Description
From the primeval origins of rocks, minerals, and gems to their astonishing modern-day uses and appeal, this is the ultimate portrait of the earth’s natural treasures.
When we look today at rocks and minerals, and at the planet Earth formed from them, it is hard for us to imagine a time when none of this existed – a time even before there were chemical elements, the building blocks from which rocks and minerals are made. Yet between 13,000 and 15,000 million years ago, the entire Universe consisted of one tiny dot of primordial energy. Then, in an instant, the Big Bang set in motion a chain of events that resulted in the creation of atoms and, over millions of years, in the formation of galaxies and stars. It was only within stars that the elements were formed that would make minerals, rocks, and planets.
