What do you think?
Rate this book
Wonders of Creation
The Mineral Book
The Mineral Book is a part of the best-selling Wonders of Creation Series! It has been developed for multi-level teaching, with special color-coding on three skill levels. This educational resource is filled with full-color pictures and illustrations, and can be used in the classroom, for independent study, or homeschool settings. Created to make mineralogy accessible to beginners, students, and hobbyists as well Minerals are a gift of God s grace. Every day we touch them, seeing the diamond in an engagement ring or a copper chain with a cross on it. Minerals are touched on in video games like Minecraft® and Mineral Valley™, making them more a part of our daily experience. Salt, one vital mineral, helps maintain the fluid in our blood cells and is used to transmit information in our nerves and muscles. Also, Jesus told his followers that we are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), something thus needed for health and flavor. Here is a God-honoring book that reveals the first mention of minerals in the Bible, symbolic usages, their current values in culture and society, and their mention in heaven.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
4 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 24, 2019
The prime test for any publication is simple: does it address what it claims to? The Mineral Book is promoted as a teaching vehicle. What it advocates though is extreme religious doctrine, specifically evangelical fundamentalism and opposition to empirical science.
This author -- The Professor as he likes to be called -- tells us "The value of science is to show an honest student that we have objective, scientific evidence for the creation and the Flood of Noah's Day" (p.83). He continues with a number of familiar canards from the fundamentalist script -- all radiometric carbon date testing is false, the earth's age is a few thousand years, and non sequitur attacks on Darwin. There are also some genuine oddities: Satan affiliated with lava tubes containing purple quartz in Brazil, a scientific theory of symmetry being embedded in the Book of Revelation -- other such strange claims abound if one cares to search.
This material is very much in line with the Professor's prior commentaries on UFOs coming from infernal regions, mental illness explained by possession, and to beware uttering the pagan appellation "Mother Earth", which by the way is not spherical.
That a work such as this would be promoted for students is insidious. Science is about gathering facts on the ground and peer review; not about some revealed prepackaged guide from above with all the answers, as explained by obsessive 'authorities' who revel in telling others what to think and believe. Education is never about promoting alternate realities.
A world governed by doctrine and denial, rigidity of views, and where the devil is lurking behind every corner is not one to which any student should be acclimatized. Suidae and lipstick never align even when you dim the lights.
This author -- The Professor as he likes to be called -- tells us "The value of science is to show an honest student that we have objective, scientific evidence for the creation and the Flood of Noah's Day" (p.83). He continues with a number of familiar canards from the fundamentalist script -- all radiometric carbon date testing is false, the earth's age is a few thousand years, and non sequitur attacks on Darwin. There are also some genuine oddities: Satan affiliated with lava tubes containing purple quartz in Brazil, a scientific theory of symmetry being embedded in the Book of Revelation -- other such strange claims abound if one cares to search.
This material is very much in line with the Professor's prior commentaries on UFOs coming from infernal regions, mental illness explained by possession, and to beware uttering the pagan appellation "Mother Earth", which by the way is not spherical.
That a work such as this would be promoted for students is insidious. Science is about gathering facts on the ground and peer review; not about some revealed prepackaged guide from above with all the answers, as explained by obsessive 'authorities' who revel in telling others what to think and believe. Education is never about promoting alternate realities.
A world governed by doctrine and denial, rigidity of views, and where the devil is lurking behind every corner is not one to which any student should be acclimatized. Suidae and lipstick never align even when you dim the lights.
June 29, 2025
Not mainstream by any stretch. Cult religion, to include fundamentalist creationism, does not belong in any classroom.
Children deprived of science education and critical thinking skills are ill prepared for life in the real world. This serves dogma instead of the student.
Evangelical tropes abound in this text (carbon dating falsification, Noah's Ark, devil quartz, etc.) This type of publication could only come from an evangelical publisher. Nothing mainstream.
Genuine education is never about indoctrination let alone a retreat into medieval thinking. The ark sailed on this a long time ago.
Children deprived of science education and critical thinking skills are ill prepared for life in the real world. This serves dogma instead of the student.
Evangelical tropes abound in this text (carbon dating falsification, Noah's Ark, devil quartz, etc.) This type of publication could only come from an evangelical publisher. Nothing mainstream.
Genuine education is never about indoctrination let alone a retreat into medieval thinking. The ark sailed on this a long time ago.
February 20, 2015
About the Book:
The Mineral Book is a part of the best-selling Wonders of Creation Series! It has been developed for multi-level teaching, with special color-coding on three skill levels. This educational resource is filled with full-color pictures and illustrations, and can be used in the classroom, for independent study, or homeschool settings.
