Description: In celebration of over a century of volunteer contributions at the Smithsonian, explore the work of some stellar volunteers from our collection.
Description: Wired Science has great coverage of our recent “Field Book Lantern Slides” Flickr Commons set, complete with more information from the Smithsonian’s Thomas Jorstad, who works in the paleontology department at the National Museum of Natural History. Yeek! A Dust Archive (for real!) [via Marguerite Roby, SIA].
Description: [caption id="attachment_7327" align="aligncenter" width="432" caption="The Smithsonian Institution Building, "The Castle""][/caption] When I'm walking around the National Mall, I often hear people exclaim, "There's the Smithsonian!" as they point to the large red Smithsonian Castle near the Metro exit; something I also would have assumed before my first visit to the Mall.
Description: [caption id="attachment_7706" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="First eBook made by Dan Cohen, Director of the Center for History and New Media, August 2, 2010"]You [/caption] Update: You can read a follow-up post about the Anthologize project and process here. As Head of Web & New Media, I'm always looking for ways we can engage visitors with our papers, photographs,
Description: Dr. Katherine Ralls, Senior Research Zoologist Emerita, Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, was one of the first scientists hired at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and is a founder of the Society for Conservation Biology. She has conducted research in mammalogy and conservation biology at the Smithsonian since 1973. #Groundbreaker
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_287602,size=250,left]As a child in England in the 1930s, Oliver Sacks enjoyed playing with his Uncle Abe’s spinthariscope. It was, he would later recall, “a beautifully simple instrument, consisting of a fluorescent screen and a magnifying eyepiece, and inside, an infinitesimal speck of radium.We take a look at the spinthariscope at the Smithsonian.