URANIUM: MINERALOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND THEENVIRONMENT.Peter C. Burns and Robert Finch, Editors, Reviews in Mineralogy, 1999, Vol. 38, 679 p. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, D.C. $32 ($24 for MSA members).

Uranium: Mineralogy, Geochemistry and the Environment is based on a short course offered on October 22 and 23, 1999. This tome represents a uniquely valuable and generally up-to-date source of information on uranium mineralogy, ore deposits, the geomicrobiology of uranium, radioactive wastes, and chemical, isotopic and other analytical methods. For those interested in these topics, the book should become an essential reference. The fourteen chapters and their authors include (1) Radioactivity and the 20 th Century , R.C. Ewing; (2) The Crystal Chemistry of Uranium , P. C. Burns; (3) Systematics and Paragenesis of Uranium Minerals , R. Finch and T. Murakami; (4) Stable Isotope Geochemistry of Uranium Deposits , M. Fayek, and T.K. Kyser; (5) Environmental Aqueous Geochemistry of Actinides, W.M. Murphy and E.L.Shock; (6) Uranium Ore Deposits: Products of the Radioactive Earth , J. Plant, P.R. Simpson, B. Smith and B.F. Windley; (7) Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Natural Fission Reactors in Gabon , J. Janeczek; (8) Geomicrobiology of Uranium , Y. Suzuki and J.F. Banfield; (9) Uranium Contamination in the Subsurface: Characterization and Remediation , A. Abdelouas, W. Lutze and H.E. Nutall; (10) Uranium Mineralogy and the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel , D. Wronkiewicz and E. Buck; (11) Spectroscopic Techniques Applied to Uranium in Minerals , J.M. Hanchar; (12) Infrared Spectroscopy and Thermal Analysis of the Uranyl Minerals , J. Cejka; (13) Analytical Methods for the Determination of Uranium in Geological and Environmental Materials , S.F. Wolf; and (14) Identification of Uranium-bearing Minerals and Inorganic Phases by X-ray Powder Diffraction , F.C. Hill. In the Preface the editors note that “more than five percent of minerals known today contain uranium as an essential constituent.” This number has exploded through time from two (pitchblende and torbernite) in 1800, to 20 in 1900, 70 in 1950 and 135 …