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Smithsonian Magazine: August 2005

Features

Shark

Recent attacks on people off the Florida coast are a tragic reminder of the animal's fierce nature. Yet scientists say the terrifying predator is itself in grave danger
By Steve Kemper

It's Over

We asked readers to tell us where they were and how they reacted to the news that World War II had ended. And what a response we got!
By Smithsonian magazine

Mystery Man of Stonehenge

Who was he and where did he come from? And what was his role in the making of the great monument? The discovery of a 4,300-year-old skeleton surrounded by intriguing artifacts has archaeologists abuzz
By Richard Stone

Return to Da Lat

A veteran Vietnam correspondent revisits the romantic retreat where he, and so many others, sought respite from war in Indochina
By Stanley Karnow

World's Unlikeliest Bestseller

Fifty years ago a brewer's bet spawned a compelling compendium of feats, stunts and trivia
By Bruce Watson

E-Gad!

Americans discard more than 100 million computers, cellphones and other electronic devices each year. As "e-waste" piles up, so does concern about this growing threat to the environment
By Elizabeth Royte

Building the Bomb

A new book about atomic scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer charts the secret debate over deployment of the first A-bomb and the anxiety that suffused its first live test
By Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Departments

Indelible Images

Footloose

The image of Bruce McCandless' spacewalk two decades ago still amazes. It was the first untethered walk ever—and was among the last
By Anne Broache

Points of Interest

In the Fast Lane

Drivers gear up to set speed records at Utah's desolate Bonneville Salt Flats
By Preston Lerner

Phenomena & Curiosities

Baked Alaska

A unique study documents the disappearance of Alaska's glaciers, blamed on global warming
By Laura Helmuth

Presence of Mind

Ghost of a Chance

How did the ivory-billed woodpecker, which was feared extinct, hang on all these years?
By Scott Weidensaul

Editor's Note

War Stories

Remembering the sound and fury—and the joy—of the end of World War II
By Carey Winfrey

From the Secretary

The Price of Ambition

From the beginning, the cost of increasing and diffusing knowledge exceeded even Smithson's generosity
By Lawrence M. Small

Lewis and Clark

A Bittersweet Homecoming

As the corps finally makes contact with the Shoshone Indians, interpreter Sacagawea reunites with her family.
By Smithsonian magazine

Books

Bound for Canaan; The Perfectionist

By Smithsonian magazine

The Last Page

Give Weeds a Chance

How a cultivated dislike of gardening can lead to more time on the porch
By Ann Hodgman

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