Dolomites: A volume in honor of Dolomieu

In 1791 the French naturalist Déodat de Dolomieu published a paper in the Journal de Physique with the lengthy title, “On a Type of Calcareous Rock That Reacts Very Slightly With Acid and That Phosphoresces on Being Struck,” giving the scientific community the first comprehensive description of the rock and mineral that would eventually bear his name. In observance of the 200th anniversary of Dolomieu's paper, a conference combining presentations on dolomitization and carbonate platforms was held in 1991, most appropriately, against the spectacular backdrop of the Dolomite Mountains in Ortisei, Italy. Dolomites: A Volume in Honor of Dolomieu is an edited volume of 24 papers taken from the Ortisei conference proceedings, and will be a most welcome addition to the libraries of friends of the mineral. However, this is a volume clearly intended for carbonate sedimentologists and sedimentary petrologists. In this sense, it seems unlikely to attract the broad notice of Earth scientists whose major interests lie elsewhere.