--- product_id: 4604339 title: "The Practical Geologist: The Introductory Guide to the Basics of Geology and to Collecting and Identifying Rocks" price: "€ 35.45" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/4604339-the-practical-geologist-the-introductory-guide-to-the-basics-geology store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # Covers geological sites on 6 continents 200+ full-color illustrations Step-by-step rock & mineral identification The Practical Geologist: The Introductory Guide to the Basics of Geology and to Collecting and Identifying Rocks **Price:** € 35.45 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 🌟 Unlock Earth’s secrets—be the geologist everyone envies! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Practical Geologist: The Introductory Guide to the Basics of Geology and to Collecting and Identifying Rocks - **How much does it cost?** € 35.45 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/4604339-the-practical-geologist-the-introductory-guide-to-the-basics-geology) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Collect Like a Pro:** Learn expert techniques for finding, extracting, and curating your own rock and mineral specimens. - • **Visual Learning Power:** Over 200 vivid, full-color illustrations make complex concepts and specimens easy to understand and identify. - • **Curate with Confidence:** Get practical tips on mapping, preparing, and caring for your collection to build a lasting natural science legacy. - • **Global Geological Tour:** Explore detailed insights into geological sites across all six continents—travel the world from your bookshelf. - • **Master Earth’s Story:** Dive into the planet’s formation and dynamic processes with clear, accessible geology basics. ## Overview The Practical Geologist is a comprehensive introductory guide that combines earth science fundamentals with hands-on advice for collecting and identifying rocks and minerals. Featuring over 200 full-color illustrations and global geological insights, it empowers enthusiasts to explore, curate, and appreciate the natural world like never before. ## Description From exploring the basic principles of geology to starting a rock and mineral collection, The Practical Geologist is the perfect introduction to the world of earth science. Beginning with a history of the earth's formation and development, this book explores the substances that compose the planet, movements within the earth, the surface effects of weather and water, and underground landscapes. It shows you how to search for, identify, and extract samples of various rocks and minerals, and for each rock and mineral type there is a brief mineralogy and explanation of its locations. There are also sections on mapping, preparing, and curating specimens, and geological sites on the six continents. Packed with more than 200 full-color illustrations, this comprehensive guide is the essential practical companion for natural science enthusiasts everywhere. Review: Highly recommend this book - This is a great book. It is dense in that every line has good content, not much filler in this book. The graphics are terrific. It contains highly technical explanation and details if you want them. If you choose, you can skip the details and enjoy the graphics alone and first paragraphs of each subsection to get the gist of what is being discussed. I am so glad I bought this book. I don't care to learn and memorize the all the details but I am glad to have them should I want to know more about any one subjet. The topcs range from basic earth tectonics, land/continent formation to minerals, essential geologic processes and so much more. This is a wonderful book to read. The writing style compliments the generalist as well as the specialist. Review: Wonderful Intro Geology Book! - I got this book as a means to keep refreshed on geologic principles that are important and to take with me on hikes to help me identify rocks. I ended up learning some new stuff I didn’t already know as a Geology major, and the author was able to better explain certain geologic occurances better than my professor. Also, I find the sketches and pictures to be outstanding!!! Great book! I highly recommend for those who want a basic understanding of the geology of our beautiful planet. :) ## Features - Dougal Dixon - The Practical Geologist - Introductory Guide to basic geology - collect and define rocks and rough gemstones - care of specimens ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #200,977 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #105 in Rocks & Minerals #147 in Geology (Books) #366 in Outdoors & Nature Reference | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 329 Reviews | ## Images ![The Practical Geologist: The Introductory Guide to the Basics of Geology and to Collecting and Identifying Rocks - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/6177Xlpc+HL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly recommend this book *by E***O on January 29, 2016* This is a great book. It is dense in that every line has good content, not much filler in this book. The graphics are terrific. It contains highly technical explanation and details if you want them. If you choose, you can skip the details and enjoy the graphics alone and first paragraphs of each subsection to get the gist of what is being discussed. I am so glad I bought this book. I don't care to learn and memorize the all the details but I am glad to have them should I want to know more about any one subjet. The topcs range from basic earth tectonics, land/continent formation to minerals, essential geologic processes and so much more. This is a wonderful book to read. The writing style compliments the generalist as well as the specialist. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wonderful Intro Geology Book! *by S***E on May 29, 2018* I got this book as a means to keep refreshed on geologic principles that are important and to take with me on hikes to help me identify rocks. I ended up learning some new stuff I didn’t already know as a Geology major, and the author was able to better explain certain geologic occurances better than my professor. Also, I find the sketches and pictures to be outstanding!!! Great book! I highly recommend for those who want a basic understanding of the geology of our beautiful planet. :) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A rocky read *by M***L on January 27, 2008* Among my many interests, geology has always been lurking in the background, one that I never really pursued but nonetheless seemed worth knowing about. For this reason, I finally got around to getting a book on the topic, and picked out The Practical Geologist by Dougal Dixon. Although it isn't a bad book, it was also not the wisest choice for me. As the title indicates, this is a book for the practical geologist, one that goes out to sites to assess the landscape: the types of rocks, the shape of the hills, et cetera. There are plenty of illustrations and photographs to assist the reader, along with information about how to write up notes and set up displays. All this is wonderful in its own way, but for the true geological layman like myself, it is a bit more than what I wanted. That is to say, as an introduction to geology, this book is not wholly successful: while never getting overly technical, it also doesn't offer enough in the way of explanation. Instead, it just presents the facts and moves onto the next topic. It reads a bit more like a reference book than a regular science book. The back of the book describes The Practical Geologist as the "perfect introduction to the world of earth science". This is not really the case. Nonetheless, I am giving this book four stars: I think that what this book does, it does well. If you're looking for a first book on geology, however, I would search elsewhere. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/4604339-the-practical-geologist-the-introductory-guide-to-the-basics-geology](https://www.desertcart.be/products/4604339-the-practical-geologist-the-introductory-guide-to-the-basics-geology) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-10-11*