Description: Research has been at the core of Smithsonian’s mission from the beginning, and sharing that research—through activities like publishing papers and data—is still key to fulfilling that mission for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.”
Description: The 19th century was a transformative time for the natural sciences. New discoveries didn't just happen in an armchair. Scientists adventured into unfamiliar territory by land and sea on expeditions, and their new findings fed new theories. Groups like the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences formalized America's place
Description: [view in Spanish]Born near Cadiz, Ohio, in the year the Smithsonian was founded, 1846, Holmes's life was intimately tied to the institution from the time he was twenty-five until his retirement in 1932 when he was 86.He began work as an artist drawing specimens for a number of naturalists in the employ of Spencer Fullerton Baird, then Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian