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HomeShop at BookSurgeHistoryWorldGems, Minerals & Rocks of Wyoming: A Guide for Rock Hounds, Prospectors & Collectors |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 8 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Buy it, you will like it. Sep 08, 2009
By Kurt Kephart
If you are into rocks & minerals of Wyoming, this book gives you a 30 year short cut. The author has combined his expertise, experience and passion for geology into a no-nonsense, x marks the spot, book. I recently took several trips to Wyoming from my home state of Montana and found the Sweetwater agates and white opals in the location given in the book. I am looking forward to my next adventure to Wyoming.
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Good geology, annoying political gripes Jun 04, 2011
By Houston Wade
"I dig rocks"
Dan Hausel is a phenominal geologist. Quite possibly the most prolific in history, to be quite honest... But he has a problem, no one likes him. Dan seems to be such an abrasive person that anyone with an inch of power in Wyoming does whatever they can to destroy him. The man is super-Republican and in the most-Republican state in the union and even the Republicans try to destroy his discoveries. This is a state that has no problem letting anyone do "fraking" to obtain natural gas and foul their ground water. They love carving up the high plains in pursuit of rich coal. When it comes to hard-rock mining for gold, copper, platinum, gemstones, or anything else Dan has discovered Wyoming says, "No!"
Why is this? Dan claims it is because Wyoming is full of idiots (and he lets us know this often in his reference guide). Could it actually be because he is just a jerk? Sure, he is the most accomplished geologist of our time and has pointed out that Wyoming has tens of trillions of dollars in valuable minerals that could pay off the national debt, but no one of importance seems to actually to give a damn. This is because Dan is so disliked that people would rather see him suffer in obscurity than see the entire nation prosper. That has got to give somebody like Dan Hausel quite the inferiority complex.
I would love to meet him someday and just see what he is like in person. I love the rich and prolific information that just flows out of his mind. His geological accumane is rediculous. He knows more about the lithic stucture of the Earth than any professor I ever had during my undergraduate or graduate studies. Dan gets the job done when it comes to informing the world through this book, and his other works, on where and how to find and identify rocks and minerals. I just wish he wouldn't bitch and insult so much. I usually finnish reading one of his works or blog posts (he has dozens of sites on blogspot as "gemhunter") and feel both informed and insulted/pissed-off.
Enjoy the information this book and Hausel's other works provide; just take the complaining about how mean everyone on planet Earth is to him with a grain of salt.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
The geologist's geologist Apr 09, 2010
By Paulette Dilks
Dan puts in more information than the casual reader might be able to assimilate. However I believe the book is useful and interesting to all readers. He literally tells you where to go (you may have to climb a mountain) to find gemstones and his history (and I have followed him on his free blog and on CanadianRockhounder) bears out his personal success at this.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Not for Amateurs Feb 07, 2010
By S. D. Smith
This is not exactly an X marks the spot book. Unlike the typical field guide there are not explicit maps or directions to locations. This is not a bad thing if you have a bit of knowledge about minerals and geology, and a little Indiana Jones in you. I would not recommend the book for the rank amateur unless they have friends or colleagues with a bit of geological savvy. Otherwise the geological and mineralogical information are as good as you will find regarding Wyoming.
To the author's credit he provides photos of typical field specimens as opposed to multi-thousand dollar museum specimens.
I was disappointed in the numerous typographical errors, the spelling errors, and the grammatical errors that pervade the book. The book would have benefited from a more thorough proofreading of the manuscript prior to being sent to the printer.
I also feel that the author would benefit from leaving out his personal gripes about the Wyoming Geological Survey. His issues with the organization may very well be founded but I am not sure if this is the proper venue to be airing them. It lends a somewhat negative feel to the book. Perhaps the author should celebrate the fact that he had the opportunity to spend 29 years wandering around the state exploring for minerals and he got paid to do it. Some of us would almost give our right arm for an opportunity like that.
For the most part I am happy with the book and consider it to be a valuable addition to my library along with the various other bulletins that the author was involved with during his tenure at the Wyoming Geological Survey.
a good basic overview of Wyoming's interesting rocks May 29, 2013
By KB
it is a testament to Dan Hausel's generosity that I felt a tiny bit underwhelmed when this book arrived. After all, he makes so much information publicly available by following his blogs and newsletter that I almost expected a 1000 page gem miner's holy grail to arrive at my door. So my first reaction was to think "wow, this book is smaller than I imagined". But that aside, it's got a lot of information about the various minerals that can be found within the state. There is a general geology discussion and also a section with minerals and their properties. In each mineral discussion, there is a section noting localities within the state where the mineral has been found. I felt that the scientific info was more rewarding than the localities info, which surprised me, having expected it to be full of maps and "drive here" notes. It is not that kind of book, more for the geology afficionado than the prospector looking for a sure thing without doing any research. Clearly self published - there is reference throughout the book to a "yomingite" which appears to be a placeholder for other names, but if you're willing to take the time to research a little further beyond the pages, this book contains a number of good leads and is well worth a read. I will be taking this with me on a trip to Wyoming this summer, and hope it will be useful in discovering nice specimens.
See all 8 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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