Books
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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
August 2005 |
By Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Conquering Polio
Fifty years ago, a scientific panel declared Jonas Salk's polio vaccine a smashing success. A new book takes readers behind the headlines
April 2005 |
By Jeffrey Kluger
As Told at The Explorers Club
More Than Fifty Gripping Tales of Adventure
May 2004 |
By Owen Edwards
Photos for All Time
A new book, At First Sight, draws on all the Smithsonian's vast archives to chart photograph's profound place in history
April 2004 |
By Merry A. Foresta
The epic of Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center symbolizes the heart of Manhattan
March 2004 |
By Owen Edwards
Riding the Steppes
A 1,000-mile odyssey across Mongolia on horseback
January 2004 |
By Smithsonian magazine
James Smithson's legacy
The Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum
September 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Fakahatchee Ghosts
But no exorcisms, please these rare orchids are the stars of a hit movie and a best-selling book
August 2003 |
By Jack McClintock
To Fly!
A new book traces the Wright brothers' triumph 100 years ago to an innovative design and meticulous attention to detail
April 2003 |
By James Tobin
Journal of the Plague Years
Two courageous pioneers showed how a fearsome scourge could be defeated
April 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Mr. Lincoln's Washington
The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.
April 2003 |
By Christopher Buckley
Henry Kissinger on Vietnam
Henry Kissinger's new book revisits America's troubled extrication from Indochina
March 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Once Upon a Time
Children's books by celebrities are as old as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Here are our favorites
March 2003 |
By Smithsonian magazine
Dividing the Spoils
In a new book, historian Michael Beschloss re-creates the 1945 Potsdam Conference at which Harry Truman found his presidential voice and determined the shape of postwar Europe
December 2002 |
By Michael Beschloss

