Our curators and researchers recommend a little something for everyone.

The curators and researchers spend a lot of time reading, everything from classic novels to the latest exhibition catalog. We asked some of them to lend us their reading lists to see which titles rose to the top and why.

For the Art Connoisseurs:

Leslie Umberger, from the American Art Museum, recommends:

“James Castle: Show and Store, an exhibition catalogue produced by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sophia in 2011 brilliantly navigates the complex depths of Idaho artist James Castle (1899-1977). Fresh, insightful, and deeply moving, the images and essays explore a truly, astonishing, poetic and enigmatic body of work–drawings of soot, paper constructions, and carefully rendered books and letters–entirely in its own terms. Perfectly magical.”

Lisa Hostetler, from the American Art Museum, recommends:

“Photography Changes Everything, edited by Marvin Heiferman (Aperture/Smithsonian Institution, 2012). It’s an interesting look at the wide variety of ways that photographs are used and how photography itself has affected contemporary culture. Two exhibition catalogues that I’ve been looking forward to reading are Cindy Sherman (MoMA, 2012) and Rineke Dijkstra (Guggenheim, 2012). Sherman and Dijkstra are two of today’s most compelling artists, and these retrospectives are important compendia of their careers.”

Maya Foo, from the Freer and Sackler, recommends:

“Rome by Robert Hughes. In college, I studied art history in Rome and I have wanted to return to Italy ever since. Robert Hughes’ Rome is a readable and rich history of the city told through art, architecture, literature and the author’s personal narrative.”

For the Wordsmiths:

David Ward, from the National Portrait Gallery, recommends:

“What with the opening of Poetic Likeness at the museum this fall and co-editing Lines in Long Array: A Civil War Commemoration, which includes 12 newly commissioned poems, my mind has been mostly on poetry the last year or so. I have been especially taken by the following titles: First, work by two of the great “voices” in modern American poetry, one still vital even at 85, John Ashbery, and the other sadly gone, Adrienne Rich, who passed away earlier this year after an amazingly powerful career. Adrienne Rich, Later Poems: Selected and New, 1971-2012 (WW Norton, 2012). John Ashbery, Quick Question: New Poems (Ecco, 2012).

The writer Eavan Boland is not only a first-rate poet but she is continually interesting on the subject of writing, literary history and social roles. Her latest book explores the sense of doubleness that she navigates in her career: A Journey with Two Maps: Becoming a Woman Poet.

Two prize-winning books by two of America’s best poets are also of note: Jorie Graham’s Place (Ecco, 2012) and Tracy K. Smith’s Life on Mars (Greywolf, 2011), which won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2012.

Also, a pitch for a book that was published a couple of years ago that I don’t think got as much attention as it should have, from Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors, A New Literary History of America (Harvard University Press, 2009), which came out in paperback in 2012. It provides a really valuable, entertaining and incisive view of 500 years of American writing.”

For the Scientists:

John Grant, from the National Air and Space Museum, recommends:

Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity and the Exploration of the Red Planet by Steve Squyres is good for adults. Squyres writes about his work as the principal investigator on both the Spirit and Opportunity missions to Mars in 2004. A good read for people following the more recent Mars developments with the Curiosity mission.

And for the younger set: Fly Me to Mars by Catherine Weitz is a terrific kids book.

For the History Buffs: 

Cory Bernat, co-curator of FOOD: Transforming the American Table at American History, recommends:

Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America by Harvey Levestein, which covers America’s eating habits from the 1930s to present day.

John Edward Hasse, at the American History Museum, likes:

Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood and How It Changed America, by John M. Barry, because it’s a “fascinating story told so compellingly that it reads almost like a novel.”

Nancy Bercaw, of the American History Museum, suggests:

Tiya Miles’ Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom, first published in 2006, but an interesting read for readers looking for something different in the Civil War sesquicentennial.

See More Holiday Gift Guides from Smithsonian.com »

Smithsonian Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture, Richard Kurin will discuss the dazzling, outsized life of diva May Yohe, the subject of his new biography.

Tuesday, December 4: Madcap May: The Many Lives and Loves of a Scandalous Showgirl

From owner of the Hope Diamond and darling of the stage to penniless ex-pat, May Yohe lived a diva’s life. Headlines followed her around the world, through multiple high-profile marriages and equally tantalizing performances, but only Richard Kurin’s new biography, Madcap May: Mistress of Myth, Men and Hope brings her many adventures into one story. The Smithsonian Institution’s under secretary for history, art and culture knew he had to write the book after he came across May while doing the research for another book on the Hope Diamond. Kurin told the Around the Mall blog, “When you start thinking about all the things that she did: that many lovers and husbands at that time, to go to the height of fame in the British theater at that time—this is the time of Gilbert and Sullivan and George Bernard Shaw, so to be so successful and then end up playing in ten-cent vaudeville theaters, really in poverty, and running a chicken, and running a tea plantation, and a rubber plantation! She did so much more than any one human being, it’s kind of hard to imagine.” Hear more of her story from Kurin, who will discussing and signing copies of his book for Smithsonian Associates. Tickets $18 members, $25 non-members. 6:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Museum of African Art.

Wednesday, December 5: Immigration, Ethnic Economies, and Civic Engagement: Understanding the Latino Experience in the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Region

Much was made of the importance of America’s changing demographics in the recent election, particularly the role of Latino voters in deciding the presidential race. But the Smithsonian’s Latino Center has been hard at work researching the historic roots of the Latino community in the nation’s capital. Joined by regional experts, the Center presents a discussion of the region’s relationship to its Bolivian community, its immigrant entrepreneurs and its low-income populations from World War II to today. Catholic University’s Enrique Pumar, the Brookings Institution’s Audrey Singer, George Washington University’s Marie Price and Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s Jane Henrici will discuss their own work and the Latino Center’s research. Free. 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Thursday, December 6: Carbon for Water

As part of the Anacostia Community Museum’s “Reclaiming the Edge: Urban Waterways and Civic Engagement” exhibit, the museum presents a documentary about the vulnerability of people living in Kenya’s Western Province. Reliant on the rivers for drinking water, many of the people are exposed to water-borne illness. The documentary, by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez, will be discussed by Anacostia Riverkeeper Mike Bolinder.  Free. 7 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Arturo Rodríguez made this Van Gogh-inspired card for Helen L. Kohen, ca. 1980-1999. From Handmade Holiday Cards from 20th-Century Artists.

Friday, November 23: ZooLights 

It’s that time of year at last, when we get to see all of our favorite Zoo creatures as giant, light-up sculptures! That’s right, folks, ZooLights is back at the National Zoo. So yeah, you can go and enjoy the wildlife and educational extras (and you should) but the real show starts at night when dazzling greens, yellows and reds bring the Zoo to life. The show attracts 100,000 visitors each year. And new this year, the Conservation Carousel done in the grand tradition of old-fashioned carousels with handcrafted representations of the Zoo’s animal icons. Model trains, snowless tubing and plenty of photo opportunities, ZooLights entertains young and old. Admission is free. Parking $9 FONZ members,
$16 nonmembers. Begins Friday 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. National Zoo.

Saturday, November 24: Booksigning with Mary Savig, Handmade Holiday Cards

Author Mary Savig will be signing her book, Handmade Holiday Cards from 20th-Century Artists. With 190 reproductions of holiday cards straight from the Archives of American Art’s collections, the book is an historical tour of commonplace commercial graphic design. From the Mondrian-inspired abstractions to Japanese prints, the collection provides an alternative take on holiday greetings with designs by famous artist, including Josef Albers, John Lennon and Yoko Ono and Robert Motherwell. Talk with the author about her research process and maybe get some ideas for your own holiday card. Free. 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Castle.

Sunday, November 25: Metaphysical Baseball

David Stinson will be at the American History Museum signing copies of his book, Deadball, A Metaphysical Baseball Novel, about a minor league player possessed by visions of baseball greats gone by. Driven to the point of obsession, he begins traveling the country to see for himself the vanished stadiums and places that made baseball history. A novel thriller, the book also incorporates plenty of baseball history that fans will appreciate and enjoy. Free. 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. American History Museum.

May Yohe epitomized the Naughty Nineties. Larger than life, Yohe burned a path to greatness from humble beginnings in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Known for her sexuality and contralto voice that allowed her to take on male roles, Yohe scandalized audiences just as much on stage as off. Headlines of her rumored affairs captured public attention and when she married Lord Francis Hope, owner of the Hope Diamond, in 1894, her standing within high society seemed assured.

But after divorcing him eight years later, her life took a tumultuous turn. She ended up doing 10-cent vaudeville shows around the United States and traveling the world sometimes having to perform to raise funds for the next leg of the trip.

