Customer Reviews:
A great find!.......2007-09-09
I was handed Pure Sea Glass:Discovering Nature's Vanishing Gems and asked to review it for an on line magazine I used to write for. Until then I had little or no interest in the bits of glass I occasionally picked up along the beaches visited in the course of my travels.
After reading the book,accomplished in one evening, I went looking for that jar of glass stashed somewhere in the garage and dumped it out on the table so that I could better sort through and identify the various colors and pieces, most new but some very old like a small lavendar triangle picked up along the Oregon Coast and a very dark blue from Hawaii.
Since, I've become an avid collector of beach glass and secret places to find it. What great fun! A good read, informative and totally satisfying.
Learning More About Sea Glass.......2007-08-10
Great book. The photographs were excellent and the information about the origin of sea glass and where it is most likely to appear on the beach was well presented. Our 14 year old enjoyed learning more about sea glass just as we did.
I plan to buy copies for all our coastal friends as house warming gifts this year.
Pure Sea Glass Book.......2007-08-06
I was pleased with the condition of the book when I received it. It was almost like new. Will certainly order more books.
A Real Joy To Read.......2007-06-02
Richard LaMotte did a wonder-filled job of putting together this informative and comprehensive book on sea glass. I honestly have enjoyed reading every page. I had no idea that there was so much history hidden in every piece of glass, and even though I have collected glass over the years, I never understood the relationship between winds and tides and the weather that deposits these beautiful little gems on our shores. Mr. LaMotte shares all this knowldege with such passion that reading his book not only feed my intellect but also inspired the beachcomber in me. And, the photographs are simply beautiful. Every image works to support as well as illustrate all the topics that are being discussed. The entire book is truly a piece of art in itself. I will read and re-read this book. It is a must for anyone and everyone who loves sea glass.
Comments on Pure Sea Glass..............2007-05-13
This book is lovely and interesting to read. It has fueled my passion for collecting more sea glass.
Product Description
365 Greek Word Studies for every day of the year to sharpen your understanding of God's Word.
Customer Reviews:
A Gem of a Book.......2007-10-01
This book is for anyone who thirst for more knowledge of the Word of God. It is incredible. Our western minds cant begin to comprehend many of the true intent of the scriptures.
This book opens your mind to the appropriate interpretation of so many scriptures. It makes God's word come ALIVE.
Fascinating Insights.......2007-09-28
Sparkling Gems provides fascinating insight into the deeper definitions of original Greek words; definitions that have too often fallen short with so many of the current simple Biblical translations. Renner brings the Word alive through these living-color, three-dimensional daily word studies. I use it as a daily devotional, appreciating the 2-3page length of each study (as opposed to brief paragraph or one-page dailies.) This book really is a "gem" for me.
remarkable.......2007-09-18
This book gives the reader great insight and dept what a ordinary reader misses when reading the New Tesrtament. I would reccommend it to any serious reasder of the New Testament. bill knibbe
This is an amazing book........2007-09-08
I so much appreciate this book. Using this as my daily devotional, along with my Bible reading, really brightens up the day. Really great incitful thoughts in every passage.
Insightful.......2007-09-01
This is one of the best books I've found for teaching me God's word.
I enjoy it everyday!
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding reference.......2007-10-07
The first half (28 chapters) of this book address the needs of the graphics programming master, or master-to-be. This goes way past the basics of GPU programming and language, and dives directly into solutions of demanding problems. This includes techniques for adding complexity to a visual environment at modest cost, real-time modeling of grass in the wind, softened shadows, and dozens of other aids for efficient and believable rendering. Some techniques address non-photorealistic techniqes as well. Together, they add a big handful of new tools to the toolbox of even advanced GPU developers. (Beginners: I'm sorry, but this isn't for you. Some day, just not today.)
I have to admit, though, my interest lies largely in the last 20 chapters. In this section, authors from university and industry research teams describe "GPGPU" - general processing on GPUs. This puts the incredible computing power of the GPU to use on tasks from linear algebra and differential equations to finance, computer vision, fluid flow, and medical imaging, instead of rendering viewable pictures. GPGPU promises huge performance increases over standard CPUs, but imposes huge barriers to realizing that promise. GPUs achieve their high performance by tailoring their physical architecture to a specific class of computations. That class is large, granted, but still covers only a tiny portion of today's compute-intensive tasks - and if your computation doesn't match the GPU model, you're just out of luck. These chapters offer tips'n'tricks for overcoming the architectural barrier, for rethinking applications in terms that GPUs can handle effectively.
GPGPU has been around for only a few years, largely as isolated acts of individual cleverness. No organized body of knowledge and practice exists for explointing this computational resource, and none seems likely to exist for some years to come. Every body of knowledge goes through that stage, "button collecting" of scattered, unrelated facts, the necessary elements from which larger patterns will some day be drawn. This collection, even if hit-or-miss for any one reader's needs, does its part to collect today's techniques and to disseminate that knowledge. Maybe some day, GPGPU will be as common and systematic as C programming is today - until then, anthologies like this are what we have, and this is a good one.
-- wiredweird
A comprehensive resource - but not for the novice.......2006-03-15
Truly Matt Pharr and NVIDIA are at the top of their game, and his "GPU Gems" series is certainly the only one of its kind for graphics professionals that are familiar with GPU's and shading languages already, and want to exploit them for the maximum speed and effect achievable using today's technology. It is not a "how-to" book on shading or GPUs or even advanced graphics. There are equations and code interspersed throughout the book, with bits of wisdom that are very instructive for the initiated. However, if you are a home-grown graphics programmer who knows C, or C++, or Java, and even some assembly language, plus you are familiar with image processing and computer graphics techniques, that will probably not be enough to get you through this book. I would say that this is a five star book for high-level professional graphics programmers who work with GPU specifics and shaders daily, and I would say it is a two or three star book for everyone else.
