The Science of James Smithson: Discoveries from the Smithsonian Founder

Turner, curator emeritus of physical sciences at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, offers a detailed account of the life and work of James Smithson (1765–1829), an English chemist who willed his wealth to the U.S. government for the creation of “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of Knowledge among men”: the Smithsonian Institute. By the time Smithson’s bequest reached Washington, D.C., in 1835, his work in chemistry and minerology had been largely forgotten, lost beneath newer discoveries. Born to wealth, Smithson attended Oxford in the 1780s, “a golden time for English science,” and worked with celebrated scientists including chemist Joseph Black, physicist Henry Cavendish, and geologist James Hutton. Smithson’s curiosity ranged widely: he studied mineral samples gathered deep inside a Scottish coal mine, dated fossil remains, and analyzed ancient Egyptian pigments. Near the end of Smithson’s life, he shifted his focus to those “outside of the scientific community,” which Turner attributes to London’s Mechanics Institutes, created to educate the working class; this Enlightenment belief, that science should “better the human condition,” Turner notes, is likely what led Smithson to will his fortune to the Smithsonian. Curious readers will appreciate this accessible look at the work of a thoughtful, idealistic scientist. (Nov.)