America's Smithsonian

the long version

Reaching back to prehistory, and forward into space, pursuing the lessons of the natural world and the record of human achievement, the Smithsonian Institution is unsurpassed in the breadth of its interest and endeavors. Over the course of 150 years, the generous bequest of Englishman James Smithson has been transformed into research institutes, a zoological park, and museums of art, science, aviation, industry, history, craft, design, and cultures from across the globe. Reflecting this vast cornucopia, America's Smithsonian accompanies an unprecedented traveling exhibition of the best of the Institution's collections. Commemorating the Smithsonian's sesquicentennial, the exhibit and book arrange artifacts and objects into galleries that honor the impulses of discovery, imagination, and memory that underlie the missions of the Smithsonian's museums. With a foreword by I. Michael Heyman, the current Secretary of the Smithsonian, and a brief history of the Institution's founding, America's Smithsonian offers readers the chance to savor the extraordinary objects that embody our collective desire to commemorate our national experience and understand the world around us.