Pramod Kumar Verma, a professor(Retd.) of Geology at the University of Delhi, received his Ph.D. in Geology from Harvard University, USA, in 1973. Dr. Verma has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mineralogy and physical geochemistry during the last four decades. He was primarily a metamorphic petrologist but began his research in the regional geology of metamorphic rocks in the Eastern Himalayas. In addition to the Himalayas, his area of interest was in the petrology of the planetary interior. He published several research articles in leading international journals and edited two books on Eastern Himalayan Geology. Prof. Verma had held visiting assignments in USA, Germany, and Zambia. He was a fellow of the Mineralogical Society London. He also served as the president of the Earth System Sciences Section of the Indian Science Congress and the vice president of the Indian Geological Congress.

Part 1: Principles and Techniques of Optical Mineralogy.- Properties of Light.- Sample Preparation for Transmitted Microscopy.- Refractometry.- Optical Crystallography.- The Polarizing Microscope.- Microscopic Examination of Minerals I: Orthoscopic Condition.- Microscopic Examination of Minerals II.- Microscopic Examination of Minerals III: Conoscopic Condition.- Reorienting Techniques.- New Frontiers in Microscopy.- Part II: Systematic Description of Common Rock Forming Minerals.- Nesosilicates.- Sorrosilicates and Cyclosilicates.- Inosilicates.- Phyllosilicates.- Tektosilicates.- Non-silicates.