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The Science of James Smithson: Discoveries from the Smithsonian Founder
Maybe someday
38
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
58/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Steven Turner
Publisher:
Smithsonian Books
Date:
November 3, 2020
An exploration of the scientific career of James Smithson, who left his fortune to establish the Smithsonian Institution.
What The Reviewers Say
... a quirky, oddly touching book that allows us to step, for a few moments, inside the world of a practicing Enlightenment scientist, to sit beside him as he fans the flames of a candle with his little blowpipe, waiting for that small mineral in front of him to melt and yield its secrets.
Turner weaves biographical facts about Smithson through well-researched discussions of the subjects of his published papers, which range from detailed chemical analyses of various substances to ice crystals to making an inexpensive, but accurate, scale.
While Turner’s experiment-by-experiment, article-by-article analysis can be tedious and principally of interest to historians of the sciences of Smithson’s era, the author makes a convincing case that his wide-ranging studies should be considered significant scientific achievements for their time.
Curious readers will appreciate this accessible look at the work of a thoughtful, idealistic scientist..
