A New Way to Classify Minerals 

A correspondent has sent me the link to THIS ARTICLE. It writes about the classification of minerals. The classification of minerals I learnt in the 1960's was based on the minerals structure, the method introduced in this article is based on how the mineral formed.

A common mineral such as pyritr has one structure but can form in twenty one different ways. The new classification considers how the mineral formed as being as important as its structure. Apparently there are fifty seven processes that can form minerals. Perhaps a text book will appear that treats minerals on the basis of their formative process

The article makes much of the fact that many minerals are formed as a result of life but this is not news to mineralogists! Learning about mineralogy on the basis of structure does not mean that one cannot appreciate how a particular mineral formed.

The bible of my mineralogy education.

(As an aside, my copy in 1965 cost me 45 shillings - £2.25. The current edition costs £67.53)