About the Author:
David R. McQueen was trained in mineralogy at the University of Tennessee (BA in geology) and at the University of Michigan (MS in geology). McQueen taught college geology at George Mason University, Virginia State University, East Tennessee State University, and the Institute for Creation Research’s Graduate School.
My Review:
The Wonders of Creation series, is a great series for homeschooling families especially because you can integrate multi grade levels. Master Books, always creates some of the best books for our children to enjoy and The Mineral Book is no different. The full color extensive photographs are enough to send your head reeling. I have learned so much about minerals in direct correlation with God's creation that it literally blows your mind. God is our ultimate creator and it shows in the every day miracles all around us that unfortunately we become accustomed to so much so that we take it for granted.
This book along with the series will open your eyes to God's creation in amazing ways. It is really easy to use with your children based on the color coding system which involves three levels from elementary to high school. Best part about it, is that its all in one book for your convenience. Based on creation along with lesson material there are also fun facts included that are very interesting. Such as the fact that even though Amethyst is considered the most precious of the quartz minerals, the Amethyst found in the United States is NOT considered jewelry grade.
Along with his teachings on minerals, the author, David McQueen has included a mineral identification guide, as well as Bible reference pages for minerals and metals. My boys and I like all the fun facts and cool pictures in the book.
**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review per my participation in the Moms of Master Books Review Team.
The Mineral Book is a part of the best-selling Wonders of Creation Series! It has been developed for multi-level teaching, with special color-coding on three skill levels. This educational resource is filled with full-color pictures and illustrations, and can be used in the classroom, for independent study, or homeschool settings.
About the Author:
David R. McQueen was trained in mineralogy at the University of Tennessee (BA in geology) and at the University of Michigan (MS in geology). McQueen taught college geology at George Mason University, Virginia State University, East Tennessee State University, and the Institute for Creation Research’s Graduate School.
My Review:
The Wonders of Creation series, is a great series for homeschooling families especially because you can integrate multi grade levels. Master Books, always creates some of the best books for our children to enjoy and The Mineral Book is no different. The full color extensive photographs are enough to send your head reeling. I have learned so much about minerals in direct correlation with God's creation that it literally blows your mind. God is our ultimate creator and it shows in the every day miracles all around us that unfortunately we become accustomed to so much so that we take it for granted.
This book along with the series will open your eyes to God's creation in amazing ways. It is really easy to use with your children based on the color coding system which involves three levels from elementary to high school. Best part about it, is that its all in one book for your convenience. Based on creation along with lesson material there are also fun facts included that are very interesting. Such as the fact that even though Amethyst is considered the most precious of the quartz minerals, the Amethyst found in the United States is NOT considered jewelry grade.
Along with his teachings on minerals, the author, David McQueen has included a mineral identification guide, as well as Bible reference pages for minerals and metals. My boys and I like all the fun facts and cool pictures in the book.
**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review per my participation in the Moms of Master Books Review Team.
August 21, 2020
"The Mineral Book" is an educational book about minerals aimed at homeschoolers. The authors write from a biblical (young earth creationist) viewpoint. The book has three levels of information for each chapter: a brief, basic introduction for young readers, a more advanced level with extended vocabulary, and an even more detailed level. The book started by talking about where we find minerals, both in the Bible and on the earth, and how we get and use minerals. The author then talked about what a mineral is, how to identify a mineral (including how to begin your own collection), mentions of minerals in the Bible, valuable minerals, and how geological creation research uses minerals to accurately date the world. There's a mineral identification guide at the end which included information like luster, specific gravity, color, hardness, streak, and crystal symmetry. There's also a periodic table of the elements and a poster. In each chapter, there were several minerals that were featured and included information like where it is found, what it is used for, fun facts, and mentions in the Bible. Overall, this is a interesting book even for adults and I think tween's and teens would really enjoy it.
August 31, 2025
I was excited to read this book because I had enjoyed The Geology Book in the same series so well. But this book fell a little flat for me. I think I was hoping for more chemistry and less loose ties to the Bible. I certainly didn't MIND the ties to the Bible at all, but I kept waiting to learn about minerals and I felt like this book just didn't deliver that much as far as that goes. On the whole - I guess I'm only on my third book in this series - I am enjoying the series. It feels fresh and new in a way. I guess I just wish they were a little more academic and technical and slightly less overview-y. I feel like this topic could still be written at this reading level while incorporating quite a bit more chemistry, etc., into it in order to get deeper into the science.
August 31, 2024
Very good introduction to the science of minerals, covering the various types of minerals, how to identify minerals, etc. It also covers how the study of minerals intersects with creation science, such as radiohaloes.
Unfortunately, the author also injected Protestantism into the book, such as the urge at the end of the book for the readers to "put your trust in Christ".
Unfortunately, the author also injected Protestantism into the book, such as the urge at the end of the book for the readers to "put your trust in Christ".
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews