Lost World of James Smithson: Science, Revolution, and the Birth of the Smithsonian Book

Most people have heard of the Smithsonian Institution. Not many know a lot about James Smithson, the man who left the money to the United States government to start it. Turns out, there's a good reason-- more than one, actually.

I knew the vague basics that I'd picked up from going to the Smithsonian several times. James Smithson was a wealthy Englishman who left his fortune to America and funded what eventually became the Smithsonian. Among the reasons the man is shrouded in mystery are the fact that the papers he left to the museum were almost completely destroyed by a freak fire in 1865. Then later, when they tried to study his body for clues about the man, there was a mishap with the tools to open the tomb, and that caught fire, too. Sounds like something for a fantasy novel, doesn't it? Also, in addition to spotty record keeping back in the late 1700's, there's the further complication that he wasn't born Smithson, but rather James Macie.

The man who would be Smithson was the illegitimate son of English nobility, and, while he desperately wanted it, was never acknowledged. He grew up with his mother, a very litigious woman. He became fascinated by science, and went on to make contributions in the fields of geology and chemistry. Smithson had frail health, but didn't let that stop him from traveling to get his own specimens. He didn't always make the best-timed choices in his travels, and was captured and held prisoner during the Napoleonic Wars. Between his unrecognized background and experiences in France, you can see why he might not leave money to England or France. The fact that he left it to America is even more striking considering he never came to the country, and had no relations here.

It's a well researched book, but the author can't work miracles. We don't know when he was born. A lot of his travel records are missing. There's not a definitive cause of death for Smithson, or his adopted nephew, who might have inherited and prevented the Smithsonian from ever coming into being. It's kind of a historical mystery, and one with few definitive answers.

Recommended for anyone who likes history.