In 1816, a Scottish physicist built a device with colored bits of crystal and mirrored lenses set at an angle. David Brewster discovered the colored glass made beautiful patterns when viewed through a tube.
Dr. Brewster graced his invention with the name “kaleidoscope”, from the Greek words kalos meaning “beautiful” and eidos meaning “shape”.
In 1834, there was another crystal revelation, in Russia’s Ural Mountains; a Finnish man found emerald mines and brought a few specimens home. Nils Nordenskiold wasn’t surprised to find there were emeralds in emerald mines. He was surprised come morning, though, when his emerald stones were rubies.
The night before, they were deep blue-green like the heart of a river. Now they were violet-hued. A color you find sometimes in a sunrise; Nils was greatly confused.
He had never seen a stone like this. Clearly, it wasn’t an emerald. He wrote to his friend, Count Lev Pieroski, about his amazing find. He described it and sent a sample; he suggested the name “diaphanite”.
Count Lev, in turn, sent the stone to his friend, the incoming tsar, and suggested the name “alexandrite”. The newly crowned Alexander II agreed, to no one’s surprise.
Likewise, David Brewster failed to patent his invention before showing it to a “friend”; kaleidoscopes popped up everywhere, before he could say “hornswoggled”.
A kaleidoscope, today, may be carved from exotic wood and cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. You can find one in a Dollar Tree bin, probably made in Japan.
Alexandrite, on the other hand, is rare. It costs more than any diamond. The “ruby by day, emerald by night” is June’s birthstone, and also given to honor those few and far between, who’ve been married for fifty-nine years.
They are few and far between, as well, who know the name “Nils Nordenskiold”. It’s not likely you knew, off the top of your head, who invented the kaleidoscope, either.
Both men lost the thing they named. Both gave away what they held in their hand; at the end of the day, a kaleidoscope simply repeats what it sees.
It’s the pieces inside, that matter.