Arts and Humanities
The arts and humanities explore human experience through creative expression and critical analysis of history, literature, philosophy and religion
PHOTOS: The Mind-Blowing, Floating, Unmanned Scientific Laboratory
Wave Gliders are about to make scientific exploration a lot cheaper and safer
May 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Our Battle Against Extinction, 100 Recipes and More Recent Books Reviewed
Growing up as a poor Astor and the roots of psychiatry
May 2013 |
By Chloë Schama
The History of the Short-Lived Independent Republic of Florida
For a brief period in 1810, Florida was truly a country of its own
May 2013 |
By William C. Davis
How Lego Is Constructing the Next Generation of Engineers
With programmable robots and student competitions, Lego is making “tinkering with machines cool again”
May 2013 |
By Franz Lidz
The Revolutionary Effect of the Paperback Book
This simple innovation transformed the reading habits of an entire nation
May 2013 |
By Clive Thompson
The Real Deal With the Hirshhorn Bubble
The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum looks to expand in a bold new way
May 2013 |
By Joseph Giovannini
Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube
Without this simple invention, impressionists such as Claude Monet wouldn’t have been able to create their works of genius
May 2013 |
By Perry Hurt
How Do You Make a Painting Out of Sounds?
Jennie C. Jones has the answer. Her first solo museum show opens at the Hirshhorn in May
May 2013 |
By Jamie Katz
Spotlight
The latest Smithsonian exhibitions showcase Civil War photography, Buddhist figures and Time magazine cover portraits
May 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
Egypt’s Murals Are More Than Just Art, They Are a Form of Revolution
Cairo’s artists have turned their city’s walls into a vast social network
May 2013 |
By Waleed Rashed
Before There Was Photoshop, These Photographers Knew How to Manipulate an Image
Jerry Uelsmann and other artists manually blended negatives to produce dreamlike sequences
May 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now
Smithsonian researchers used optical technology to play back the unplayable records
May 2013 |
By Charlotte Gray
The True Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill
Nathaniel Philbrick takes on one of the Revolutionary War’s most famous and least understood battles
May 2013 |
By Tony Horwitz
Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism
New archaeological evidence and forensic analysis reveals that a 14-year-old girl was cannibalized in desperation
May 01, 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
What Happened to the Wizard of Oz Costumes and More Great Questions From our Readers
Apollo 11 souvenirs, Walt Whitman’s politics, and dinosaur DNA were among the subjects you wanted to know more about
May 2013 |
By Smithsonian magazine
How the Ford Motor Company Won a Battle and Lost Ground
Corporate violence against union organizers might have gone unrecorded—if it not for an enterprising news photographer
April 30, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Saturn’s Mysterious Hexagon Is a Raging Hurricane
At the heart of Saturn's hexagon, a giant hurricane
April 30, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Decoding the Range: The Secret Language of Cattle Branding
Venture into the highly regulated and fascinating world of bovine pyroglyphics
April 30, 2013 |
By Jimmy Stamp
Why Every State Should Be More Like Texas
Reporter Erica Grieder sees wisdom in the Lone Star State’s economic model. No verdict on if it has the best barbecue, however
April 30, 2013 |
By Amy Crawford
