a very bad notation problem between Schoenflies symbols for point groups and Hermann-Mauguin symbols for space groups ( and several other types of notation that are used like Miller indices). A basic grounding in symmetry groups used in point groups helps to understand the unit cell symmetries used in space groups. Both of these books fails in the larger Mathematical picture of Lie algebras for two and three dimensions. One can't reward a book or author for making his students intellectual cripples when faced with the more general mathematical groups.



3. This book is an excellent introduction to crystallography. If you aren't interested in group theory, which most material scientists aren't, this is the book for you. The book covers the international crystallography notation well, describes some x-ray diffraction and reciprocal lattice topics, and overall conveyed the topics better than some professors can.
   
   For the price, I highly recommend picking this up!

5 comments about Inorganic Chemistry: Principles of Structure and Reactivity (4th Edition).

1. This book is a fantastic approach for Inorganic Chemistry! Far from the usual descriptive inorganic chemistry found in other books, Huheey's work is a complete and thorough guide to undergraduate students; it explains important subjects which are left out in other works.

   The chapters about bonding are specially well written and have good information that can be well understood by chemistry students.

   There is only one little flaw, its lack of colored pictures. It may seem silly, but some students can be greatly encouraged by this.

   It is a great book and I recomend it to anyone who plans to partake an Inorganic Chemistry course.




2. Although I didn't read much about it, I still got an A from this course. Hopefully the professor won't see this page.:-)
   If you ever need to know anything about inorganic chemistry of today, buy this book. It's almost a dictionary for inorg-chemists.



3. I bought this book on the recommendation of one of my chemistry advisors. I must say, it is one of the best books available on the market for inorganic chemistry. The chapters on bonding, solid state, and coordination are very well done, but the authors have done a good job on the rest as well. They don't try to gloss over anything and provide references for further reading. I used this book as background for an inorganic synthesis project; I am using it for a one-semester inorganic class now (the book was designed for a two-semester class), and I will use it again when I take a higher class in inorganic chemistry.



4. This book was used in a class I nearly took in college; while I couldn't fit the course into my schedule, I kept the book.
   
   What the book does, it does well: for example, its coverage of the noble gases is quite extensive. It also does an excellent job covering acid/base chemistry, going into far more detail than any book I had seen to that point (although its approach tended to be descriptive and qualitative rather than quantitative).
   
   That said, there are some significant gaps in the book: for example, while there is a chapter on the halogens and noble gases, there are no corresponding chapters for the other element groups (though that doesn't mean they aren't treated).
   
   The biggest flaw in this book, though, is the woefully inadequate index: there are many, many things that should be listed, but aren't. For example, the book uses a certain type of diagram in three different chapters. Only the second and third instances, though, are listed in the index; the first time, where the diagrams are actually explained, is not listed at all. Similarly, there are very few entries for the elements themselves: there are no entries *at all* for hydrogen, iodine, copper, or calcium, just to name four.
   
   All in all, it's still a very good book, but it's by no means perfect (or the only book of its kind). Large sections of the book are written at a relatively advanced level, so I certainly wouldn't recommend this for someone who hasn't had a significant chemistry background, but I would recommend it for someone trying to build a reference library.



5. There are not alot of I-CHEM textbooks out there in the first place, and finding a decent one is even harder. This one, however, ranks among the decent ones. While it's not brand new, the concepts and explanations are applicable to the latest college I-CHEM class. I bought this book as an inexpensive supplement to my other I-CHEM textbook from Housecroft. This book helps to reinforce and explain some of concepts you might get in a book like Housecroft's in a little more depth.
   I will say, for those of you who might feel this is important, is that this textbook isn't full of color illustrations and graphs. It's all black and white graphs and print. To most this won't matter, but to some it makes the book too boring to read - so I thought I'd put that info in my review.

4 comments about Inorganic Chemistry (2nd Edition).

1. Excellent text and I have been trying to find a copy on it ever since I lost mine... Presents quite a bit of the subject in a very well thought out and organized way... If you ever get the chance, then sit down and take a good look. Serves as a great companion to Cotton and Wilk. "Basic Inorganic Chemistry" or those books...



2. I saw this browsing through a bookstore. First class all the way. I use it all the time as a professional research chemist. Really well organized.



3. I realize that this is supposed to be an introductory book, however it does not provide enough detail to be very useful in my 2nd year inorganic chem class. I am extremely disappointed by this since the book costs so much money. I wonder how much more it would cost if it was hardcover.
   
   It does have a good layout and bright pictures and colors though. I guess this is supposed to stimulate the brain or something.



4. Great introduction to inorganic chemistry.
   The first chapters introduce the theoretical concepts which will later be useful to describe the chemistry of the elements, and do so in a fool-proof way. The discussion is obviously not that detailed, but gets to the point.
   
   The best part of this book is however the one regarding the elements and their chemical behavior. Extremely educative the first time you see it, still very useful later on as a reference. The numerous references to how the elements find use in today's industrial world are a great source of information.
   The two chapters on catalysis and solid state chemistry are also valuable, albeit concise.
   The only book which may rival this one is Greenwood's, which isn't as good as this one as a learning text though.
   
   Weird the price is so high at amazon... i got it for half the price... new...

5 comments about Inorganic Chemistry (3rd Edition).

1. This is the book we are currently using for my post-pchem inorganic chemistry class, and I am not a fan of it. It seems to be an easy read, and for the most part, it is, but the diagrams, examples, and problems at the back of the book are not good at all. In my class, we get assigned the problems at the ends of the chapters, and while the first few are feasible and are similar to the examples shown in the book, after about the fifth problem, they become incredibly difficult. Some of the problems I am not quite even sure how the authors expect an undergraduate to solve. The diagrams so far have also been mediocre, especially in the chapter on molecular oribtals. Some of the molecular orbital diagrams were not labeled and not to scale making the energy differences in molecular orbitals very deceiving. This is not helpful when trying to understand the chapter.
   
   I think the book would be great if it covered more examples and covered more difficult examples, but without those, it's nearly impossible to fully grasp the concepts of each chapter.



2. This book seems to be the new standard for undergraduate inorganic chem. Came into use after I left university.
   
   For those reviewers who don't like this text there are some good, less well known options:
   
   1. Concise Inorganic Chemistry by J.D. Lee
   
   2. Inorganic Chemistry by Catherine Housecroft and Alan G. Sharpe
   
   3. Basic Inorganic Chemistry by F. Albert Cotton, Geoffrey Wilkinson, Paul L. Gaus
   
   4. Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry by Geoff Rayner-Canham, Tina Overton. A nice, easy read for a one semester, terminal course. Only 569 pages - 4th edition. Not the be-all and end-all of inorganic chem, though.
   
   5. Concepts and Models of Inorganic Chemistry by Bodie E. Douglas, Darl H. McDaniel, John J. Alexander
   
   Check out my other reviews for other chem books.



3. The book gets a little confusing at times. I am not sure if it's simply the topic of the way in which it was written



4. The answer key was often unhelpful, as it abbreviates or omits many parts that are key to understanding a solution. I found that the practice problems I could do from the textbook were limited by the answers I could actually follow. It is an exercise in understanding the authors' trains of thought, rather than the actual chemistry.



5. I suppose you could say the book covers a wide range of complicated material, but that's pretty much it. It's extremely convoluted, an explanations are generally very poor. I had to search Google for supplementary links that actually explained most of the major concepts.
   
   Not recommended.

5 comments about The Crystal Bible.

1. I've purchased many books on crystals in the past. The Crystal Bible is very complete with over 200 crystals featured, and it gives easy to understand explanations of how crystals are created, as well as how they do what they do. I would highly recommend this book.



2. ok, well the book is pretty and all, but it is monotone in the fact that it mainly focuses in stuff such as healing, sicknesses and chakras, it's doesn't tell u much about the magickal properties such as protection and luck.... everything was pretty science-ish souding, as she was a doctor, if you are into healing i highly recommened it but if you are like me and want some magick info get something else



3. This is a reference book and is written in precise language that describes each property very clearly. I use this book frequently and honestly don't know what I would do without it!



4. This book is one of the best I have used for identification of different crystals, and how they fit into our lives on emotional, physical, and spiritual levels. I literally use this book daily.



5. Anyone interested in learning about crystals should buy this book. Very informative and also helps with identification of crystals you may have.

5 comments about Gemstones of the World: Newly Revised & Expanded Third Edition.

1. This is a fantastic book. I learned a great deal reading this resource. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about gemstone origins, types of cut, crystal formation, or if you just want to look at the pretty pictures of all of the most beautiful stones in the world yet discovered.



2. Best book I've bought on gems. Tons of great color pics of rough and faceted stones. This should be the first book you buy on gems (I have about 6 of the top gem books and this one bests them all).



3. This book is by far the best single source for gemological data for the price, anywhere. Pictures are excellent too, more than the other books I have reviewed. The only thing that would make it better, is to make it larger.



4. This book on precious stones is brillant.I liked the quality and structure of the book.It's not a cheap paperback.Color photos and an abundant supply of them.Scientific data and historical background presented.It's ideal for those of us ,who are Reiki practitoners .This gem book is not Wicca related.Yet,it is quite facilitative for wiccans who use the healing stones and perform healing exercises.The depth of gemstone information is a farraginous mixture from almagest times until today.



5. I was expecting a bit more from this book! The reviews I read before purchasing this book all raved about how "complete" and "up to date" it was! It's obvious that the people responsible for those reviews don't have much experience in the Gemstone world! First off, the print in this book is FAR too small. The information is very crammed and the author barely brushes the surface when describing individual gemstones. There are also far too many gemstones left out of this book. Gemstone pictures represent about half of the book and are also very incomplete! If this book were larger (larger font), it would be far less crammed and much easier to read. If you are someone looking for a BASIC intro to Gemstones (the more popular ones), this book MAY suffice. However, if you are a Gemstone buyer, collector or hobbyist, this book will prove to be extremely incomplete. I'm really disappointed in the insufficient descriptions of individual gemstones and how crammed, small AND difficult to read, the text in this book proves to be.