Today, as earth science curricula are evolving rapidly, many programs throughout the US are adopting new approaches to the study of earth materials. At many universities earth science departments are increasingly finding a single geological materials course to be an attractive requirement in lieu of the standard mineralogy-petrology sequence. Adopting such a requirement allows more room in the student's program for courses that address topical subjects such as environmental geoscience, earth surface processes, etc.Key features:* Only undergraduate text to cover all rocks and minerals in one volume * Place earth materials in context of earth systems * copiously illustrated