The newly rebuilt Karl E. Limper Geology Museum at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. David Eicher photo.
When I was down in my hometown of Oxford, Ohio, a few weeks ago, delivering a talk and visiting folks at Miami University, my old stomping grounds, I had the pleasure of seeing the newly rebuilt and reopened Karl E. Limper Geology Museum. I’ve been a fan of geology and mineralogy for a long time, and the new museum in Miami’s Shideler Hall, is really, well . . . pun intended . . . a gem. Under the directorship of Kendall Hauer, the museum now has opened with a large, clean, and modern space in the entryway of the hall, which houses the Department of Geology & Environmental Earth Science, the Dept. of Geography, and the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability. The museum sports an amazing digital globe on which one can view Earth, numerous special data sets relating to Earth, or a big collection of other planets and moons of the solar system. Its impressive cost aside, every geologist and astronomer would want one of these globes in his or her own house!!
The museum of rocks, minerals, meteorites, and fossils is still in a sense being set up, but many specimens are already on display. My sister Nancy, Physics prof. Jennifer Blue, and myself had a wonderful time visiting with Dr. Hauer.
I’ll append some images of beautiful display specimens I experienced at the museum, and I encourage you, if and when in southwestern Ohio, to check out this nice museum.
For more info on it, see:
http://miamioh.edu/cas/academics/centers/limper-museum/index.html
Thanks also to my friend, mineralogist John Rakovan and his lovely wife Monica, for hosting a session at which we discussed the whole history of mineralogy and our interests piece by piece. It was really a wonderful time.
Kendall Hauer, Director of the Limper Geology Museum, poses in front of some specimens. David Eicher photo.
The carbonaceous chondrite Allende is always a popular meteorite for collectors. David Eicher photo.
Pieces of the Canyon Diablo meteorite, which created Meteor Crater in Arizona. David Eicher photo.
A beautiful specimen of the rare mineral Liroconite, from England. David Eicher photo.
Gorgeous sulfur crystals from Michigan. David Eicher photo.
A lovely specimen of rhodonite in galena from Australia. David Eicher photo.
Three splendid specimens: fluorapatite, mimetite, and vanadinite. David Eicher photo.
Gemmy blue crystals of celestine from Ohio. David Eicher photo.
My favorite Ohio mineral: root-beer colored cubic fluorite crystals on white celestine from Clay Center, Ohio. David Eicher photo.