The one section of the book that is pretty accessible to anyone with knowledge of computer architecture and computer graphics would be section 4 of the book, which is about general purpose computation on GPU's themselves. That section has a series of articles that comprise an excellent tutorial on GPU's, what they are, and what they can do. It is the best material in print I have seen on the subject.
If you want a good introduction into the concept of writing shaders plus practice with an actual shading language, try "OpenGL Shading Language, 2nd Edition" by Rost, assuming you already know OpenGL. For a great on-line resource for modeling and graphics that will get you going in the right direction of knowing what the authors of these articles know, type "Elias Hugo" into Google and check out the first address shown. There is a wealth of on-line articles, complete with math and pseudocode, available there. Then, maybe, you will be ready to sift some knowledge from this "GPU Gems" series.
I notice that the table of contents is not shown by Amazon, so I list the articles here:
PART 1:GEOMETRIC COMPLEXITY
Towards Photorealism in Virtual Botany
Terrain Rendering using GPU-Based Geometry Clipmaps
Inside Geometry Instancing
Segment Buffering
Optimizing Resource Management with Multi-Streaming
Hardware Occlusion Queries Made Useful
Adaptive Tessellation of Subdivision Surfaces with Displacement Mapping
Per-Pixel Displacement Mapping with Distance Functions
PART 2:SHADING, LIGHTING, AND SHADOWS
Deferred Shading in STALKER
Real-Time Computation of Dynamic Irradiance Environment Maps
Approximate Bidirectional Texture Functions
Tile-Based Texture Mapping
Implementing the Mental Images Phenomena Renderer on the GPU
Dynamic Ambient Occlusion and Indirect Lighting
Blueprint Rendering and "Sketchy Drawings"
Accurate Atmospheric Scattering
Efficient Soft-Edged Shadows Using Pixel Shader Branching
Using Vertex Texture Displacement for Realistic Water Rendering
Generic Refraction Simulation
PART 3:HIGH-QUALITY RENDERING
Fast Third-Order Texture Filtering
High Quality Antialiased Rasterization
Fast Prefiltered Lines
Hair Animation and Rendering in the Nalu Demo
Using Lookup Tables to Accelerate Color Transformations
GPU Image Processing in Apple's Motion
Implementing Improved Perlin Noise
Advanced High-Quality Filtering
Mipmap Level Measurement
PART 4:GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTATION ON GPUS: A PRIMER
Streaming Architectures and Technology Trends
The GeForce 6 Series GPU Architecture
Mapping Computational Concepts to GPUs
GPU Computation Strategies and Tips
Implementing Efficient Parallel Data Structures on GPUs
Flow Control Idioms
GPU Program Optimization
Stream Reduction Operations for GPGPU Applications
PART 5:IMAGE-ORIENTED COMPUTING
Octree Textures on the GPU
High-Quality Global Illumination Rendering Using Rasterization
Global Illumination using Progressive Refinement Radiosity
Computer Vision on the GPU
Deferred Filtering: Rendering from Difficult Data Formats
Conservative Rasterization
PART 6:SIMULATION AND NUMERICAL ALGORITHMS
GPU Computing for Protein Structure Prediction
A GPU Framework for Solving Systems of Linear Equations
Options Pricing on the GPU
Improved GPU Sorting
Flow Simulation with Complex Boundaries
Medical Image Reconstruction with the FFT
Excellent Second Book in the GPU Gems Series.......2005-12-21
This book is the second installment of the GPU Gems book series by NVIDIA. Just like the first book, GPU Gems 2 is a collection of articles by various authors from game development companies, academia, and tool developers on advanced techniques for programming graphics processing units (or GPUs for short). It is aimed at intermediate to advanced graphics developers that are familiar with the most common graphics APIs. The reader should also be proficient in C++. As with the first GPU Gems book, GPU Gems 2 is not for beginners. For professional graphics and game developers, however, it is an excellent collection of interesting techniques, tips, and tricks.
The book is divided into six parts, each dealing with a different aspect of GPU programming. Compared to the first book, more emphasis is put on the quickly evolving area of general-purpose computation on GPUs (also called GPGPU). In particular, the last three of the six parts of the book are about GPGPU and its applications. The first three parts, however, are about real-time computer graphics.
The first part of the book contains 8 chapters on photo-realistic rendering that mostly deal with how to efficiently render a large number of objects in a scene, which is a necessity for rendering convincing natural effects, such as grass or trees. Two chapters in this part of the book discuss geometry instancing and segment buffering, and another chapter focuses on using occlusion queries to implement coherent hierarchical occlusion culling.
Other interesting topics in this part of the book include adaptive tessellation of surfaces on the GPU, displacement mapping - an extension to the popular parallax mapping used in some current games - that allows to render realistic bumps on a simple quad, and terrain rendering with geometry clipmaps.
Part two of the book consisting of 11 chapters deals with shading and lighting. This part contains highly interesting chapters on deferred shading in the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and computing irradiance environment maps on the GPU in real-time. Furthermore, this part of the book has chapters on rendering atmospheric scattering, implementing bidirectional texture functions on the GPU, dynamic ambient occlusion culling, water rendering, and using shadow mapping with percentage-closer filtering to achieve soft shadows.
The third part of the book consists of 9 chapters on high-quality rendering. Most chapters in this part deal with implementing high-quality filtering in fragment shaders. For example, there is an interesting chapter on filtered line rendering and another chapter on cubic texture filtering. Finally, a GPU-only implementation of improved Perlin Noise is also presented in this part of the book.
The chapters in the fourth part of the book represent an introduction to the fantastic field of GPGPU. The 8 chapters of this part first describe the general streaming architecture of GPUs, and then move on to show how to map conventional CPU data structures and algorithms to the GPU. For example, textures can be regarded as the GPU equivalent to CPU data arrays. There is also a chapter on how to implement flow-control idioms on the GPU and a chapter on optimizing GPU programs.
