The concept of mineral evolution, developed by mineralogist Robert Hazen, describes the development of mineral diversity over more than 4.5 billion years of Earth's history. While only a few simple minerals existed at the beginning of our solar system, planetary processes, oceans, oxygen and biological activity gave rise to thousands of new mineral species.
The new special exhibition traces the continuous development from the cosmic origin of matter through the early glowing Earth, the formation of the oceans and the oxygenation of the atmosphere, to the explosion of mineral diversity – and finally to the Anthropocene, in which humanity itself has become a geological force. The history of minerals is at the same time the history of our planet – and ultimately also our own history.