Gems and Jewels for iPad is now available on the App Store, the University of Chicago Press and Touch Press in collaboration with the Field Museum announced this week. The Gems and Jewels app is a dazzling adaptation of the printed book Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World (The University of Chicago Press) by Lance Grande, Senior Vice President of The Field Museum and curator of the Grainger Hall of Gems.

Gems and Jewels, developed by Touch Press, allows users to "hold" objects such as an Etruscan gold necklace from Italy; a 20-carat natural diamond crystal; and the Aztec "Sun-god Opal" carved in the sixteenth century. Zooming in lets users can see details from a perspective that, before the iPad, could only be experienced by handling the actual objects, such as the reverse side of 37-carat tanzanite necklace set in a sea of diamonds.

Detailed captions and scientific data accompany each gem and stone, and book-length text explores the gems' roles human culture; geographic origins; and value. Additional features include a field guide to gems and a tour of the Grainger Hall of Gems, the most popular room at The Field Museum.

Gems and Jewels is available for $13.99 from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore.