Aug
18

Following in the footsteps of James Smithson

Inveraray Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland was one of the places visited by James Smithson (1764–1829), geologist and founder of the Smithsonian Institution, during the summer of 1784 while he was traveling on a scientific expedition to the remote island of Staffa on Scotland’s Northwest coast. Steven Turner, curator in the Division of Medicine and Science at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, recently retraced Smithson’s journey to Staffa and wrote about it in a fascinating post“ Following in the footsteps of James Smithson,” on the American History Museum blog “O say can you see?”

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Posted: 18 August 2011
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.