Dig Deeper: Minerals
Resource Guide
The Science History Institute’s Earthly Matters exhibition highlights the history of mined minerals and how their utility evolved over time. When you’re ready to learn more about minerals, the Othmer Library at the Science History Institute has you covered.
Use the buttons above to explore selected publications on minerals found in our library collection.
Monographs
Metallurgic Chymistry (1998)
A reprint of Christlieb Ehregott Gellert’s (1713–1795) original 1776 work, Metallurgic Chymistry is a comprehensive book on the subject of mineralogy and the arts that stem from it. The book covers metallurgy, the properties of minerals, their chemical composition, and their use in contemporaneous industries in the 18th century. Gellert, a chemist and metallurgist himself, was the first professor of chemical metallurgy at the Freiberg Mining Academy in Saxony, Germany. The academy was founded to educate highly skilled miners and scientists.
Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy
A classic work on mineralogy, James Dwight Dana’s (1813–1895) Manual of Mineralogy contains sections on crystallography, descriptive mineralogy, mineral uses, and determinative mineralogy. Dana was a geologist, mineralogist, volcanologist, and zoologist who studied the origin and structure of continents and oceans. The Othmer Library holds five editions of his seminal work.
X-Rays and Crystal Structure
William Henry Bragg (1862–1942) and his son William Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971) summarized the work for which they received the Nobel Prize in X-Rays and Crystal Structure. Bridging mineralogy and chemistry, their publication marked the transition from geometric models to atomic-scale structural mineralogy.
Rare Books
A Dictionary of Chemistry and Mineralogy
An Account of the Most Important Recent Discoveries and Improvements in Chemistry and Mineralogy to the Present Time: Being an Appendix to Their Dictionary of Chemistry and Mineralogy
English chemist Arthur Aikin (1773–1854) authored both the Dictionary of Chemistry and Mineralogy and its appendix, both of which can be found in the Othmer Library’s rare book collection. These works were written as a practical guide and are considered the premier dictionary on the subject of mineralogy during the Industrial Age. Aikin studied under Joseph Priestley and helped found the Geological Society of London in 1807.
A System of Mineralogy
In addition to the aforementioned editions of James Dwight Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy, the Othmer Library also holds Dana’s seminal A System of Mineralogy wherein he reorganized mineral species using a chemical classification that became the standard for handbooks and reference works.
The Mineral Kingdom (1859)
Johann Gottlob von Kurr (1798–1870) published Das Mineralreich in Bildern while he was a professor of mineralogy and botany at the Stuttgart Polytechnic Institute in 1858. Digitized in its entirety, this first edition translation of his work features a table of chemical elements, descriptions of various mineral groups, and 24 hand-colored lithograph plates depicting crystalline structures and mineral forms.
Journals
Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society
Mineralogical Magazine
Mineralogical Magazine is published by the Mineralogical Society of the U.K. and Ireland. Historically, the magazine covers the mineral sciences as well as environmental and economic geology. The Othmer Library holds several volumes from the mid-20th century.
Mineral’noe syr’e
Published throughout the 20th century, Mineral’noe syr’e was the Soviet-era title for its specialist journal on mineral raw materials. It functioned as a venue for applied research supporting industrialization and documented the research and operations of the Soviet mineral-resource establishment. The Othmer Library holds volumes published from 1930 to 1934.
Learn More
Explore the Othmer Library’s collection of mineralogy-related materials by searching our catalog by subject heading:
Minerals
Mineralogy
Have a question about our holdings? Reach out to a librarian or schedule a library appointment.
Featured image: Detail of Plate XVII: Nickel, Cobalt, Iron featuring illustrations of meteoric iron, from The Mineral Kingdom, 1859.