An account of the Smithsonian Institution : its origin, history, objects and achievements.

  • Goode, G. Brown (George Brown), 1851-1896.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of the Smithsonian Institution : its origin, history, objects and achievements. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    By G. Brown Goode. THE name of the Smithsonian Institution is a household word in America, while in every center of intellectual activity abroad, it is regarded as the chief exponent of the scientific thought of the people of the United States, thus representing that which is deemed in other lands to be the chief glory of our nation; for, whatever may be thought of American art and literature, or of American institutions in general, the science of America is everywhere accepted as sound, vigorous and progressive.* Its activities are, however, not limited to science, but embrace every branch of human knowledge. The Smithsonian Institution, although it bears the name of a foreigner, has for half a century been one of the most impor- tant agencies in the intellectual life of our people. It has been a rallying point for the workers in every department of scien- tific and educational work, and the chief agency for the free exchange of books, apparatus of research and of scientific in- telligence between this and other countries. Its publications, *This Publication is intended to serve as a descriptive label to accompany the collective exhibit of the Smithsonian Institution and its dependencies. It is based upon my essay on The Smithsonian Institution, printed in 1885, in The Chautau- quan (Vol. V, pp. 275-79), ^nd upon later writings, especially The Origin of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States (Report Ameri- can Historical Association, 1889, pp. 53-100); The Genesis of the National Museum (Smithsonian Report. 1891, II, pp. 273-380) and the article Smithsonian Institution in Johnson's Cyclopccdia, new edition (Vol. VII, 1895).