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Article: Capturing the beauty of amber.(Metropolitan Times)(Life Times)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- June 4, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Amber has been described by some as "nature's organic jewel." But Francis Hueber, the National Museum of Natural History's curator of paleobotany (that means "really old plants"), takes a much more practical view of this fossilized form of tree resin.
Amber, he says, is Mother Nature's plastic.
Indeed, this usually yellowy-brown substance, which has enjoyed a high profile since its starring role in "Jurassic Park," looks and feels a lot like something synthetic. The perfect way it preserves ancient specimens, however, makes it priceless to scientists such as Mr. Hueber.
And before its scientific properties were ever appreciated, amber ...