This course looks at the diverse solid materials that make up most of our planet, many of our industrial resources and materials, and most of our precious gems. We will examine the nature of external and internal symmetry of crystals, chemical bonding and substitution in crystal lattices, physical properties, and crystal optics. Emphasis will be on the identification of minerals by physical, chemical, optical, and X-ray diffraction techniques.
SVG vector graphics files for figures I use in this course (native Inkscape)