6 lectures - 30 minutes each (Each DVD lists the topics for all 48 lectures.) MEMBER REVIEW: This is another Great Courses offering. In a nutshell, Prof. Robert M. Hazen equates mineralogy to the evolution of the Earth, and makes time and life elements of how minerals formed. I found the instructor a bit overblown, and he really loves the camera, but he does explain things very well. And the concept that minerals should be explained as to when they formed is new. He talks about ur minerals, minerals that were present in the cosmos before earth formed. This inclusive view of mineralogy and geology includes physics, chemistry, and other sciences. So you learn about all of them at the same time. It builds and is certainly fascinating. He invented this approach, so a good amount of time is spent selling his system of categorizing minerals. Disk 1 has an overview of chemistry and solar evolution, starts with the big bang and ends before the solar system formed.