The 6 chapters of part five of the book are on image-oriented computing and describe a number of GPGPU algorithms for performing global illumination computations, for example by using radiosity, on the GPU. There is also a chapter on doing computer vision on the GPU
The final chapter in this part of the book explains how to perform conservative rasterization, which is important for some GPGPU algorithms to achieve accurate results.
The final part of the book has 6 chapters that present GPGPU techniques to perform a variety of simulation and numerical algorithms on the GPU. One chapter shows how to map linear algebra operations onto the GPU and develops a GPU framework to solve systems of linear equations. In other chapters the GPU is used for protein structure prediction, options pricing, flow simulation, and medical image reconstruction. These chapters show good examples of how the GPU can be used for non-graphics-related tasks.
The book contains many illustrations and diagrams that visualize the results of certain techniques or explain the presented algorithms in more detail. All images in the book are in color, which is definitely advantageous for a graphics book. In my opinion, the excellent quality and also the quantity of images and illustrations is one of the strongest points of this book compared to other graphics books.
The book also comes with a CD-ROM with supplemental material, videos, and demo applications to some chapters. Most of the applications include the full source code, which makes it easy to experiment with the techniques presented in the book. Note that most of the applications run on Windows only and many of them require a shader model 3.0 graphics card.
I highly recommend this book to any professional working as graphics or game developer. It is a valuable addition to my library of graphics books and I will come back to a number of articles in the near future. The focus on GPGPU in the second half of the book is a welcome addition and we can expect to see more and more non-graphics-related applications make use of the processing power in today's GPUs.
Pretty pictures.......2005-06-15
This book is targeted at people who have a good solid grasp of either OpenGL or D3D as well as a grounding in programming languages such as C/C++ or Java. While this much is obvious, the book is still painfully difficult to get anything useful out of.
The problem amounts to the fact that there is no cohesion between chapters - each one is written by a different author (and clearly they have not read each other's material) - there is no reference or introduction but worst of all, no common terms.
Example; What D3D calls a "pixel shader", OpenGL call "fragment shader", but there are also "vertex shader", "vertex program", "pixel program" and "fragment program"... some of these are the same thing while others are wildly different, but I found at least 4 references in this book to what I could only make sense of by substituting another term (the correct one). Each author has written their part from their own view point using their own terms.
The code snippets contained rarely have any comments or even descriptions of how they work.
Overall I generally felt like I was either reading someone's thesis or a marketing spiel about a particular aspect of some game.
There are many pretty pictures though.
A Focus on Hardware Optimization.......2005-06-01
"GPU Gems 2" edited by Matt Pharr (Addison-Wesley, 2005, ISBN 0-321-33559-7) is a collection of forty-eight white papers that detail cutting edge techniques based on today's latest graphical processing units (GPU). The full color hardcover text is 784 pages and includes a CD-ROM with working demos and source for some of the articles presented in the book. The text retails for $59.99.
The book is divided into six parts: geometric complexity, shading, high-quality rendering, general purpose computation on the GPU, image oriented computing, and numerical algorithms. A part has anywhere from five to twelve chapters. Each chapter is written by a different author but the format and style is consistent. The chapters have an introduction, discussion of the problem or technique, conclusion, and references. The material is presented with color illustrations and occasionally some pseudo-code or code fragments. Generally, the material is extremely current and very approachable to read.
As a sequel to its well received predecessor, the text focuses on taking advantage of the computational power and features of today's high-powered GPU boards. The first part of the book, geometric complexity, emphasizes this with chapters dedicated to batch rendering, using multi-streaming, hardware occlusion, and displacement pixel-shaders. Each chapter illustrates how operations traditionally performed on the CPU can be moved into the GPU for efficiency and greater effect.
The subsequent two parts on shading and rendering continue along the same theme: improved performance by using hardware functionality found on the GPU. Each topic considers the performance ramifications and GPU capabilities when discussing the problem domain of a rendering technique and factors it into the final solution. For example, chapter 10 considers irradiance environment maps for fast lighting - but with a twist - using the GPU to do the calculations in real-time. In doing so, the book's real value becomes apparent.
The fourth part on general purpose GPU computation is an interesting addition to the text. The chapters illustrate methods of offloading traditional CPU tasks by exploiting the inherent parallel nature of modern GPU hardware. Since the book features Nvidia hardware, the architecture and performance capabilities largely focused on their products.
In the fifth part of the book, hardware assisted image creation and analysis is considered. By using context clues from the spatial, texture, or lighting data - additional refinements can be made to a scene prior to rasterization. The topics presented in this part are further refinements of the text's main theme (using the GPU fully) and are specific solutions to uncommon problems - or approaches to rasterization. None the less as GPUs continue to evolve, the topics presented in this section will undoubtedly become more common.
Finally, the sixth part of the book provides several non-traditional graphics examples to illustrate calculating data on the GPU: solving linear equations, options pricing, and numerical simulation - just to name a few. As using the raw floating point power of modern GPU is a growing trend - these sections were quite interesting and well done.
The included CD-ROM contains examples to 28 of the 48 articles in the book. In most cases, the example material includes source code as well as pre-compiled binaries to help illustrate the topic presented in the text. In order to run the majority of the samples, Cg must be installed on the host computer. In addition, the CD-ROM provides access to Nvidia's software development kit, Cg toolkit, performance tools, and several helpful reference links to on-line sites.
GPU Gems 2 provides a cutting edge view of the capabilities found in today's video cards. The selected articles illustrate that every part of the rendering process can be enhanced in some fashion by fully using the underlying hardware. As such, this book is essential to anyone working with modern GPUs.
Book Description
The world's fascination with the Russian imperial family endures, and with this stunning book a new spotlight is added. Jewels of the Tsars, the first book to examine the family's unparalleled collection, is illustrated with extraordinary photographs taken under special conditions at the Kremlin's Diamond Fund, and accompanied by 18th- and 19th-century portraits and photographs of the Tsars, their families, and their court. Prince Michael of Greece, a Romanoff descendant, writes with an insider's knowledge of his family's passion for rare and beautiful jewels, and their place in the troubled history of Imperial Russia.
Customer Reviews:
Dont expect to much.......2007-10-10
This book wasn't very expensive but it wasn't that good either. If you collect jewelry books like me you will already have all the pictures. If you are buying other books at this price it may be worth an add on but dont expect to much. The photos are of medium quality and the text is poor.
Lovely Book, not enough!.......2007-07-16
The Romanov ladies, dressed for a court function, dripped precious gemstones from top to toe, each Grand Duchess trying to outdo another in grandeur. Most of that jewelry has been lost, sold, the stones removed. Those who escaped the Revolution were lucky if they managed to take a small collection of their jewels with the, and most had to sell what they brought into exile to support themselves -- after they had written and sold their memoirs, that is. The memoirs of those who saw the Russian court in all its splendour, however, make it clear that the jewelry shown in this book doesn't begin to give one an idea of what the jewelry of the Romanov court ladies was like, though it tries admirably. I, too, would love to see a book on all the jewels of the Romanov ladies -- it might be impossible to find the information now, but the Soviet government apparently does still have some of the pieces left behind.
What is "different" about this book........2007-07-13
The pictures are, of course, beautiful, and show fabulous jewelry. However, what I enjoyed the most was the background information that the author was able to give. Since he is related to most of the royal families of europe, he has unusual access to jewelry, paintings, historical records and inside information. For anyone interested in the time of Imperial Russia, this book does not disappoint. At least one of my friends has also bought this book on my recommendation. I would also suggest this author's book "The Crown Jewels of Europe. If you can find it.
Wow great visual of the jewelry of the romanov's.......2007-05-08
I was really blown away by the pictures of the Jewels, especially the cherry earrings for the new Brides, I had read about these earrings but it is nothing to actually seeing how large the stones really are. Good historical pictures with various pieces. A wonderful index for the historian trying to get a handle on the lifestyle of the upper classes and the royalty of russia before the revolution.
Stunning.......2007-04-13
I highly recommend this book. The photography was perfect and the text was just right.
Customer Reviews:
A handy quick reference guide that is easy to use........2007-09-03
I fear that I am a bit of a magpie. I like shiny sparkly things, and the usual response is Ooooh! Shiny! And as a young one, when taken on various trips, I started to take an interest in rockhounding and geology. It was finding gemstones that were the real fun, seeing these little bits of glittery rock that turned out to be sapphires or amethysts or garnets. Life would take me in different directions, but the interest in pretty, glittery rocks has remained.
Smithsonian Handbooks: Gemstones is one of those lovely little books that is crammed full of information and pictures, along some folklore and bits of trivia that add to the mystique of gemstones. Compiled by Cally Hall, it's a very readable book, filled with more than 800 photographs, with a text that while it is slanted towards scientific terms, is very readable and accessable.
The first section of the book is an extended introduction to what makes a gemstone different than say, a mineral, although they might be composed of the same chemicals. A brief history of how gemstones and precious metals (silver, gold and platinum) have been shaped, worn and coveted. One section that I found very intesting was the explaination of the Mohs scale used to determined hardness -- it ranges from 1 to 10, with talc at the bottom, and diamond at the top, and how a stone is determined to fit in along the scale. Another fascinating section is how light and crystallization help to determine gemstones, and what part they play in how a stone is shaped and graded. There is also a section on synthetic gemstones and how they have been created over the centuries, and how the colour of stones can be changed by irradiation, heating and staining the stones. Finally, the section closes with a colour key, ranging various stones by their hues, with plenty of vivid pictures and the name of each stone underneath along with the page that goes into more detail about it.
The next section deals with the gemstones and precious metals in particular. Each item is classified into Precious Metals, Cut Stones, and Organics -- and each item is given a page or two that goes into further detail. Stones are given their chemical composition, rating on the Mohs scale, crystal structure, some folklore and history, what sort of cuts that the stones are usually shaped into, and lots of photographs.
It here in the photographs that the book sells itself. They are unusually clear, and crisply printed, with each gemstone being shown in a variety of ways. There is jewelry, different colours that the stone can occur in, and a few shown in their 'matrix' or the surrounding stone and minerals that the gemstones are usually found in their natural state. One of the more intriguing sections is on what are known as Organic Gemstones -- stones that are created by natural, not chemical, occurances, such as pearls, jet, coral, ivory, shell and amber.
The final sections include a table of properties, glossary, index, and some useful addresses to contact if you find that you want to find out more.
The binding is very sturdy, the printing very clean and crisp with the design well-thought out that flows easily from page to page. It is designed to stand up to quite a bit of use, with a spine that will not crack, and heavier than usual paper stock, and the quality is top notch.
Packed into less than a 160 pages, this is a wonderfully priced little book that gives a quick, informative and lively look at gemstones. While it's certainly not a perfect book, and is mostly designed to help the reader figure out what a stone may or may not be -- only a trained gemologist can tell you what it really is -- it's a fun way to start learning. The price was extremely reasonable, less than 10$US, although the cover price is listed as 20$US. It would make a perfect book for adding to a home library, or as a gift to the budding rockhound in your family.
Five solid stars. Recommended.
Gemstones Handbook.......2007-08-14
Great Book...full of useful information. The pictures really give you an indepth but brief description of the item discussed. This book is absolutely essential to the amature hobby collectors out there.
Good Gemstone reference book.......2007-08-13
Great book for those wanting to know the basics about gemstones. The pictures are wonderful and the tidbits are interesting.
Another great DK book.......2007-06-30
I bought this book for my [...] son after we spent an afternoon panning for gemstones in Breckinridge, CO. The bookseller recommended several choices, but the DK book seemed the most kid-friendly. He likes the pictures the best, and enjoyed showing his younger cousins the various stones.
Lovely Reference.......2007-06-29
I bought this for my 7-yr. old daughter - budding rock hound and naturalist! Like other DK books, the photography is luscious and the layout is casual and very inviting - full of beautiful images.
It provides a great overview and history of gemstones and their appeal, where specific stones can be found and appealing photographs of the different cuts of stones. It also provides detailed "specifics" such as structure, composition and hardness.
This is a thoroughly engaging book for all ages and it is highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- Essential Reference for Consumers, Hobbyists, Jewelers Interested in Gemstones.
- Valueable book for gem id
- Needs More Detail
- Great Gem Guide
- You NEEDThis Book...
|
Gem Identification Made Easy, Third Edition: A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling
Antoinette L . Matlins , and
Antonio C. Bonanno
Manufacturer: Gemstone Press
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Gemstone Buying Guide, Second Edition: How to Evaluate, Identify, Select & Care for Colored Gems
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Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks)
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Colored Gemstones, 2nd Edition: The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy, Care for & Enjoy Sapphires, Emeralds, Rubies and Other Colored Gemstones
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Gemstones of the World: Newly Revised & Expanded Third Edition
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The Jeweler's Directory of Gemstones: A Complete Guide to Appraising and Using Precious Stones From Cut and Color to Shape and Settings
ASIN: 0943763347 |
Book Description
New, revised, expanded edition of the first and only book of its kind. Covers the latest gems, synthetics, treatments, and instruments. Easy to use. Practical. Non-technical. Shows how to identify diamonds, colored gemstones, and pearls, and separate them from fakes and look-alikes. Explains what instruments are needed, how to use them, where to get them, and what should be seen for each gemstone.No science background necessary.Faster than you can imagine, anyone can learn to identify most of the gems and imitations found in the marketplace. This practical volume is the key to avoiding costly mistakes and recognizing profitable opportunities. Essential reading for collectors, investors, jewelry lovers, hobbyists, jewelers, antique dealers, and gemology students. With this highly accessible guide, anyone can begin to master gem identification.Selected Contents:Setting up a basic lab.Description of Each Instrument: What It Will Show & How to Use It.Dark Field Loupe - Synthetic Emerald Filters - Immersion Cell - Synthetic Diamond Detector - Loupe - Chelsea Filter - Electronic Diamond Tester - Refractometer - Ultraviolet Lamp - Microscope - Spectroscope - Polariscope - DichroscopeWhat to Look For, Gem by GemAntique & Estate Jewelry - The True Test for the Gem Detective.Dyeing - Composite Stones - Foil Backing - SubstitutionsAppendices: Charts and Tables of Gemstone Properties, Schools, Laboratories, and more.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Reference for Consumers, Hobbyists, Jewelers Interested in Gemstones........2007-07-18
"Gem Identification Made Easy" opens up the world of gem identification to the jeweler, hobbyist and the curious. I didn't come away with the impression that gem identification is easy, but that some kinds of identification are easy, inexpensive and FUN! Antoinette Matlins makes it clear that the bar to entry into gemology is low. Practice, diligence, and three small instruments that cost less than $200 will enable you to identify 80% of colored gemstones and their look-alikes as well as diamonds and most of their imitations. Since there are at least 3 different gemstones on the market in every color and no shortage of synthetics and enhancement treatments, the skills within the pages of "Gem Identification Made Easy" are invaluable to anyone shopping for gemstones. If gems fascinate you, this book will help you discover if you would like to pursue gemology as a career or serious hobby.
The bulk of "Gem Identification Made Easy" are descriptions of the instruments involved in gem identification, detailed instructions on how to use each, and what they can show you, including many charts which will help you identify stones. The 3 essential instruments that everyone will need are: loupe, Chelsea filter, and dichroscope. The loupe magnifies the stones, revealing inclusions, blemishes, and fillers. The Chelsea filter differentiates between some gems and synthetics. The dichroscope distinguishes single-refracting stones from double-refracting and allows identification of stones by the colors they exhibit. In addition, Ms. Matlins provides instructions for additional tools that one would need to set up a lab: UV lamp, refractometer, microscope. Less essential: spectroscope, polariscope, and immersion cell. For diamonds: SSEF diamond-type spotter and electronic diamond tester. These could cost nearly $3000, but shopping on eBay will bring the price tag down.
The author also dedicates a chapter to "Antique and Estate Jewelry", in which she discusses imitation and alteration techniques frequently found in antique and period jewelry. She advises on how to detect them and includes tables of synthetics and imitations, when they appeared on the market, and characteristics that will help identify them. This is followed by many useful Appendices: a list of gems and look-alikes by color, gem hardness, specific gravities, refractive index tables, tables of dispersion and birefringence, glossary of terms, list of organizations offering gemology workshops or training, equipment suppliers. These are in addition to the many tables and lists in the instrument chapters. Color photos are limited to a center insert, where there are photos of gemstone inclusions and a few other identifying features. "Gem Identification Made Easy" is an easy to understand, practical entry to the fascinating world of gemstones.
Valueable book for gem id.......2007-05-24
Love it so much. A lot of information. This book will teach you how to setup a lab and making identificaiton of the gemstone without attending the gemology school - with very very reasonable price.
Needs More Detail.......2007-04-04
The book was good for a primer on gem tools and iidentification but lacked the detail I was seeking. It is an very good book for the beginner for it covers a lot of subjects about gem and the various tools used to identify them. I was seeking more exact detail and this book did not have it.
Great Gem Guide.......2007-03-31
Whether you're a beginner or advanced gemoligst, this useful guide will help you navigate the world of gemstones.
