Comments on: Dan Brown’s Smithsonian: Fact or Fiction?

By: The List: 5 Weirdest Worms at the Smithsonian | Around The Mall

The List: 5 Weirdest Worms at the Smithsonian | Around The Mall — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:17:45 +0000

[...] library of specimens, made famous by Dan Brown’s 2009 bestseller The Lost Symbol, is cold and damp, conditions that minimize the evaporation of the alcohol in the jars. One of [...]

By: LucreciaRS

LucreciaRS — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 04:50:27 +0000

Ok, if only 2% of items are on display at a given time, do all the museums are constantly changing their displays, so you basically can see different things every time you go, is that correct? Well then, how long would it take a person to see the entire collection.
I wonder because most of the time we don’t want to go back to the museum because we think we’ve seen what they have, how do we know that things have changed, without doing a lot of reading, of course (who has time?).

By: James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil

James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:37:38 +0000

It’s interesting that the “Jefferson Bible” is considered “an irreplaceable national treasure” when Jefferson is well-known to have been a non-believer if not an actual atheist.

I suspect that Jefferson would scoff at this concept if not actually be repulsed by it.

By: Dana Allen-Greil

Dana Allen-Greil — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:40:03 +0000

There are a few other Smithsonian connections in the novel! The Lost Symbol features Horatio Greenough’s statue of George Washington (pp.87-88), which is a landmark object on the National Museum of American History’s second floor. Another artifact, the Jefferson Bible (mentioned on p. 491), is considered an irreplaceable national treasure and why its future is at risk.

By: Beth Py-Lieberman

Beth Py-Lieberman — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:17:08 +0000

I would like to comment on Brown’s character (Robert Langdon) making reference to Smithson’s intentions in giving his money to the United States. I don’t have the book here in the office, so I can’t give you the exact wording, but it leads the reader to think that it was for some altruistic and noble intent. The fact is that in his will written in 1826, Smithson bequeathed his fortune first to his nephew Henry James Dickenson (later Hungerford) who was at the time only about 18 years old. Smithson put in a codicil that stated that should the nephew die without heirs, then the fortune was to go the United States “to found an Institution for the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge Among Men.” We are still not 100% sure of why Smithson put in this clause because all expectations would be that the nephew at such a young age would live long and probably marry or at least have children. Had the nephew not died (at an early age in 1835) the “Smithsonian” would never be. As one of the comments said, “reality is far more interesting than fiction”.

Richard Stamm
Curator
Smithsonian Castle Collection

By: O. D. Smith

O. D. Smith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:25:01 +0000

Is it true that the funds Mr. Smithson originally donated to found the institution were deposited in an Arkansas bank that went broke and that Congress appropriated funds to replace the lost money?

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:08:15 +0000

As always in life, reality is far more interesting than fiction! I’m still not enticed to read Dan Brown, but I am even more keen to visit the Smithsonian.

By the way, for an architectural comparison (Q6)check out Scott’s St Pancras Midland Grand hotel, Waterhouse’s Natural History Museum, or Barry and Pugin’s Houses of Parliament in London, all built about the same time, all of them with the same Victorian high-gothic-reproduction look. They are all British treasures!

By: nancy @ princetoncryo

nancy @ princetoncryo — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:06:24 +0000

This is so interesting that someone actually took the pains to go there and check the facts.

By: Audrey

Audrey — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:43:39 +0000

This is amazing, Megan! I love all the details. So interesting! See you soon!