It wouldn't make any sense to study objects like black smokers just from the point of view of their biology or just from the point of view of their geology. These environments, in fact, could very well be models for how life exists on other planets. In addition, black smokers are ore deposits in the making, and they're iconic of very large-scale global processes. For instance, they may hold a record of hydrothermal circulation in the mid-ocean ridge from which they've been collected. And I feel proud and honored to have the opportunity to show off my science, even my field, by having something that excites my colleagues and me and will allow us to tell a story that very few people know or understand.
Exhibits inspire people.
They force the imagination. At least they do mine when I walk through the Hall of African Mammals, for example, and look at those beautiful dioramas. My imagination is inspired, though I'm not sure I know all the reasons for that. Perhaps one of them is because implicitly I see that there's so much effort and passion put into them. I would hope that the black smoker will inspire awe.