You NEEDThis Book..........2007-02-27
There are at least 3 dozen gemstone ID or how to buy the perfect gem books on my shelves. The three that sit next to the computer are Walter Schumann's Gemstones of World and two by Antoinette Matlins - Gem ID Made Easy and Color Gemstone Buying Guide. As a Jewelry Design, Lapidary and Gemology student I am always reaching for for one or the other. Thanks Antoinette we always get your best effort!!!
Average customer rating:
- Gemstones of the world
- Gemstones of the World
- Great book, tiny print...
- Best overall gemstone book ever
- Gemstone trader's bible
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Gemstones of the World: Newly Revised & Expanded Third Edition
Walter Schumann
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1402740166 |
Book Description
Gemstones of the World is truly the single volume that every hobbyist, jeweler, jewelry maker, and rockhound needs: it’s the cornerstone of the field. And this updated edition contains a host of new findings on “Gemstones for Collectors,” additional gems in the “Table of Constants,” and the “double fraction” figures that experts have long wanted—a very special new feature.
All the gemstones are treated in their many variations: more than 1,500 full-color photos showcase each precious and semiprecious stone in both its rough, natural, and its polished and cut renditions. Each entry offers complete information on the gemstone’s formation, structure, physical properties, and characteristics, along with the best methods of working, cutting, and polishing it. There are even full treatments of lesser-known gems, from andalusite to vesuvian, and a special section is devoted to rocks as precious stones, including alabaster, onyx, obsidian, and fossils. Organic gem materials are also covered, such as coral, ivory, amber, and pearl. Charts and tables help collectors identify unknown gemstones and check for genuineness.
Customer Reviews:
Gemstones of the world.......2007-09-21
This is a very informative book with some good pictures, especially for the beginner who is learnig about gemstones. I read and reference it often. I am very pleased with this book and I look forward to using it for a long time.
Gemstones of the World.......2007-09-12
I use it all the time. It has answered all of my questions. Great book.
Great book, tiny print..........2007-08-31
I so want to read this book but every time I try I get a headache because the print is so tiny, and that is with my reading glasses on. Otherwise a very interesting book!
Best overall gemstone book ever.......2007-08-08
I bought the 2001 edition several years ago and found it indispensable at the jewelry store where I worked. Now that I'm getting into the nitty gritty of the Graduate Gemologist program at the GIA, I'm quite pleased to find an updated version available. I expect I'll be taking this to school with me to replace several large, ungainly lab manuals that haunt my desk.
This book makes a great cornerstone for any gem library. I own many gem guides and encyclopedias twice the size and weight of this while containing considerably less information. This one has the most complete collection of information and pictures I've seen anywhere at an astonishingly diminutive size. If you plan to buy only one gem book in your lifetime, I highly recommend this one.
Gemstone trader's bible.......2007-07-28
I dabble in gemstones - buying and selling from Brazil, Colombia and other countries. Schumann's book is a bible - an essential reference with a very accessable layout, excellent and concise information. Rarely do I need to seek other sources when researching stones.
Book Description
Welcome to the sixth volume of the Game Programming Gems series. With team sizes constantly expanding, developers are finding themselves pushed to become increasingly specialized. This makes it important to have cutting-edge, ready-to-use material in your specialization, as well as resources that you can call upon if you need to work outside your area of expertise. Volume 6 has been explicitly designed with your current challenges in mind. With the new generation of machines, players expect higher-fidelity models and animations, fancier physics and graphics effects, and more intelligent AI. All of these capabilities require robust teams and longer schedules, so to help ensure that your games are still delivered on time and on budget, you'll find 50 all new articles written by experts in game technology from many different backgrounds and over twenty countries. This volume also includes a brand new section dedicated to Scripting and Data-Driven Systems, which is focused entirely on the growing trend of removing the programmer from the data-tweaking loop. So, whether you're a new game programmer starting out on this exciting path, a grizzled, industry veteran, or a most welcome visitor, we hope that you will find inspiration, insight, and at least one or two true gems to use in your world!
Customer Reviews:
watch this trend.......2007-04-16
One interesting feature of this book on game programming is how graphics does NOT dominate the discussion. Most books on the subject are chock-a-block with every graphics tip you could imagine. But Dickheiser does not write for the novice. He has gathered a set of papers (chapters) that try to delineate the research boundary. It is a measure of the rising maturity of the field, and the complexity of many games, that graphics is relatively deprecated.
Though I hasten to add that there are still the pretty colour plates of renderings, and several chapters on these methods.
Why is the book symptomatic of the changing trends? In part because graphical methods are starting to saturate. The techniques are now good enough for near-photorealistic impressions. If you look carefully at the non-graphics chapters, you see that they tackle non-trivial problems arising from evermore intricate games. One instance is the use of AI-style decision making methods for how a game proceeds. When well coded, it can give behaviour of characters that is more intelligent, hence yielding a more interesting game. Another chapter looks at the learning process in AI, where a player might change strategies. Here, the research use of Support Vector Machines is suggested as apropos for commercial game development.
Professionally, you should pay attention to the book for the trend it exemplifies. You probably got into game programming because you were attracted by the graphics. But as graphics methods peak, the value added aspect of games is starting to shift towards the story line and how elaborate is the game logic.
Good bag of tricks for advanced game programmers.......2006-04-05
This is the latest volume in the game programming gems series that is now six years old. This book, like the others in the series, is a collection of articles written by industry experts for the advanced game programmer. Because it covers so much ground with little or no background information, I doubt that one reader will be able to appreciate the whole book. The book comes with a CD that has source code for all of the articles, which is very helpful.
