47th Atlantic Micromounters' Conference: Saturday April 10, 2021 at 1-4pm on Zoom
Speakers:
1pm - Quintin Wight, Canada - "The Scientific Value of Micromounting"
2pm Micromineral Auction by Michael Pabst, Penn Laird, Virginia
3pm - Mike Seeds, Lancaster, Pennsylvania - "The Universe in a Micro Box"
1pm - Quintin Wight, Canada - "The Scientific Value of Micromounting"
2pm Micromineral Auction by Michael Pabst, Penn Laird, Virginia
3pm - Mike Seeds, Lancaster, Pennsylvania - "The Universe in a Micro Box"
Quintin Wight program: The Scientific Value of Micromounting
For a long time micromounters have felt rather scorned by the collectors of large, showy pieces who spend thousands on their collections. Museum curators also tend to dislike micromounts because they are difficult to display. This talk demonstrates that micromounters have every reason to be proud of their accomplishments, and introduces some of the people and institutions that are keeping the science of mineralogy alive and up to date through micromounting. In the last few years, micromounters have discovered more than 270 new mineral species. How many have the cabinet collectors found?
Biography: Colonel (Ret.) Quintin Wight, CD, MA
His 37-year career in the RCAF/CF took Quintin, a graduate of Queen's, Carleton, and Concordia Universities, to many localities in which he could find mineral specimens to add to a growing collection. He began writing about minerals in 1966, and has since published a book and over 185 articles and reviews on mineral-related subjects. He began to specialize in mineral photomicrography in 1973, and has given more than 180 presentations to groups across North America, and in England, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Tanzania, and New Zealand. Inducted to the Micromounters’ Hall of Fame in 1990, he now coordinates that organization in Baltimore, Maryland, and heads an annual gathering of specialists in microscopic minerals in Rochester, New York. His book, The Complete Book of Micromounting, was published in 1993, and the mineral quintinite was named in his honor in 1997.
For a long time micromounters have felt rather scorned by the collectors of large, showy pieces who spend thousands on their collections. Museum curators also tend to dislike micromounts because they are difficult to display. This talk demonstrates that micromounters have every reason to be proud of their accomplishments, and introduces some of the people and institutions that are keeping the science of mineralogy alive and up to date through micromounting. In the last few years, micromounters have discovered more than 270 new mineral species. How many have the cabinet collectors found?
Biography: Colonel (Ret.) Quintin Wight, CD, MA
His 37-year career in the RCAF/CF took Quintin, a graduate of Queen's, Carleton, and Concordia Universities, to many localities in which he could find mineral specimens to add to a growing collection. He began writing about minerals in 1966, and has since published a book and over 185 articles and reviews on mineral-related subjects. He began to specialize in mineral photomicrography in 1973, and has given more than 180 presentations to groups across North America, and in England, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Tanzania, and New Zealand. Inducted to the Micromounters’ Hall of Fame in 1990, he now coordinates that organization in Baltimore, Maryland, and heads an annual gathering of specialists in microscopic minerals in Rochester, New York. His book, The Complete Book of Micromounting, was published in 1993, and the mineral quintinite was named in his honor in 1997.
Mike Seeds program: "The Universe in a Micro Box"
Hydrogen and helium atoms were made in the big bang, but where did all of the heavier elements come from? They were cooked up in stars and, in some cases, blasted into existence in cataclysmic explosions called supernovae. Mike Seeds combines his experience as an astronomer with his love of minerals to trace the different ways stars have made the atoms in our minerals and in our bodies. The iron in our blood and in our pyrite crystals exists because dead stars called white dwarfs explode in supernovae and blast newly formed atoms into space. Mike's talk is illustrated with photos of exploding stars and beautiful minerals.
Biography: Mike Seeds PhD
Dr. Seeds is Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has enjoyed minerals since childhood, and his wife and daughter joined him in the family hobby of geology and minerals. They often attended mineral shows, and Mike most enjoyed the micromounters showing off tiny minerals under their 'scopes. He bought his first microscope in 1999 and has been making micromounts ever since. He is past president of the Baltimore Mineral Society, Chair of the Desautels Micromount Symposium. and has been editor of the club newsletter for over 10 years. He has written over 100 articles about micromounting called Shoebox Adventures. Mike was inducted into the Micromounters Hall of Fame in 2020.
Hydrogen and helium atoms were made in the big bang, but where did all of the heavier elements come from? They were cooked up in stars and, in some cases, blasted into existence in cataclysmic explosions called supernovae. Mike Seeds combines his experience as an astronomer with his love of minerals to trace the different ways stars have made the atoms in our minerals and in our bodies. The iron in our blood and in our pyrite crystals exists because dead stars called white dwarfs explode in supernovae and blast newly formed atoms into space. Mike's talk is illustrated with photos of exploding stars and beautiful minerals.
Biography: Mike Seeds PhD
Dr. Seeds is Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has enjoyed minerals since childhood, and his wife and daughter joined him in the family hobby of geology and minerals. They often attended mineral shows, and Mike most enjoyed the micromounters showing off tiny minerals under their 'scopes. He bought his first microscope in 1999 and has been making micromounts ever since. He is past president of the Baltimore Mineral Society, Chair of the Desautels Micromount Symposium. and has been editor of the club newsletter for over 10 years. He has written over 100 articles about micromounting called Shoebox Adventures. Mike was inducted into the Micromounters Hall of Fame in 2020.