Event #1: UCLA Geology Exhibit

According to UCLA, the collection of meteorites is one of the largest if not the largest collection on the west coast. This collection contains over 2500 samples from over 1500 different meteorites. However, when actually there in person the exhibit only displays a few different rocks at a time. Even though it was smaller than what I expected I still enjoyed finding out that there was a museum hidden somewhere I actually didn't know was there. 

Fun Fact: According to UCLA, the process of "Cosmochemistry is where a scientist will take a look at the chemical breakdown of individual meteorites in order to analyze the rocks. 

What I found to be the most interesting collection at the geology exhibit was all of the extraterrestrial Basalts that were on display. The ones that stood out to me the most were the martian basalt, alkali basalt, and pahoehoe basalt. I found that most of these rocks really gave off an artistic feeling to them, they contained beautiful color schemes and lovely textures. When walking through the exhibit I could help but think of all the times that we analyzed the connections between art and science and how science in many cases is what came first. That art is a reflection of science and the world around us. These basalts looked exactly like that, like drawings from an artist who is interested in science, and I thought to make that connection was really cool. 

I was never particularly good at school, and I study sociology for a reason, therefore, so many of what was at this exhibit were fairly new information for me. After leaving I went and did some research and according to geology.com, basalts are lava rocks that form through decompression within our earth mantle. Then when they cool off they leave different shades of colors and in my opinion, they turn out very pretty and full of texture.

In conclusion, I learned that in order to truly understand art you need to experience the core of where it comes from, our world around us. Science is beauty and this small expedition took me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to see the beauty in something I had not paid attention to before. I believe that this is what this class has truly been about and one of the biggest messages I'll take with me after this course.