WHAT'S HERE? - Thomas S. Warren Museum of Fluorescence

The Warren Museum includes sixteen different exhibits in three rooms. Here are some of the highlights:

The "Color Wall"

Upon entering the main room of the museum visitors will see before them the "Color Wall", a 16-ft-wide, floor-to-ceiling display of 100 oversized fluorescent mineral specimens, some of them 2-3 ft long and weighing more than 100 pounds. A sequential lighting scheme allows viewers to see the minerals first under longwave ultraviolet light, then under shortwave ultraviolet light, and finally under both. This is followed by a brief period of darkness so that the phosphorescence, or "afterglow", of some of the minerals can be seen.



	Partial view of the "Color Wall", with large 'touchable' samples in foreground. Photo by Herb Yeates. Click on image to enlarge.

Touchable Displays

Three good-looking children, transformed by ultraviolet light into something not even a mother could love. This photograph was taken under longwave ultraviolet light. Exposure to longwave ultraviolet light is thought to be harmless to humans, but under no circumstances should one's eyes be exposed to midrange or shortwave ultraviolet light. As the saying goes, "Do not try this at home"!
Photo by Maureen Verbeek.

Fluorescent minerals piled on open ore cars, with longwave ultraviolet lamps suspended above, invite visitors to touch glowing minerals in the process of fluorescing. Many visitors discover that they themselves fluoresce, and that fingernails and teeth glow particularly brightly, often to disturbing effect. Handsome men, beautiful women, and cute children transform into ghastly creatures in this exhibit—we guarantee it. Come see your loved ones in a whole new light!

Theme Cases

More than a dozen display cases in the Warren Museum are theme cases that illustrate some particular facet of fluorescence. No less beautiful than the other displays, these cases allow visitors to learn as much (or as little) about fluorescence as they wish. Visitors can see that some minerals fluoresce in a wide range of colors whereas others do not, that fluorescence in minerals has a variety of causes, and that fossils often fluoresce due to remaining traces of organic material. Fluorescent cabochons, spheres, eggs, carvings, and obelisks reveal the lapidary side of the hobby, and brightly glowing wine glasses, plastic balls, glass marbles, and cookie tins remind visitors that a trip through their own home with an ultraviolet lamp is bound to be an interesting experience. For a description of each theme case click here.



	"Aesthetic case" at the Warren Museum. Photo by Tema Hecht. Click on image to enlarge.

Large Geode

A favorite with children, the large fluorescent geode near the museum's entrance is three feet across and weighs more than 3,000 pounds. An eight-inch hole broken through the geode's shell allows viewers to see the brightly green-fluorescent minerals inside.



	Large fluorescent geode and Warren Museum visitor Jesse Woods. Photo by Maureen Verbeek.

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Telephone: 973 209-7212
FAX: 973 209-8505
Postal address: 30 Plant Street, Ogdensburg, NJ 07439
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