The Second Edition of this concise, clear, and handy-sized volume, highly respected and successful authors explain to the reader, with the help of 180 superb color photomicrographs, how to observe, describe and identify thin section samples of rocks and minerals using the polarising microscope. The book is aimed at the introductory undergraduate level and highlights important diagnostic features of minerals and deals with all rock types-- igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic--with equal emphasis and authority, giving students the knowledge and confidence to begin to identify specimens for...