Full title: Pyrite : a natural history of fool's gold / David Rickard.

Author/creator: Rickard, David T. (David Terence), 1943-.

Call Numbers: G 2016/312

Record Identifier: 74VKzKawL0Qy

Language: English

Formats: Books

Contents: xix, 297 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm., , , , Foole's gold. So what do you do? ; Foole's gold ; Fool's gold as pyrite ; Pyrite and the founding of Canada ; Frobisher's scam ; Pyrite and the founding of the United States of America ; Fool's gold in the modern world -- Pyrite and the origins of civilization. The gods of fire ; The origins of human culture ; The earliest chemical industry ; Big Pharma ; Pyrite and the origins of the modern arms industry ; Pyrite feeds the world ; Pyrite, civilization, and culture -- What is pyrite? The importance of names ; Classical origins ; Marcasite and the Arab interlude ; Late medieval confusion ; Renaissance revisions ; The iron mystery ; Renaissance clarification ; Elements and minerals ; Berthollet redux -- Crystals and atoms. Introduction ; Pyrite habits ; Pyrite and the foundations of x-ray crystallography ; Pyrite structure : counting atoms ; Cubes and atoms ; Dodecahedra exist, almost ; Octahedra and how pyrite crystals grow ; Pyrite raspberries ; Designer pyrite -- Hell and black smokers. Ancient ideas of mineral formation ; Pyrite and volcanoes ; Pyrite and the problem of geologic time ; Pyrite and the origin of the earth's interior heat ; Pyrite in geothermal springs ; Deep-ocean hydrothermal vents ; Black smoker chimneys and massive pyrite deposits ; Massive pyrite deposits as fossil hydrothermal systems -- Microbes and minerals. Rotten eggs ; Blue mud ; Source of hydrogen sulfide ; Bacteria hold the key ; Bacteria and pyrite ; Pyrite isotopes -- Acid earth. Chemical pyrite oxidation ; Microbial pyrite oxidation ; Acid rivers ; Eternal fires ; Acid rain ; Smog ; Acid sulfate soils ; Acidogene -- Pyrite and the global environment. Pyrite formation and burial ; Pyrite as a key component of the earth system ; Death zones in the unfriendly sea ; Pyrite formation and the evolution of life ; Pyrite sulfur isotope signatures and the silver bullet ; Other earths -- Pyrite and the origins of life. Abiogenesis ; The iron-sulfur world ; The oldest pyrite ; The Frankenstein experiment ; Pyrite and the synthesis of biomolecules ; Pyrite and the earliest organisms ; Pyrite, biofilms, and ancient lagoons -- Full circle. Pyrite, alchemy, and metal extraction ; Pyrite and the electronics industry ; The pyrite resolution board ; Pyrite, free radicals, and life ; Extraterrestrial pyrite ; Not so foolish gold.

Publishers: New York : Oxford University Press, [2015]

Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Permalink: https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/74VKzKawL0Qy

DDC: 549.32

MMS ID: 991023405519702626