Pick up a colorful, interestingly shaped rock or a shining crystal--do you realize that it tells a story about how the earth was formed? Every collector will want this ultimate handbook to sound and ecologically friendly ways of finding, collecting, identifying, cleaning, and storing the most interesting specimens. Over 250 color photos from all over the world and an identification directory will help you spot the differences between the many types of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks; they capture beautiful sliced and polished granite, gleaming green peridot, clay and shale, and conglomerate stones like the pebbled puddingstone. Plus: see some of the greatest monuments in rock, including Mount Rushmore and the Pyramids.