** Note **
This page has been added to provide
interested parties with sources of books they
might want to read on the subject of meteorites. Some books are
out of print and hard to
find. Most books on the subject are more expensive because of the
limited print. Check
your local library or contact the meteorite group on the
Astroforum for further information.
Bagnall, Philip, 1991. THE
METEORITE & TEKTITE COLLECTORS HANDBOOK
Richmond, VA: Willmann-Bell. A true handbook
with basic background, classification, collecting guidelines,
preservation, etc... 170 pp, 37 photos, 26 tables, $25. Must
have!
Buckwald, V.F. 1975.
HANDBOOK OF IRON METEORITES, Vol 1-3.
Los Angeles: U. California and Arizona State
U Press. Comprehensive and expensive. $250 to $400 when
found.
Burke, John G. 1986. COSMIC
DEBRIS: METEORITES IN HISTORY
Berkeley: U of California Press. Chapters
include Disbelief, Acceptance, Mathematical Astronomy and
Statistics, Nineteenth Century Foundations of Meteorite
Analysis, Late Nineteenth Century Meteorite Theories,
Curators and Collectors, Folklore Myth and Utility, New
Directions 1900-1950, and Contemporary Meteorite Research and
Theories. Very comprehensive with extensive reference
section. 445pages. Must have!
Dodd, R.T. 1986.
THUNDERSTONES AND SHOOTING STARS
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Extremely readable but very comprehensive basic textbook on
Meteoritics. This is my personal favorite and taught me the
most. Very illuminating. 196 pages, about $25. To die for!
Graham, A W, et al. 1985.
THE CATALOGUE OF METEORITES -- 4TH Edition.
This is a reference book with catalogue
listing of meteorites up through January 1984. This is an
expansion on the classic catalogues from the British Museum
of Natural History and lists over 1400 of these meteorites as
belonging in the British collection. Doesn't include much of
the newer Antarctic finds, for which one needs to refer to
METEORITICS journal's periodic Meteoritical Bulletins. As a
catalogue, the information is referential and somewhat
skeletal, almost just a "phone book" for short
blurts. Find myself referring to it often, though never quite
satisfied with the limited info contained. 460 pages, about
$75.
Heide, Fritz. 1964.
METEORITES
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. A dated
by classic basic text. There is a new edition of this out
just recent and copies of the new release are available at
this time. Tells much of the ABC's of meteorites.
Hoyt, William G. 1987. COON
MOUNTAIN CONTROVERSIES: METEOR CRATER AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF
IMPACT THEORY
Tucson: U of Arizona Press. I read this book
the week before my second visit/pilgrimage to Meteor(ite)
Crater outside of Winslow, Arizona, and it added immensely to
my experience of again hiking around the rim of Barringer's
crater that sunny but cold winter day. This account of the
personalities and controversy that historically surrounded
the recognition of Meteor Crater for what it was, an impact
astroblem, is, again, very readable and informative.
Daniel Moreau Barringer, a mining
entrepreneur, was trespassing on Coon Mountain, which was
earlier declared to be of volcanic origin by G.K. Gilbert,
chief geologist of the USGS. Barringer reasoned that with the
association of iron meteorites being found so close to the
circular crater, hat there was a mass of iron buried in its
floor and staked a mining claim on it. His extensive drilling
and tunneling efforts amounted to the first comprehensive
study of an impact site to have been undertaken anywhere,
leading to hard evidence that gave Meteoritics a legitimate
standing among the sciences. 366 pages. About $50 hardcover.
Hutchison, Robert &
Andrew Graham. 1993. Meteorites
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York. This
a fairly new book out and has a lot of color photos of
various meteorites. It covers a wide variety of topics
related to meteorites on an introductory level. 61 pages.
$10.95
Keil, Klaus and Gomez,
Celso. 1980. BRAZILIAN STONE METEORITES
Albuquerque: U of New Mexico Press. This is a
scholarly and technically difficult book (for me!) with a
surprising amount of mineralogical information. The first
half of the book is an intro to basic Meteoritics with a
tremendous amount of information compressed into 46 long long
pages! The mineralogy was often beyond me but helpful as
later reference from other readings. The second half of the
book was again a fairly in-depth cataloging of Brazilian
meteorites, including the Angra dos Reis (the only Angrite!)
and the Governador Valadares (Nahklite). In contrast to
Graham's CATALOGUE, each meteorite was explored in detail,
including fall circumstances, texture, mineralogy, chemical
composition , Age, origin and available sources.
Meteorites and the Early
Solar System. 1988
The University of Arizona Press. Editors John
F. Kerridge and Mildred Shapley Matthews. This is a thick
book with 69 collaborating authors. It covers a wide spectrum
of meteoritics and current ideas related to the study of
meteorites by many well respected scientists of this day.
Contains some deep reading and advanced understanding of
meteoritics are helpful. 1269 pages.
McSween, Harry Y. Jr. 1987.
METEORITES AND THEIR PARENT PLANETS
New York: Cambridge U Press. Along with his
more recent book, STARDUST TO PLANETS (1993), provides a very
geological and mineralogical view of the solar system and the
genesis of meteorites. Along with Dodd's book, establishes a
very adequate working background of information on most
corners of Meteoritics. 256 pages, about $33.
