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2021–2022 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Minerals Matter: Science, Technology, and Society

Barbara L. Dutrow, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics, E-235 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex, Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana 70803-4101, USA, dutrow@lsu.edu

The expertise of earth scientists is crucial for solving some of The expansive subject of minerals is familiar to Geological
today’s most pressing challenges, including global warming and the Society of America (GSA) audiences. Several past presidents have
climate crises, natural hazard reduction, water and soil quality, spoken on minerals and related topics, presumably beginning with
exploration for critical elements for our technological society, and the second president of GSA, James Dwight Dana, in 1890—
many others. perhaps best known for his enduring textbook The Manual of
Mineralogy, first published in 1848 (J.C. Wiley and Sons), and now
INTRODUCTION in its twenty-third edition (Klein and Dutrow, 2007). Why should
Minerals, the solid material comprising planet Earth, are within we continue to care about mineral sciences in the twenty-first cen-
the intellectual realm of earth scientists but are much more funda- tury? Because minerals still matter.
mental to science, technology, and society. From the beginnings of
humankind, Earth’s minerals have been essential for technological
advances. Prior to written language, paintings made of mineral pig-
ments adorned caves. The advent of human-produced fire owes its
source to two minerals: pyrite and flint. Early Homo species were
likely the first mineralogists, separating different minerals into
useful tools based on their physical properties to identify, in part,
those minerals that perfectly fractured when worked. Utilization of
different minerals through melting, smelting, or physical manipula-
tion defines the Ages of Man: Stone, Bronze, Iron, and Technology.
Minerals are important basic resources that can inform us about
how solid materials work on the atomic level and be modified to
humanity’s benefit. They serve as templates for technologically
advanced materials, necessary to fulfill many societal needs.
The attributes of minerals to science, technology, and society are
illustrated by a single mineral, elbaite. Elbaite is a species of the
tourmaline supergroup that incorporates nearly the entire periodic Figure 2. Banded iron formation, a source for iron, a critical component of
table in its structure (Fig. 1). For geoscientists, it embeds unparal- steel and other manufactured materials. Iron was one of the earliest mined
leled geologic information when properly interpreted; for technol- and smelted minerals.
ogy, it was utilized during WWII as a pressure sensor to monitor
underwater explosions due to its piezoelectric properties; and for ESSENTIAL BUT UNDERVALUED
society, it is a mineral that contains lithium, an element critical to Minerals are vastly underappreciated, and the science of mineral-
powering modern electronic devices. ogy is disappearing despite their centrality to society and to the
earth sciences. Minerals (continue to) power our lives. They are
used in nearly every aspect of our lives, yet do we think of minerals
when we walk on planet Earth or answer the cell phone or turn on
the lights or start the car? The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
reports that an average automobile “contains more than a ton of iron
and steel, 240 lbs of aluminum, 50 lbs of carbon, 42 lbs of copper,
22 lbs of zinc, and 30 other mineral commodities” (USGS, 2021).
These materials do not include the cerium used to polish mirrors or
the other components in hybrid or electric vehicles. One primary
reason for their underappreciation is that, for the most part, we do
not use minerals, per se; we utilize their contents—their chemical
constituents (Fig. 2). From aluminum to zinc, the elements extracted
from minerals form the basis for advanced materials for our ever-
improving standard of living.
While mineralogy, or mineral sciences, has been taught largely
Figure 1. Elbaite crystal, a species of the tourmaline supergroup contain- as an underpinning subject or in support of other earth-science
ing lithium, showing its noncentrosymmetic growth along the long axes
(c) which is responsible for its piezoelectric (and pyroelectric) properties, fields (e.g., petrology or geochemistry), its utility to all facets of sci-
contributing to its utility as a technological material. Color change ence, technology, and society elevates this discipline well beyond
reflects incorporation of different chemical elements in response to its
host environment. the geosciences. As industry and governments look to a sustainable

GSA Today, v. 32, no. 2, https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATPrsAdrs21.1. CC-BY-NC.

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