Earthly Matters

Ongoing
du Pont Lobby

Across centuries and cultures, MINERALS have provided humans with essential raw materials.

We’ve used them as currency to trade. We’ve made them into ceramics and plumbing. We now harness their ability to conduct and store electricity to power our cell phones and cars.

For thousands of years, humans have mined minerals for their value and studied them for their utility. But because minerals vary so much from each other, they have been challenging to organize and define. The categories we’ve used have also changed over time, based on evolving needs, desires, and knowledge. The characteristics and qualities we’ve seen in these objects reveal humanity’s efforts to know and use the natural world.

Chemistry—the study of matter—is one of the oldest branches of science. Today scientists group minerals based on their chemical structure. But what kinds of questions did we ask before we could determine that structure?

Earthly Matters features a collection of more than 20 minerals recently donated to the Science History Institute. Elements, crystals, gemstones, and even a meteorite are on display in seven state-of-the-art cases that ask:

• What is this? How can I use it?
• Is it a metal?
• How hard is it?
• What color is it?
• Does it glow?
• Why does it…?
• Is it from Earth…or from space?

Support

Earthly Matters is presented in loving memory of Margaret & Moshe Alafi through the generosity of Alafi Capital and Bering Capital.

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