I love the L.A. County Natural History Museum. It's kind of small...not nearly the size of Chicago, New York, or the Smithsonian. But there is one area of the museum that's world class: The Hall of Gems & Minerals.I must admit: I love rocks and minerals. Call me a nerd if you want to, but I just think they're so cool. I even have a little collection of my own. (And I belong to the Mineral of the Month Club!)
But the museum has some SPECTACULAR specimens. And the exhibit is HUGE!
I went there with a friend of mine last Saturday and most of the day was spent in the mineral hall. Sure, they have those cool dinosaur skeletons from the Mesozoic and skeletons of extinct mammals from the Cenozoic, and those cool diaramas of North American and African mammals. And the Latin American History wing, the History of California exhibit where they have a gigantic model of what L.A. looked like in the 30s. Then they have the insect zoo (which isn't quite as cool as it sounds). And some other rotating exhibits.
But the Gem & Mineral Hall is the crown jewel (pun definitely intended) of the museum. The photo you see is only part of one wall and displays specimens arranged according to systematic mineralogy.
Another wall shows minerals and crystals of California. Then there is the gold exhibit. The meteorite exhibit. The classic specimens (some of which are extraordinarily spectacular). Fluorescent specimens. The "Gem Vault" where you literally walk into a vault containing hundreds of precious cut gemstones. Plus interactive stations showing how crystals are formed, etc. (Oh, and they have one of the largest crystal balls in the world and its flawless.)
I can't wait to go again. I never get tired of that Hall. There's just something about these crystals...all those different colors and shapes...it's remarkable to think of them as natural phenomenon. They're just so beautiful!
But there's nothing at all really complicated about them. They're just regularly arranged structures of basic elements.
Take stibnite, for example. It has a distinctively metallic hue and forms in groups of long, thin crystals. I have a stibnite sample at home. It's beautiful. But it's just Antimony Sulfide arranged in a regular pattern. Galena is Lead Sulfide, also arranged in a regular pattern, but the crystals are much larger and can form in gigantic cubes.
So...simple compounds...regular patterns...beautiful crystals.
Dr. Nerdstan
6 comments:
uh....
Haha, jk. Did you know that my dad is a geologist? Before he started his own business he graduated from "geology school" (I guess) at USC and had a little career with rocks. I'm sure he would love talking to you about rocks. He always tried to talk to me about rocks, but I was never really all that interested.
Shelley
Hey, I didn't know that! Next time I see him I'll have to ask him about it. Does he have a rock and mineral collection?
My brother used to sleep with rocks.
Really.
I should clarify....
When he was little. Not, like, as an adult, or anything.... ??
"I belong to the Mineral of the Month Club"
I had no Idea that such a thing existed. If you were here, I would flick your right ear until you jumped up and started to pummel me.
You are now officially a Nerdi Knight.
Ha! Actually, I didn't know it existed either until I went to a rock and mineral show in Costa Mesa last fall. I met the guy who owns the business, and bought a few minerals from him.
From a marketing standpoint, its a great business model: recurring revenue every month, automatically billed against the customer's credit card until the customer calls up and cancels. It's hard to beat that kind of business model.
But I do have concede, I guess...it is sort of nerdy. But not as nerdy as collecting Star Trek memorabilia. (Which I don't.)
So if there were a Nerd Scale (A Stan Scale of Nerdiness), I would certainly score on the high side, but I don't think I'd be maxing out the scale!
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