Description: It can be so frustrating to put great effort into something, and then to have your work and achievements called into question. I can't begin to imagine how frustrated Samuel Pierpont Langley was in 1903. By that time, he had spent over forty years studying astrophysics and aerodynamics. His work on astronomically-derived time measurement in the late 1860's is the heart of the
Description: Several weeks ago a brown box full of photographs arrived at “The Smithsonian.” Now being that “The Smithsonian” is actually made up of many museums and research centers, this brown box was circulated through several offices before I finally got the call to see if it was something that I wanted. Usually the Smithsonian would rather not receive unsolicited donations. Though,
Description: When I started working with museums in 2005, the concept of crowdsourcing was in its infancy. That year, James Surowiecki ‘s book, “The Wisdom of Crowds,” was published and there were tiny experiments in crowdsourcing occurring in the cultural heritage sector. There were hesitations and objections about the whole concept within the GLAM (gallery, library, archive, museum)
Description: Eleanor McMillan, Conservator, Smithsonian’s Conservation Analytical Laboratory, 1963–94, supervised conservation projects and educational and training programs. Although she began as a generalist, McMillan became the first paper conservator in the laboratory. After retirement, she provided initial funding for the Smithsonian Center for Archives Conservation and donated her
Description: [caption id="attachment_3071" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Spiral Galaxy Messier 81 (M81), 2003, Spitzer Space Telescope / IRAC, NASA / JPL-Caltech / S. Willner, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA"][/caption] You may in fact be, or just feel like, a big shot down here on earth. But, ever since airborne cameras started to photograph our little planet from above, and once they
Description: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has been located on the National Mall since 1974, but before that, Joseph and Olga Hirshhorn spent years considering which city or country the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden would call home.
Description: [caption id="attachment_2064" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Photographs of Paul and Julia from page 262 of My Life in France, by Thérèse-Marie Blazek of feastingonpixels.blogspot.com."][/caption] If you haven’t seen Nora Ephron’s latest film Julie & Julia yet, there are several scenes, which indicate that aside from his work for the U.S. government, Julia Child’s
Description: The term “personal equation” came into use in the 19th century as scientists found that observers have inherent biases: some anticipate events, and some report events after they have occurred. Recognition of the problem led to a spate of personal equation instruments: some measured biases of this sort, and some reduced the effect of personal errors. Most of these
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