I'm a multimedia programmer rather than a game programmer, and I found quite a few nuggets in this edition. Among them was the article on using OpenCV, which is the open source computer vision library, and also the article on CPPUnit, which can be used for unit testing of any type of software, not just games. The section on math and physics was the least helpful. It either set the bar too low with easy articles like "How to do floating point faster than hardware", or set the bar too high with difficult terse articles such as "Real-Time Particle-Based Fluid Simulation". However, if you are into game physics, this section might be something you really enjoy. In the AI section, it seemed like I had seen most of the material before. The last article though was really unique - "Constructing a Goal-Oriented Robot for UnrealTournament Using Fuzzy Sensors, Finite-state Behaviors and Behavior Networks". This is an outstanding article for those interested in robots in games. The whole section on scripting was worthwhile. I especially enjoyed the Script language survey at the front of the section, since this is a moving target with many languages to choose from. The graphics section is quite advanced, and unless "Realtime Rendering" seems like light bedtime reading to you, most of the articles will probably not make much sense. My favorite section of the book was the one on audio for two reasons. First, most game programming books ignor this subject entirely. Second, it is hard to find readable books or articles on the subject with the effects presented in plain language as this section did in all five articles. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here:
SECTION 1 GENERAL PROGRAMMING
Introduction 1.1 Game Object Component System 1.2 Closest- String Matching Algorithm 1.3 Implementing Lock-Free Algorithms 1.4 Computer Vision in Games using the OpenCV library 1.5 Using CPPUnit to implement unit testing 1.6 Visualizing Performance Data 1.7 Faster Loading with Access-Based File Reordering 1.8 Stay in the Game: Asset Hotloading for Fast Iteration 1.9 Geographic Grid Registration of Game Objects 1.10 Real-Time Continuous Profiling 1.11 Fingerprinting Prerelease Builds to Deter and Detect Piracy 1.12 The Dynamic Actor Layer
SECTION 2 MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS
Introduction 2.1 Efficient Sequence Indexing 2.2 How to do floating point faster than hardware. 2.3 Solving linear systems by using the cross product 2.4 Real-Time Particle-Based Fluid Simulation 2.5 Exact Buoyancy for Polyhedra
SECTION 3 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Introduction 3.1 Designing a Multi-layer Pluggable AI Engine Framework 3.2 Smart Scene Load Management using Fuzzy Logic 3.3 Achieving coordination with autonomous NPC's 3.4 Using a Quantified Judgment Model for Engagement Analysis 3.5 Short-term memory using support vector machine (SVM) 3.6 Applying Model-Based Decision-Making Methods to Games 3.7 Constructing a Goal-Oriented Robot for UnrealTournament Using Fuzzy Sensors, Finite-state Behaviors and Behavior Networks
SECTION 4 SCRIPTING SYSTEMS
Introduction 4.1 A Script language survey 4.2 Managing High-Level Scripts Execution within 4.3 Automatic Function Binding for Game Scripting and Networking 4.4 Programming advanced control mechanisms with Lua coroutines 4.5 Binding C/C++ objects to Lua
SECTION 5 GRAPHICS
Introduction 5.1 Automatic Realistic Idle Motion Synthesis for Interactive Characters" 5.2 GPU Terrain Rendering 5.3 Rendering Road Signs Sharply 5.4 Interactive Fluid Dynamics and Rendering on the GPU 5.5 Spatial Partitioning using an Adaptive Binary Tree 5.6 Enhanced Object Culling with (Almost) Oriented Bounding Boxes 5.7 Fast per-pixel lighted scenes with a high number of lights 5.8 Efficient Sky Rendering Techniques 5.9 High Dynamic Range Rendering using OpenGL Frame Buffer Objects 5.10 Skin Splitting for Optimal Skin Rendering
SECTION 6 AUDIO
Introduction 6.1 Real- Time Sound Generation From Deformable Meshes 6.2 Volume Control Through Chained Busses 6.3 Faking Real-time DSP Effects 6.4 A lightweight oscillator for ambient sound generation 6.5 Cheap Doppler effect
SECTION 7 NETWORKING AND MULTIPLAYER
Introduction 7.1 Complex High-Level Systems 7.2 Reliable Peer-to-Peer Gaming Connection Penetrating Firewall and NAT 7.3 Massively Multiplayer Online Prototype (MMOP): Utilizing Second Life for Game Concept Prototyping 7.4 Dynamically Adaptive Streaming of 3D Data for Animated Characters 7.5 Generating globally unique identifiers for game objects About the CD-ROM
Index
Programming Tips from the Pros.......2006-04-04
Intended for the intermediate to advanced game programmer, this is a book that will literally have something for everyone. It contains fifty-two 'gems' that is, articles on how to some particular aspect of game programming. Sophisticated game programming is probably the most complex programming there is. And this book goes into some pretty sophisticated programming details.
For instance:
1.2 Using Multicore Processors - New software that facilitates programming to make the most effective use of dual/triple core CPUs.
2.5 - Exact Buoyancy for Polyhedra - Your game character has built a raft. How does it look like it's floating realistically?
5.9 - Practical Sky Rendering - The sky is so simple, unless, of course you want it to look real. ==There is no question that the main driving force for faster computers is to make for more realistic gaming. And the faster computers allow more sophisticated programming to be done to make the grass wave realistically.
This is probably not a book you're going to sit down and read from cover to cover. You'll probably scan through and read the ones that are applicable to just what you need to do next. But then in a couple of weeks, in a couple of months....
Book Description
This is the definitive guide for all campers, hikers, and outdoor adventurers, including:
- First aid and wilderness medicine
- Building shelter and making fire
- Hunting and trapping
- Pocket survival kit
- Disaster preparedness
Customer Reviews:
Great!.......2007-09-20
I love survival and have a ton of survival references. I have both the "Survival Handbook" and the "Survival Guide", by Lofty. The Handbook is by far the best reference I have found. Most other survival books are just knock-offs of old Army survival manuals. The Guide is an abreviated version of the Handbook. The Guide is an excellent size to carry with your survival kit. Most of what is cut out of the Guide is foundation to make for easier reading and is not very noticable unless you actually compare each book side-by-side. There are a few exceptions. To save space, some of the pictures of useful plants that are in the Handbook are missing from the Guide.
