Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones

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There are books which really pull together history and science and nature and people but I find this is just not one of them. Not all the stories are happy - for instance, you'll learn about the past and present abuses involved in the coltan and coal mining industries - but they are such interesting introductions to all kinds of topics you might never have heard of. And though I read this book straight through from start to finish, this is absolutely the sort of bibliomantic tome that one might flip through at random, choosing a chapter based on mood or whim: learn a weird rock fact, let it lodge in your brain like a wayward pebble in your shoe, and allow it to guide your energies for the day. The essays are shaped with great skill and Judah finds curious and pleasing symmetry and coincidences in the varied stories she tells .

The author, it seems, banks on the strengths of her background, and while the book promises to engage us with archeology, geology, mythology, literature, science, sociology and philosophy, any interesting cross-disciplinary facts are drowned out by the sheer volume of historical detailing. I felt like I was reading a set of blog posts--not systematic, but an agreeable and informative experience overall.

Hettie Judah is an art historian, so this book about minerals and precious stones is not written from a scientific perspective.

Each stone is given a place in history like a snug setting and paced within the cultural context of its impact. My only complaint is I wish it had more illustrations and photos of these amazing objects and natural resources. years ago Babylonians constructed lapidaries - books that tried to pin down the magical secrets of rocks. Might be a good reference for those seeking this type of information, and I discovered it was not me.She regularly talks about art and with artists for museum and gallery events, and has been a visiting lecturer for Goldsmiths University, London and Dauphine University, Paris. She has a great eye for the kind of story that's going to most appeal to the general reader, and provides a fascinating set of introductions to various objects and places: from Mongolian Deer Stones to Maltese Mother Goddesses to the Meat-Shaped Stone of Taiwan. Judah's pages are filled with eccentrics and inventors, with the obsessive pursuit of beauty, the hopeful constructions of belief and the thirst for progress and improvement. With pertinent references to sustainability, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening book with perfectly paced narration. I had to switch from the book version to the ebook because the print in the hardcover version is just too damned small for my eyes.

These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.We are reminded of the brave men and women charged and challenged with unearthing these prized minerals often with little to no reward.