Description: The Smithsonian Institution Building, or the “Castle,” is the most iconic of all the Smithsonian’s 769 facilities, which include its nineteen museums, nine research centers, National Zoo, and all of its other establishments. The Castle was the first building constructed specifically for the Smithsonian after it was founded in 1846. On March 19, 1847, a contract was signed with
Description: In honor of Women's History Month, here is a brief biography of sorts about Viola S. Schantz, a prominent mammalogist who worked for the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service from 1918-1961.
Description: Today is the first day of winter. Not ready for the cold weather? It could always be worse. Ornithologist (and future tropical biologist) Neal Griffith Smith once wrote in his journal:"Still pensil [sic]. Well, I've got time and temperature to write. Just sharpened the pensil with a snow knife. We are parked smack in the middle of Southampton [Island] in a bloody windstorm. It
Description: This is part one of three in a series of blog posts about a research project on treating fire-affected optical discs. This month, we’ll introduce the project.
Description: The Smithsonian’s scientists and naturalists were, and still are, constantly on the move. When they weren’t in the field, they were in the museum studying collected specimens, writing papers, and getting ready for the next series of trips. Dr. Waldo LaSalle Schmitt (1887-1977) was no exception.Logistics is a special skill, an essential one when traveling on scientific
Description: In August 1996, the Smithsonian marked its 150th anniversary with a huge birthday celebration on the National Mall. For its sesquicentennial, a term which this author constantly forgets no matter how many times she looks it up, the Institution threw itself a two-day birthday party, sprinkled with special exhibit tents, concerts, nineteen birthday cakes, a special website, and