Magic of Minerals and Rocks

From reviews of the Dutch-language edition -

"…a stunningly illustrated guide to rocks, crystals, geodes, fossils, minerals and all manner of other things geological." Nature

"This beautifully illustrated large "library table book"… (is) a worthwhile treasure for browsing… Just wait until you see Wiersma’s oftentimes breathtakingly colorful photographs and his microphotographs…" HGS Bulletin

"I never saw a geological book like this, and I probably never will again… It is not just a photo book: one should rather consider it an art book. Photographs as an expression of art; and art with the earth sciences as the object…. They show how well Wiersma manages to discover the beauty of the earth…" J. Sedimentary Research

From the reviews:

"The author tries to show the beauty of his scientific world to a broad and general public. I think he really succeeded … covering the whole gamma of his working field. As a geologist he shows us … landscapes of splendid rocks and forms, the result of geological processes as mountain formation and erosion. … The merit of the book is the skilful photography and the very artistic composition of the images … ." (Herman Goethals, Geologica Belgica, Vol. 8(1-2), 2005)

"This book brings together the author’s fascinations for geology and photography. The photographs range over a scale from whole landscapes down to the microscopic. In the field the rocks can be seen in their natural settings – in mountains, outcrops, riverbeds, on the coast and in quarries. … On the microscopic scale there is yet another universe with finer details and abstractions. … There is a short explanatory text to accompany the plates." (Book News on the Internet, January, 2005)

"Photo-artist Wiersma gets up close to geological sparklers and captures them lovingly on large format film. The result is a treasure trove, as his trained eye reveals details,colours, textures and relationships that most of us either miss or take for granted. … This is an ideal present for a geologist, and more serious photographers will appreciate it too." (Nick Chang, Focus, October, 2004)