Short answers, pulled from the story.
Heat and pressure transform limestone or dolomite into marble through a metamorphic process that recrystallizes carbonate minerals like calcite or dolomite. This geological transformation typically results in a crystalline texture without layers while primary sedimentary textures disappear completely.
The word marble derives from the Ancient Greek term marmaros meaning crystalline rock or shining stone with roots likely tracing to the verb marmairo which means to flash or sparkle. Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott documented these etymological connections in their Greek English Lexicon on the Perseus Digital Library.
China and Italy dominate world production representing 34% and 19% respectively while India and Spain follow producing 16% and 13% of global output combined. Turkey led exports in 2018 with a 42% share of global trade followed by Italy at 18%.
Light penetrates 12.7 to 38 millimeters into calcite before scattering out creating a waxy appearance that gives human form sculptures a unique optical property found in no other common building stone. Daniel Chester French sculpted the Statue of Abraham Lincoln using Georgia Marble in 1920 to utilize this subsurface scattering effect.
Cutting marble dust can impair lung function or cause silicosis disease among workers while skin and eye problems represent additional potential hazards for those handling raw material. OSHA set legal limits at 15 mg/m3 total exposure over an eight-hour workday in the United States and NIOSH recommends a lower limit of 10 mg/m3 total exposure for worker safety standards.