About this book
The go-to guide for visitors who want to maximize their experience at the Smithsonian’s 19 museums and National Zoo The Smithsonian holds more than 155 million artifacts and specimens in its trust. The Official Guide to the Smithsonian makes navigating the world’s largest museum complex more efficient and fulfilling. Featuring a huge amount of history, highlights, and pertinent museum information, the colorful guide is designed to enrich time spent in the Smithsonian’s incredible galleries and museums on the National Mall, the Washington metropolitan area, and New York City. The new 2021 edition features major updates for all the museums. This includes a full treatment of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the most recent Smithsonian museum, as well as the Deep Time hall at the National Museum of Natural History, their new fossil hall that displays towering fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures to explore the epic story of Earth. Each detailed section presents the history of the museum and offers a fully illustrated, gallery-by-gallery tour. It also includes all the practical information such as location, hours, phone numbers, public transportation, services, tours, dining, gift shops, special attractions for children, and website addresses. With so much to see and do across the vast Smithsonian collections, this is the definitive source of information in one place.
About Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution, also known simply as the Smithsonian, is a trust instrumentality of the United States composed as a group of museums and research centers. It was founded on August 10, 1846, "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the "United States National Museum", but that name ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967.
"I then bequeath the whole of my property...to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the **Smithsonian Institution**, an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge..."
- [James Smithson][1] (1765-1829)
[1]: http://upstream.openlibrary.org/authors/OL2394098A/James_Smithson
**Source**: [Smithsonian Institution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_Institution) on Wikipedia.
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