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Evolution: the Facts.

six7s said:
Re:
...can stick together in a triagonal lattice or an orthorhombic lattice; in the first case...​

Are the terms triagonal and orthorhombic synonymous?

If so... how about
...can stick together in a triagonal (or orthorhombic) lattice; in the first case...​
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No. I shall clarify that. I shall also spell trigonal correctly, oopsie.
 
Because silica is so common, most common and important...
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It jars my eye to see the term common repeated so soon

How about

Because silica is so abundant, most common and important...
 
Beryl, meanwhile, has its units of silica joined in rings of six tetrahedra; as you should be able to figure out from the diagram above and to the right,
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If/when you (re)move the NaCl illustration (for the CaCO3 illustrations) then the above and to the right will need rewording
 
You should remember from your chemistry classes that the other way for molecules
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I feel reprimanded :(

How about

You might remember from your chemistry classes that the other way for molecules...

:)
 
many minerals come in lots of different colors, because in many cases the color of a mineral is caused by
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A minor point worthy of TA ;)

Lots vs many

plus

two manys in rapid succession

How about
many minerals come in a variety of colors because, in wide range of cases, the color of a mineral is caused by...
 
Our overview of this topic has been brief, because this is not a good subject to teach over the internet: what the reader really needs is a selection of minerals (and a small hammer, some goggles, and some dilute hydrochloric acid).
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Brief, perhaps

Bloody interesting and easy to read: certainly :)
 
six7s said:
How about
many minerals come in a variety of colors because, in wide range of cases, the color of a mineral is caused by...
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Ugh. I can't think of a less elegant way of saying it.

"Minerals come in a variety of colours. In many cases, this is because..."

Shorter sentences work better.
 
minerals said:
With the caveat that we shall count such solid solutions as minerals, we may say that what distinguishes a mineral from just any old rock is that a mineral is one substance (with a given crystalline structure) whereas rocks may be, and usually are, composed of several different minerals.
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Perhaps this is not needed but I suggest to make it clear that a mineral need not be a single crystal. and that a rock made up of multiple mineral crystals is different from a mineral made up of crystals of the same mineral.
 
Nature Magazine has made a Public access PDF for teachers/educators to explain that evolution is FACT.

www.nature.com/evolutiongems


I'm certain most points have been raised in the SW, but I thought it would be a nice reference to link to.


Only skimming through it, the wording is rather basic and open to standard critiques. For example, they accept the idea of microevolution and macroevolution giving an example of a transition from one to the other. Unfortunately, they ignore (or are ignorant of) the moving goalpost nature of those terms. It was clearly written by science writers not used to writing against dishonest debaters.
 
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The Atheist said:
Can you see something not factual? A discussion not pertaining to facts, maybe?

I missed it, sorry.
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Maybe his point is that there's nothing about evolution. But there will be in further articles ... actually, not at this rate there won't.

* makes mental note to get a sodding move on *

---

Six7's : Thanks, I'm rubbish at proof-reading my own writing --- the trouble is, I know what it's meant to say.
 
Dr Adequate said:
Six7's : Thanks, I'm rubbish at proof-reading my own writing --- the trouble is, I know what it's meant to say.
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You're more than welcome... simply because what you have to say is, I think, worth reading and although - or rather because - my chem, physics and bio studies finished at the age of 18, I reckon if I don't understand then maybe quite a few others don't either
 
OK, a short introductory article on [swiki]Rocks[/swiki].

There will be forthcoming separate articles on igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

Oh, and I added a definition of mineraloids to the article on [swiki]Minerals[/swiki].
 
Rocks said:
granite forms from molten rock which solidifies underground, where it cools slowly, thus forming large crystals; rhyolite forms from molten rock on the surface, which cools more quickly, forming smaller crystals.
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This is fascinating... the next word is but...

But I'm now suddenly and impatiently curious to know WHY cooling times influence crystal sizes... if there's a simple explanation then please include it
 
Rocks said:
Sedimentary rocks are those which are formed by sediment which has turned into rock.
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That repetition not only jars my eye, it doesn't tell me much that I couldn't have guessed

What are the influencing and/or prerequisite conditions?

I'm guessing density, pressure, temp (?), time (as in duration of being 'undisturbed by wind, tidal flows, etc)

I don't like guessing

Please help
 
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