Abstract
Precious stones and the gems that are cut from them have been used over human history as signs of wealth, luxury and power. They are distinguished from other minerals found on Earth by their color, transparency, and refractive qualities. Their physical hardness and resistance to environmental elements gives a sense of ever-lasting value. While these properties give gems the qualities as ornamental objects, it is, above all, rarity that commands the value assigned to them as objects of treasure. Although pebbles on the beach also come with a variety of colors and can be considered quite beautiful, they are not valued as such just because there is such an abundance of them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Radcliffe College used to be a women’s college next to Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After Radcliffe merged with Harvard in 1977, the campus of the College became the grounds for the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, the Harvard arm of a research think tank.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kwok, S. (2013). Gems from Heaven. In: Stardust. Astronomers' Universe. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32802-2_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32802-2_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32801-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32802-2
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)