Language: Bilingual in English and French
This book plunges the reader into a many-faceted universe: that of fluorite, the star mineral of so many collections. Its geometrical perfection, made clear in this book, distinguishes it sharply from the living world and is a perpetual surprise and wonder to beginners used to a visible world with much less apparent order.
For a chemist, France is the country of fluorite. The author chose the title of this book as it does not pretend to describe all the mines of all the properties of the mineral, but to offer a selection of 50 localities, and about the same number of commentaries. This work simply gives the floor the fluorite lovers from some 15 countries. Scientists, museum curators, collectors, mountain crystal seekers, dealers and artists all share their thoughts and feelings, a reflection or a story about a specimen they are personally involved with.
And, above all, this book presents a feast of beautiful French fluorites that are superbly presented by very talented photographers.