Petrography rock was affixed to a microscope slide and then ground so thin that light could be transmitted through mineral grains that otherwise appeared opaque. The position of adjoining grains was not disturbed, thus permitting analysis of rock texture. Thin section petrography became the standard method of rock study. Since textural details contribute greatly to knowledge of the sequence of crystallization of the various mineral constituents in a rock, petrography progressed into petrogenesis and ultimately into petrology. It was in Europe, principally in Germany, that petrography advanced in the last half of the nineteenth century. The macroscopic characters of rocks, those
A Study of History 23 civilizations identified by Toynbee in vol. Vii. This table does not include what Toynbee terms primitive societies, arrested civilizations, or abortive civilizations. Civilizations are shown in boldface. Toynbee's "Universal Churches" are written in "italic" and are chronologically located between second- and third- generation civilizations, as is described in volume VII. The social scientist Ashley Montagu assembled 29 other historians' articles to form a symposium on Toynbee's "A Study of History", published as The book includes three of Toynbee's own essays: "What I am Trying to Do" (originally published in "International Affairs" vol. 31, 1955); "What the Book is For: