HISTORY OF THE RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE (RPI) GEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS

摘要

Amos Eaton (1776-1842), founder of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Henry B. Nason (1831-1895), and James Hall (181 1-189H), put together outstanding mineralogical and geological museums. These collections started the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (Hall's collection), and Nason's interest in mineralogy led Washington A. Roebling (1837-1926), a Rensselaer student, to collect and donate a mineral collection to the National Museum of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. This collection exceeded in completeness the famous public collections in Europe and the United States. Before 1830, there were only two important centers for the study of the science of geology: London, England, the largest city in the world at that time with 1.5 million inhabitants, and Troy, New York, with a population of approximately 10,000. According to Rittner (2002) several people are given credit for the importance of Troy: Steven Van Rensselaer (1764-1839) who helped found Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Amos Eaton (1776-1842), father of American geology, and Sidney Powers (1890-1932). "Sidney Powers is one of the most respected names in American geology today"; further Rittner (2002) notes "the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) of which Powers was a founding father, is today the largest geological society in the world and its medal 'the Sidney Powers Medal is the AAPG's most prestigous honor' ". My own background fits in with these pioneers in geology. My geology degrees include both Bachelor and Doctor of Science from the University of London, and since my time in London I have spent forty-two years in Troy doing geology. Even Sidney Powers fits in. His grave is within walking distance of my home, and I have spent much time (including leading field trips) visiting his grave and further, I am the only recipient of the Sidney Powers Medal in the northern and eastern United States. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Rensselaer mineralogical and geological collections thrived and attracted visitors and students. After close to two hundred years of geological sampling and preservation of precious samples (1824-2000) the collections were discontinued, their material was dumped away as litter, stored in basements, or donated to other institutions. Even though the museum science was discontinued at Rensselaer its heritage was preserved.