Overall, a solid buy!
EVERY ONE SHOULD OWN THIS........2007-08-18
I recently moved back to Oregon after being away for 20 years or so and am now very passionate about hiking and nature.While I am not by any means a risk taking hiker I wanted to feel more secure in my surroundings.
This is a great LITTLE book that is easily carried in a backpack and it is packed with all sorts of useful information on outdoor survival.When you read about people that die because they got stuck in the snow it's a wake up call that you should know what to "just in case". May I also reccomend that parents should buy their children WILLY WHITEFEATHER'S OUTDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK and THE RIVER BOOK they are both excellent books for teaching children outdoor survival skills. The outdoors shouldn't be a scary place and there is no reason for people to die because they are lost or stranded after all the wilderness was our ancestors home!
Comprehensive Manual .......2007-08-02
This strong booklet is a well illustrated comprehensive manual of all the things you have learned as a boy scout. It concentrates on the essentials, is very useful and to the point. It helps to behave intelligently when outdoors.
Peace of mind is worth 5 stars!.......2007-06-20
When I bought the SAS Survival Guide, I was looking for a book that would help me gain some knowledge about what to do in certain survival situations along with some interesting tidbits. I initially was upset when I saw the size of the guide (my fault, no one else's) but I eventually came to realize that the size of the guide was perfect for what I needed it for.
So what's to like about this book? There's a TON of great information in this book. The major topics are:
Essentials
Climate & Terrain
Food
Camp Craft
Reading the Signs
On the Move
Survival at Sea
Rescue
Health
Disaster Strategies
There's a wealth of information in between these topics. I'll admit that I bought this book because I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to traveling and I thought this would be a good book to bring along in case something bad happens. For the peace of mind, this book is invaluable.
And what's not to like? Like I said, if you want a book that's bigger, be sure to read the dimensions and get the bigger size. Other than that, the book is great.
Adults, this is a good book to own simply for the peace of mind. In case something happens (god forbid) where you need to know information about not only basic survival skills, but more complex things like what foods are safe to eat, where the best place is to build a shelter, and how to find safe, drinkable water, it's great to have this book on hand. You can't beat the price!
The Best Of.......2007-03-20
I have read a few books on survival and this is the best one I have found up to this point. I have even read the U. S. Army's handbook and this is better.
I purchased the full size book first and then ordered this version so I could pack it easy in my backpack or day pack. The Gem version has all the same information the full size book has. I was going to purchase some survival cards to pack, but have purchased the GEM size book after finding out it was available through a survival seminar I attended with the Boy Scouts.
Book Description
For goldsmiths, collectors, jewelry-makers, investors, retailers and consumers.
The trade of gemstones is a highly specialized and often secretive business. Using
The Jeweler's Directory of Gemstones, written by an expert gemstone dealer and designer, will provide any consumer with the insider knowledge needed to make accurate judgments of gemstones, to recognize low- and high-quality stones, and to make a good buy rather than a bad one.
Each full-color spread is packed with concise text, annotated drawings and beautiful photographs, including a showcase of virtuoso jewelry designs. Great for informed consumers, the book includes:
- Sources and grading
- Traditional and modern settings
- Cutting and faceting
- Designing a special setting
- Gemstone groups
- Appraising, buying and handling gemstones
- Diamond types and pearls
- Spotting synthetics and fakes.
Here is a sampling of the practical insider information in this book:
- Using a loupe to examine a stone
- Understanding laser cutting and carving
- Identifying synthetic diamonds
- Buying at gem fairs and from dealers
- Cleaning and storing stones.
No other book has this kind expert advice -- up-to-date, clearly presented and fully illustrated -- on evaluating and using gemstones.
Customer Reviews:
Libraries will find this holds wide appeal for a range of gem crafters........2007-07-27
Anyone interested in working with gemstones, from jewelers and jewelry makers to designers, will find THE JEWELER'S DIRECTORY OF GEMSTONES: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO APPRAISING AND USING PRECIOUS STONES, FROM CUT AND COLOR TO SHAPE AND SETTING an invaluable resource. Here a history pairs with tips on how to appraise and use gemstones properly, with color photos tying all topic together. Sections are divided into ideas on creating gemstones through mining and collecting, identifying types of stones, and using them in designs. Libraries will find this holds wide appeal for a range of gem crafters.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Very helpful.......2007-06-27
This book has a ton of interesting information for the collector. I would recommend it highly.
Appraising is not really addressed.......2007-05-29
This book is rich in accurate images of gems and minerals and has a scientific review of chemical composition, hardness and refractive properties. It is not, however, a guide for appraisal. I have seen a small booklet that determines the carats of gems based on the dimensions and shape of the particular stone. This information is what I had hope to get, but, unfortunately, did not.
Invaluable book for the serious gem colletor........2007-05-21
Highly authortative, well written, profusely illustrated and, simply, a wealh of information.
More than just info on stones.......2007-05-19
This book has valuable information about stones with good pictures, but it also has beautifully designed jewelry. A great addition to a jewelry library.
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- Route 66 Lost & Found: Ruins and Relics Revisited, Volume 2
- Secrets of the Alchemist Dar: Collector's Hardcover Edition (A Treasure's Trove)
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- Shaker Design
- Stephen King's Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1 (Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born)
- The Art Crowd
- The Book of Wagner & Griswold: Martin, Lodge, Vollrath, Excelsior
- The Booklover's Repair Kit: First Aid for Home Libraries
- The Complete Pinball Book: Collecting the Game and Its History (Schiffer Book for Collectors) (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
- The French-Inspired Home, with French General
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