Sam Boggs Jr received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado and worked in the petroleum industry for a number of years before joining the University of Oregon, where he taught sedimentology and related subjects for more than 30 years, and where he continues his research in sedimentary petrology as a professor emeritus. He has also worked part-time as a research geologist for the U. S. Geological Survey. Professor Boggs is a member of the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the Geological Society of America. He is the author of two other books for Cambridge University Press -Backscattered Scanning Electron Microscopy and Image Analysis of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks (1998) and Application of Cathodoluminescence Imaging to the Study of Sedimentary Rocks (2006)], as well as the author of four other books.