 As always, it was fun reading the latest copy of the Mineralogical Record. Imagine my surprise, when I saw the advertisement by Excalibur Mineral Company mentioning the title above. This company is known worldwide for its immense and diversified mineral stock: more than 200.000 specimens of more than 3000 different species! It even made the hotlines in 1993, when it took over the company of Forrest and Barbara Cureton. Doing so, Excalibur became the world's foremost important source for rare mineral species. Besides, the company offers the possibility to have your personal finds analyzed (EDAX), interpreted and photographed (SEM) for a reasonable fee. In other words, when it comes to (rare) minerals, the staff of Excalibur knows what they are talking about. Knowing this, one can only agree they were the right people to create a CD-ROM that shows us more than the common minerals. The new Photographic Guide to Mineral Species (also known as the PG2MS) contains more than 5400 brand new photographs of 3065 species and 225 mineralogical varieties! In addition to the photographs, the CD contains a list of all the mineral names accepted by the IMA (last updated end 1998), and a very exhaustive index of localities. Thousands of hyperlinks were implemented between the photographs, the names and the localities... Lastly, to simplify and accelerate the use of the product, Netscape 4.5 is provided as a browser on the CD-ROM!  The only comparable work ever published on paper is the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Minerals. However, this work is out of date, and, being out of print, it is no longer available to the general public. Of course one wonders how this product compares to the CD-ROM Photo-Atlas of Minerals, published by the Gem & Mineral Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Well, I don't see them as competitors, and neither do their respective authors. The Photo-Atlas contains some 6500 photographs of a rather limited number of different minerals (a little over 800 species) and thus can be regarded as a good common mineral data source. The purpose of the PG2MS is to be a photographic reference for most of the minerals described (80% of all species!). Knowing that both the new DANA and the Handbook of Mineralogy do not contain any mineral photographs, this product surely fills a gap in the mineral media market. It was Dr. Jeffrey Weissman and co-author Anthony Nikischer who accomplished the gigantic task of making all these photographs and treating all corresponding data. After two years of intensive labor, they can be proud of the result. This publication really is a dream partner for the new DANA, the Handbook of Mineralogy, or even for the latest Fleischer's Glossary of Mineral Species! Mark my words, it will soon be a new classic, not to be missed on the desk of any serious (systematic) mineral collector! At first glance, US$ 73.95 (shipping and handling included, VAT to be added) might seem a lot for a CD-ROM on minerals. However, imagine all the painstaking work done to create such an extraordinary compilation. Thousands of mineral pictures only a few mouse clicks away! After all, who would mind paying two US cents for a good photograph of a rare mineral, hard to find anywhere else? Well, if you buy this CD-ROM, you don't even pay two cents a picture, and get all supplementary data for free! European collectors interested in a legal copy, please contact Herwig Pelckmans (pelckmans.h@js.mil.be) for more detailed information. Other collectors are invited to contact Excalibur Mineral Company directly through their web site: http://www.bestweb.net/~excalmin/PG2MSF.HTM For more detailed information on the Photo-Atlas, visit the web site: http://www.lam.mus.ca.us/pam/ |