Almandine Garnet ex. Lauf Coll.

Item Description

This specimen is from the author's own collection and is on the cover of the important reference series mineral monograph books, Collector's Guide to the Silicate Crystal Structures, by Dr. Bob Lauf. It is an old specimen, surely recycled from an old collection (he bought it from the Rocksmiths back in 1986), and shows lustrous wine-red crystals (dark) to about an inch across from this historic locality. Chosen for the cover for the vertical space-fill, and to show a dramatic example of sharp geometry , this is a fine representative piece of the garnet suite but more importantly a historic locality specimen in its own right. Robert Lauf grew up in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois, ultimately receiving a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering. His scientific career included over twenty years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he conducted research on topics ranging from nuclear fuel, coal by-products, materials synthesis, microwave processing, sensors, optical materials, and biomineralization. This item comes with a copy of the corresponding book, as shown.