Science History Institute Unveils New Mineral Exhibition at Packed Opening Celebration

In addition to getting a first look at our unique display of such minerals as stibnite, aquamarine, fluorite, gold, and a one million-year-old meteorite, guests also enjoyed light hors d’oeuvres and a glowing “Gem and Tonic” cocktail featuring a rock-candy-on-a-stick stirrer.

Curator Michelle DiMeo and exhibition developer Jesse Smith gave the packed house a behind-the-scenes tour of Earthly Matters, complete with fascinating stories of how humans have mined, studied, and categorized minerals for thousands of years. The event also included an interactive table featuring experiments using the mineral hardness scale created by Friedrich Mohs in 1812 (and still used today) and color streak tests. Visitors also learned about fluorescence and the chemical properties of the minerals in our collection, while viewing historic periodic tables and a display of alchemical texts and rare books on minerals from our library collection.

As part of the Institute’s Rohm and Haas Fellow in Focus lecture series, former Institute scholars Megan Piorko and Meagan Allen greeted guests at the “Producing the Philosophers’ Stone” table. Piorko had attendees try their hand at solving the first line of a 17th-century ciphertext containing a partial recipe for creating the legendary substance, which alchemists believed could turn base metals like lead and iron into gold. Allen demonstrated how she made an amalgam from mercury and gold while a video of her smelting the element antinomy in a lab looped on a video screen.

Earthly Matters is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm; admission is free.