Book excerpt: Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press Gem Minerals of Idaho, designed for beginners and for those collectors visiting Idaho for the first time, it is a guide to some of the countless collecting areas of the state. It is not a textbook of mineralogy and, so far as possible, avoids technical terminology. However, it does contain information of general value on the physical and optical characteristics of minerals, as well as facts concerning history, lore, and fashioning of many of the gems.