Volume 37 of Reviews in Mineralogy divided into three sections begins with an overview
(Chapter 1) of the remarkable advances in the ability to subject minerals-not only as pristine
single-crystal samples but also complex natural mineral assemblages-to extreme
pressure-temperature conditions in the laboratory. These advances parallel the development of
an arsenal of analytical methods for measuring mineral behavior under those conditions. This
sets the stage for section two (Chapters 2-8) which focuses on high-pressure minerals in their
geological setting as a function of depth. This top-down approach begins with what we know from
direct sampling of high-pressure minerals and rocks brought to the surface to detailed
geophysical observations of the vast interior. The third section (Chapters 9-19) presents the
material fundamentals starting from properties of a chemical nature such as crystal chemistry
thermochemistry element partitioning and melting and moving toward the domain of mineral
physics such as melt properties equations of state elasticity rheology vibrational dynamics
bonding electronic structure and magnetism. The Review thus moves from the complexity of
rocks to their mineral components and finally to fundamental properties arising directly from
the play of electrons and nuclei.This volume was prepared for a short course by the same title
organized by Russell J. Hemley and Ho-kwang Mao and sponsored by the Mineralogical Society of
America December 4-6 1998 on the campus of the University of California at Davis.