Nininger, H.H. 1972. FIND A
FALLING STAR
New York: Paul S. Eriksson, Inc. A classic
autobiography of this foremost meteorite expert and his fifty
years of obsessive love with meteorites, his efforts that
brought the resurgence of interest in Meteoritics, his
struggle for respect among the giants in this field, his
personal account of how he amassed the largest personal
collection of meteorites. 254 pages, $25. Must have!
Nininger, H.H. 1956.
Arizona's Meteorite Crater
American Meteorite Laboratory - Denver,
Colorado. This is a book about the famous meteor(ite) crater
in Arizona written by Nininger. In it he discusses past,
present and future of the crater. A great amount of
scientific research has been done at the crater and Nininger
himself discusses condensation products, Impactite particles,
observation on diamonds and much more about the crater.
Nininger, H.H. 1961. Ask A
Question About Meteorites
American Meteorite Laboratory. This is a
small information book about meteorites. In it Nininger
explains alot of the common questions often asked of him
about meteorites. It discusses meteors and meteorites, nature
of meteorites, classes, meteorite clouds and dust, meteorite
craters, and tektites. Some information is outdated. $5
Nininger, H.H. 1942. A
Comet Strikes The Earth
American Meteorite Lab. Another small
information book put out by Nininger in a two part series.
One deals with large impacts on the Earth including the
Siberian fall. The other deals with meteors and meteorites
telling the reader what they are and where they come from.
The book contains meteorite oxide that is a part of
meteor(ite) crater. $5 harder to find than Ask a Question.
Nininger, H.H. 1947. Chips
From The Moon
Desert Press, Inc. Palm Desert, California.
This deal with the issue of tektites and where they might
come from. Although outdated as the theory of Moon origin of
tektites have been disproved, it has a lot of useful
information on tektites all the same. It is yet another small
book put out by the great author.
Nininger, H.H. 1971. The
Published Papers of Harvey Harlow Nininger
Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State
University Tempe, Arizona. As the book suggests a list of the
published papers put out by Nininger in regards to a great
number of scientific papers he presented. Is a nice book to
have for Nininger fans. Contains much useful information
about various meteorites that he found or brought to light.
$50 hard to find.
Nininger, H.H. 1952. Out of
the Sky
The University of Denver Press. This is an
introduction to meteoritics by Nininger. Again this is
outdated but contains useful information. This covers a wide
variety of subjects in regards to meteorites. Some of the
topics include: Early Man and Meteorites, Typical Falls,
Composition, Structure, Size, Weathering, origin and much
more.
Nininger, H.H. 1977. Center
for Meteorite Studies Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona.
Meteorites A Photographic Study of Surfaces Part 1. Shapes and
Part 2. Orientation.
Excellent resource books by Nininger for
collectors and researchers. Explains the many interesting
shapes created by the dynamic forces present during a fall of
meteoroid material in our atmosphere. List many well known
falls and shows a number of the Nininger Collection of
meteorites. $90 for both books if it can be found.
Norton, O. Richard. 1994.
ROCKS FROM SPACE
Meteorites and Meteorite Hunters. Montana:
Mountain Press Publishing Co. This book is definitely geared
for the amateur enthusiast and as such has my gratitude for
it's friendly readability. Lots of material is present on
meteoritic basics, mineralogy, theories,...but doesn't
pretend to be a basic textbook on Meteoritics. Not a rigorous
presentation. Has a real human-interest slant with a
sublimated account of H.H. Nininger's career (the original
Meteorite Man!) and author's own perspective on Robert A.
Haag--Meteorite Man. Very entertaining reading. 446 pages,
and only $20 paperback!
O'Keefe, John A. 1976.
TEKTITES AND THEIR ORIGIN
Amsterdam Netherlands: Elseveir Scientific
Publishing. An encyclopedic compilation of information on
tektites along with author's own controversial hypothesis
regarding their origin. 255 pages, $35. Pushes lunar origin
for tektites even though most scientists agree that Earth
impacts are the more logical origin.
Pearl, Richard M. 1975.
Fallen From Heaven Meteorites and Man
Earth Science Publishing Company Colorado
Springs, Colorado. A book of 100 of the most intriguing and
famous human interest stories related to the meteorites.
These are arranged in alphabetical order by name of the fall
or find. Also contains some good background on meteorites. 72
pages.
Peck, Ellis L. SPACE ROCKS
AND BUFFALO GRASS
This is a personal account of how Mary
Kimberley, a pioneer bride, immediately recognized the rusted
black stones common to her homestead property as meteorites
and set out to amass a large pile estimated to be over a ton
of these heavy stones. She then set forth to have her
discovery acknowledge with five years of letter-writing.
These pallasites, named Brenham or Haviland, later played a
major role in establishing H.H. Nininger, and later, Robert
Haag, as meteorite enthusiasts with an economic incentive to
boot. This story is part of the folklore of Meteoritics and,
I believe, a must-read. 116 pages. About $20.
Wasson, John T. 1985.
METEORITES: THEIR RECORD OF EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM HISTORY
New York: W H Freeman. Another excellent
source of very readable information similar in perspective to
McSween's use of meteorites to build a workable model of
planetary and solar evolution. Would work well as a
dependable comprehensive textbook on Meteoritics. 267 pages,
about $33. Another must.
