The soil is Missouri’s most valuable earth material. Hundreds to thousands of years of normal weathering are required to develop the rocks and minerals and texture of the inorganic fraction of the soil. We should preserve it and prevent disastrous soil erosion.
Aside from these more tangible values, a fascinating and instructive hobby can be made of collecting, arranging, and studying rocks and minerals. One gains a fuller understanding and appreciation of nature from their study. The orderliness, constancy, and interrelation within the rock and mineral “world” is a restful contrast to the one which man often keeps in turmoil. The beauty of a glistening crystal or a polished mineral or stone is as inspiring as a lovely flower, yet it lasts and lasts through centuries, a veritable “rock of ages.”
How to Know the Minerals and Rocks, by Pearl; publisher, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.
A Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals, by Pough; publisher, Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston.
Gemstones and Minerals: How and Where To Find Them, by Sinkankas; publisher, Van Nostrand, Princeton, New Jersey.
Look for paper back editions of these and other books which may be widely available.
The Common Fossils of Missouri, by A. G. Unklesbay, Missouri Handbook No. 4.
Magazines on Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils
Rocks and Minerals, Box, 29, Peekskill, N.Y.
Gems and Minerals, P.O. Box 687, Mentone, Calif.
The Mineralogist, P.O. Box 808, Mentone, Calif.
American Mineralogist, technical official publication of the American Mineralogical Society, Ann Arbor, Michigan, editorial office, Dept. of Mineralogy, University of Michigan.
Books on Mineralogy and Rocks (Technical)
Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy, by Hurlbut; publisher, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Dana’s Textbook of Mineralogy, by Ford; publisher, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Mineralogy, by Berry and Mason; publisher, Freeman & Co., San Francisco.
Rocks and Rock Minerals, by Knopf; publisher John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Guide to the Study of Rocks, by Spock; publisher, Harper & Co., New York.
Introduction to Geology, by Branson, Tarr, and Keller; publisher, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York City.
Introduction to College Geology, by Holmes; publisher, Macmillan, New York.