It wouldn't be that bad of a book if this was the nineteen-fifties. Even then it lacks that certain charm. 

There are two things in science that are difficult, only two. The first is scale, and the second is terminology. This book is first and foremost, guilty of obfuscating its intended information with gratuitous name-dropping and narcissistic terminology. The kind scholars looking to name stuff after themselves are known for. It falls far short of the non-fiction standard set by Andy Knoll (who is among the many names dropped within). Ultimately, it's just bad at teaching, and the thing it should be able to teach is connecting mineralogy to evolution. Only two families of minerals dependent on biological evolution are even mentioned, and neither is elaborated. There is no reason for anyone who is not named within, or obligated to a dropped-name as a pre-doc, should read this, because A Brief History of Earth by Andy Knoll is far better in every way.

This book is the gold standard for all modern scientific non-fiction. The very measuring stick by which all others must be compared.