Identifying Turquoise: Its History and Appeal

Said to share the color of the sea or to have stolen the hues of the sky, turquoise is a many-storied mineral; its very name is a symbol of color. It has been revered for millennia the world over as a sacred stone representing everything from growth to fire to heaven itself.

Turquoise has become an icon not only of the ancient world but especially of desert regions, where it most famously appears from veins and pockets in rock—a flow of color as essential to past cultures as water in the arid climate.

For thousands of years, turquoise has been cherished for its vivid, evocative color, and many people still collect and wear it today. But despite its perennial and ever-rising popularity, there tends to be a lack of clarity about how and where it forms. In his book Turquoise: Identifying and Collecting the Southwest’s Iconic Gemstone, Dan R. Lynch, the author of several books about rocks and minerals, explores the beauty and history of the sky-blue stone, one of the most celebrated and treasured gemstones of ancient and modern times. The book will be published March 11, 2025. Pre-order your copy now!

Dan is an author and photographer who has written more than 20 field guides, monographs, and kids’ books covering a wide range of topics in the geological sciences. Born and raised on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior, he learned the nuances of rock-and-mineral identification firsthand, both on the stony beaches and in his parents’ rock shop, Agate City, in Two Harbors. In his years at the shop, he found that he had a knack for explaining complex topics like rock-and-mineral formation, putting them in simpler terms for eager novices.

Combining this skill with his love of photography and his hands-on background in geology, Dan prides himself on his series of books in which he guides readers through all aspects of a topic, always starting at the beginning to ensure everyone has a solid foundation for understanding the more-technical details that follow. In this way, he hopes to foster an appreciation for the earth beneath our feet, counteract online misinformation, and convey to readers the profound importance of science.

Dan lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife and son and works as a classical numismatist and writer.

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