Search our website
Key in a search term below to search our website.
Key in a search term below to search our website.
Peter Davidson is Senior Curator of Minerals.
Peter Davidson is Senior Curator of Minerals at National Museums Scotland with responsibility for the meteorite collection and other smaller collections, as well as the main mineral collections. He was hired as a museum assistant in the former Department of Geology in 1975 and helped to establish and run the new x-ray analytical facility. He graduated with a degree in Earth Sciences from the Open University in 1984. Peter also has a diploma in German (Language) from the Open University which he received in 2000.
His main areas of research interest are mineralogy, topographical mineralogy, history of mineralogy and the history of collections. His interest in historical mineralogy is reflected in his research into the origin of mineral names which will feature in a forthcoming book. He is also interested in examining and researching the state of mineralogy at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries in Edinburgh and Scotland in general.
He has also planned and developed many permanent and temporary exhibitions both in the museum and at Mineral Shows in Europe and the USA. He has closely collaborated with colleagues in other institutions around the world in the fields of mineralogy and meteoritics as well as with contemporary artists wishing to look at the collections as a source material for their work.
Patrick Baty, Peter Davidson, Elaine Charwat, Giulia Simonini, André Karliczek. 2021. Nature's Palette: A colour reference system from the natural world. Thames & Hudson. 290pp.
Samuel J.M.M. Alberti, Alice Blackwell, Peter Davidson, Martin Goldberg and Geoffrey N. Swinney. 2018. The Art and Science of Replication. Copies and Copying in the Multi-Disciplinary Museum. In: Brita Brenna, Hans Dam Christensen, Olav Hamran (eds.), Museums as Cultures of Copies: The Crafting of Artefacts and Authenticity, 1st Edition. Routledge.
Davidson, P. 2012. Scotland and Russia – Historical and Mineralogical Connections. Mineralogical Almanac 17 (3): 42-45.
Anderson, P., Bottrill, R. and Davidson, P. 2002. The Lord Brassey Mine, Tasmania. Mineralogical Record 33 (4): 321-332.
Moreton, S., Davidson, P., Green, D. I and Ryback, G. 1998. Unusual supergene minerals at Muckross Mine, Killarney, Co. Kerry. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 17: 19-24.
Main, L., Barber, B., Boyd, W. E., Caldwell, D., Clarke, A., Collins, G., Davidson, P., Dungworth, D., Hunter, F., Ingemark, D., McDonnell, G., Robertson, A. S., Slater, L., Smith, C., Spearman, M., Willis, S and Young, A. 1998. Excavation of a timber round-house and broch at the Fairy Knowe, Buchlyvie, Stirlingshire, 1975-8. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 128: 293-417.
Davidson, P. 1988. Leadhills und Wanlockhead. Gottes Schatzhaus in Schottland. Mineralien Welt 6/98: 18-20.
Davidson, P. 1998. Mineralien '98 Hamburg präsentiert Harzer Spitzenstufen aus Edinburgher Museum. Mineralien Welt 5/98: 10-11.
Davidson, P. 1995. Troilite from Glenelg, Highland Region, Scotland: The First British Isles Occurrence. Journal of the Russell Society 6 (1): 52-3.
Davidson, P. 1995. Rutheniridosmine from the Ochil Hills, Scotland: The First British Isles Occurrence. Journal of the Russell Society 6 (1): 54-5.
For further publications see the National Museums Scotland Research Repository.
Explore the mineral collections with our Senior Curator of Mineralogy, Peter Davidson.
Blog posts by Peter Davidson
Discover the fascinating story of one of only four meteorites ever recovered in Scotland.
Read more
