The Science of James Smithson: Discoveries from the Smithsonian Founder

by Steven Turner

Overview

Accessible exploration of the noteworthy scientific career of James Smithson, who left his fortune to establish the Smithsonian Institution.

James Smithson is best known as the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, but few people know his full and fascinating story. He was a widely respected chemist and mineralogist and a member of the Royal Society, but in 1865, his letters, collection of 10,000 minerals, and more than 200 unpublished papers were lost to a fire in the Smithsonian Castle. His scientific legacy was further written off as insignificant in an 1879 essay published through the Smithsonian fifty years after his death—a claim that author Steven Turner demonstrates is far from the truth.

By providing scientific and intellectual context to his work, The Science of James Smithson is a comprehensive tribute to Smithson's contributions to his fields, including chemistry, mineralogy, and more. This detailed narrative illuminates Smithson and his quest for knowledge at a time when chemists still debated thing as basic as the nature of fire, and struggled to maintain their networks amid the ever-changing conditions of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781588346902
Publisher:	Smithsonian Institution Press
Publication date:	11/03/2020
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,071,187
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

STEVEN TURNER is a historian of science and retired curator of physical sciences at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. He has written broadly about the history of American science and scientific instruments. He also developed a deep interest in the Smithsonian's founder and has recreated most of his chemical experiments.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 The Long Road to Staffa 7

2 Edinburgh, London, and Paris 23

3 Tabasheer 33

4 Calamine 53

5 Minium 73

6 The Sulphuret from Huel Boys 81

7 On the Composition of Zeolite 91

8 Ulmin 101

9 A Saline Substance from Mount Vesuvius 111

10 The Colouring Matters of Some Vegetables 127

11 A Sulphuret of Lead and Arsenic, and "Plomb Gomme" 135

12 Fibrous Copper and Capillary Metallic Tin 143

13 Sulphate of Barium and Fluoride of Calcium 149

14 A New Test for Arsenic and "Smithson's Pile" 157

15 Smithson's Lamp and the "Sappare" 175

16 An 'Aristocratic Science Dabbler"? 183

17 Chloride of Potassium 191

18 Compounds of Fluorine 195

19 Egyptian Colors 203

20 Kirkdale Cave and Penn's Theory 211

21 The "Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge" 225

Epilogue: who was james smithson? 241

Notes 247

Index 289

Editorial Reviews

11/09/2020

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.)

Publishers Weekly

WALL STREET JOURNAL
"Although he published close to 30 articles in leading journals, Smithson’s scientific efforts have often been viewed as mere dabbling, busywork with little impact. Not so, exclaims Mr. Turner, a retired curator of physical sciences at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. To rectify the record, the author re-creates, down to the smallest detail, the experiments Smithson had conducted and written about, using the tools he would have used. The result is 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."

KIRKUS REVIEWS
"After rerunning Smithson’s experiments, a substantial feat in its own right, Turner, a historian of science and emeritus curator of physical sciences at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, convincingly refutes the charge that his subject was an 'aristocratic science dabbler,' a charge largely based on his interest in practical applications, such as improving the process of coffee-making. [...] Solid insight into the work of a man whose gift undergirds one of the most important U.S. institutions of learning."

LIBRARY JOURNAL
"Seamlessly intertwined with information about scientific and social developments in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including facts about important names in geology, chemistry, and mineralogy, this welcome guide will engage readers of science biographies and the history of science."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 
"Curious readers will appreciate this accessible look at the work of a thoughtful, idealistic scientist."

From the Publisher

11/01/2020

Science historian Turner (emeritus, curator of physical sciences, Smithsonian National Museum of American History) explores the life and work of James Smithson, the founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution through his bequest to the United States for "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." Smithson, a wealthy English chemist and mineralogist, was long thought to be a scientific dabbler, but Turner's examination of Smithson's scientific papers and the response to them proves he was a respected chemist of his time, elected as a fellow to the Royal Society at the age of 22, whose work was eclipsed by later scientific advances. 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. VERDICT Seamlessly intertwined with information about scientific and social developments in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including facts about important names in geology, chemistry, and mineralogy, this welcome guide will engage readers of science biographies and the history of science.—Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove, IL

Library Journal

2020-09-01
An assessment of the scientific achievements of the man whose surprise, never-fully-understood benefaction to the government created the Smithsonian Institution, now “the largest museum complex in the world.”

Along the way offering a biography of James Smithson (1765-1859), about whose life scant evidence remains, Turner concentrates principally on the experimental contributions by this “accomplished analytical chemist.” During Smithson’s era, “natural philosophy,” the ordinary science of its time, was breaking apart into today’s more specialized disciplines of chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and botany, all of which Smithson helped move forward. A multifaceted figure educated in an older tradition, Smithson adjusted to the rapidly evolving world of deductive research and, via associations throughout his native Britain and Europe, significantly advanced a number of the emerging sciences. After rerunning Smithson’s experiments, a substantial feat in its own right, Turner, a historian of science and emeritus curator of physical sciences at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, convincingly refutes the charge that his subject was an “aristocratic science dabbler,” a charge largely based on his interest in practical applications, such as improving the process of coffee-making. 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. A never-married man, Smithson left his considerable fortune to his childless nephew. After that relative predeceased Smithson, upon his death, Smithson’s estate (worth a then-massive sum of $500,000), by direction of his will, was transferred to the U.S., a country he had never visited. By decision of Congress, his gift created the institution that bears his name, one dedicated grandly to “the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

Solid insight into the work of a man whose gift undergirds one of the most important U.S. institutions of learning.

Kirkus Reviews