There are books which really pull together history and science and nature and people but I find this is just not one of them. For instance, did you know that there is a "Meat-Shaped Stone" on display in Taipei's National Palace Museum that looks exactly like a delicious piece of slow-cooked pork belly? Referencing science, history, chemistry, physics, literature, philosophy, and pop culture, Lapidarium is an extravagantly storied chamber of stones, the next best thing to having a secret sparkling cache of curios at your fingertips.

It’s a stunningly presented and designed book, with color-coordinated pictures and beautiful illustrations by artist Nicky Pasterfield for each stone, evoking the charming pictures in old geological and scientific publications.Beautifully illustrated with color-coding near the binding of each section of the author's selection of stones. We are reminded of the brave men and women charged and challenged with unearthing these prized minerals often with little to no reward. Not all the stories are happy - for instance, you'll learn about the past and present abuses involved in the coltan and coal mining industries - but they are such interesting introductions to all kinds of topics you might never have heard of. These are stories about rocks, it’s not a geological textbook, but I learned a hell of a lot on the way, mostly I learned how little I know about geology and how cool rocks are. The author, it seems, banks on the strengths of her background, and while the book promises to engage us with archeology, geology, mythology, literature, science, sociology and philosophy, any interesting cross-disciplinary facts are drowned out by the sheer volume of historical detailing.

Judah's pages are filled with eccentrics and inventors, with the obsessive pursuit of beauty, the hopeful constructions of belief and the thirst for progress and improvement. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. It is a series of essays, each with a different rock or mineral highlighted, that delves into history, geology, culture, or anthropology.

It's got history, art, science, anthropology, geology, archaeology, history of fashion, religion, culture, folklore, industrial history, and so much more. Hettie tells us short stories about each stone: from the paleolithic to the Playstation War, and from Elisabeth I to Imelda Marcos. And though I read this book straight through from start to finish, this is absolutely the sort of bibliomantic tome that one might flip through at random, choosing a chapter based on mood or whim: learn a weird rock fact, let it lodge in your brain like a wayward pebble in your shoe, and allow it to guide your energies for the day.

The moment I stopped reading, it literally left my head and I couldn't tell you a single thing that had been mentioned so far. My only complaint is I wish it had more illustrations and photos of these amazing objects and natural resources.Amongst these essays exploring how human culture has formed stone and, conversely, the roles stone has played in forming human culture, one will read of the Meat-Shaped Stone of Taiwan, a piece of banded jasper that resembles a tender piece of mouth-watering braised pork belly, There is the soap opera melodrama of Pele’s Hair, golden strands of volcanic glass, spun into hair-fine threads by volcanic gasses and blown across the landscape. I wanted to love it – I think there should be loads of books encouraging us to reconnect with the natural world, to come away with some general knowledge about our planet and our surroundings and how it's shaped human civilisation at large. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. This randomness does make it more interesting as amethyst is followed by cairngorm and tuff precedes turquoise.

I had to switch from the book version to the ebook because the print in the hardcover version is just too damned small for my eyes. As well as feeling good, it’s a beautifully presented book, with colours running through it, from the markers on the side to the muted colours in the depths near the spine.Find out how a Greek monster created coral , moon rock explains the history of Earth's only satellite and obsidian inspired the world's favourite computer game. There was nothing really wrong with this listen, it just didn't grab me and writing this review so far after the fact I don't feel that I retained much.