Throughout her life, Yohe continued to scrap by. If she wasn’t helping to write and create movie serials about the curse of the famous diamond that she had once owned (though may have never actually worn), she was working as a janitor in a steamship yard. Yohe married twice more, her profile rising and falling with every decade, until she died in 1938 at age 72.

Now Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian Institution’s under secretary for history, art and culture and the author of a book about the Hope Diamond, has written the first biography of Yohe. Madcap May: Mistress of Myth, Men and Hope, a riveting illumination of her nerve, verve and resilience, arrives in bookstores on September 4th.

I interviewed Kurin about Madcap May:

What was it that drew you to her story?

Well, I mean she was larger than life. She lived more than one lifetime. When you start thinking about all the things that she did: that many lovers and husbands at that time, to go to the height of fame in the British theater at that time—this is the time of Gilbert and Sullivan and George Bernard Shaw, so to be so successful and then end up playing in ten-cent vaudeville theaters, really in poverty, and running a chicken, and running a tea plantation, and a rubber plantation! She did so much more than any one human being, it’s kind of hard to imagine.

Falling in and out favor as she did, how do you think audiences will receive her today?

On one hand, she’s not that likable, so I’m not sure she occasions people saying, “Well, I really like this person,” but you’ve got to respect her for getting knocked down and getting up. I think it really is a story of resilience.

Both on stage and off, May Yohe captured the public’s attention. Library of Congress

What was driving her through all of this, what made her keep trying? 

My central hypothesis is that she came out of this Moravian tradition that did not doubt women’s rights or abilities. If you were born at the Inn at Bethlehem, you might think there’s something kind of sacred about your life. And so I think she was born in a community which had encouraged women, had never doubted the ability of women, had promoted women and made women feel that they can achieve anything on the planet. I think that she took that to heart, now she took that to heart more in a kind of secular way than she did in a religious way but nevertheless I think she got it from a very strong Moravian upbringing.

You wrote that she never described herself as a “new woman,” she never really cast herself in a politicized role. How do you think she saw herself?

I think this goes to the unlikability factor. I mean sometimes when I was writing this, I hated her because she was so narcissistic. She’s a prima donna of the prima donnas and she’s over the top and a lot of her writing and talk is so self-centered. She really is narcissistic. On the other hand, just when I hate her the most she runs off and does something that is very social whether it’s working in Whitechapel for the poor or working with Irish peasantry or taking up the cause of the chorus girls in the editorial pages of the British press during the height of the Suffragette movement. She did take up these causes, now I don’t think she politicized them because I don’t think she saw herself as part of a political party. I think she sort of saw herself as standing along. If she was a “new woman,” she was a singular new woman. Sometimes I say, “She was for women’s rights, her own.”

Are there any celebrities or starlets today who you would compare to May?

I don’t see any particular one. At the beginning of the book I say you can look at her as a combination of Britney Spears and Lady Di. She wasn’t just singular, there’s entertainers but how many entertainers are part of high British aristocracy? There’s a lot of celebrities, but how many have scrubbed floors and worked in the worst slums in the Western world in Whitechapel just ten years after Jack the Ripper? I would find it very difficult to come up with three or four people that match May Yohe.

Sam Kean’s first book on the periodic table of elements won rave reviews. He’s at it again with a book on the history of genetics.

Sam Kean entertained readers with his first book, New York Times best seller The Disappearing Spoon, offering tales of discovery and intrigue from the world of the periodic table. His follow up, The Violinist’s Thumb, takes the same approach to the headline-grabbing field of genetics. Kean will be discussing both at the Natural History Museum Thursday at noon.

“I knew the human genome was a big enough topic to find a lot of great stories,” Kean says. A field whose history has seen its share of controversial theories and horrific as well as awe-inspiring applications, genetics did not disappoint.

For example, Kean mentions polar bears who happen to have an usually high concentration of vitamin A in their livers. Dutch explorer Gerrit de Veer first recorded the toxic effects of eating polar bears in 1597. Voyagers to the Arctic, when finding themselves stranded, hungry and staring down a polar bear, knew that a meal was at hand. “They end up eating the polar bear liver,” which, Kean says, doesn’t end well.  Your cell walls begin to break down, you get bloated and dizzy. Not to mention, “It actually makes your skin start to come off, it just peels off your body, partly because it interferes with skin cell genes,” says Kean. A notoriously horrific genre anyway, polar exploration proved fertile ground.

Kean had his own DNA submitted for testing, thinking he’d find “some funny gene.” Instead, he got a lesson in the nature of genes.

Kean’s anecdotal approach to chemistry and now genetics has been hailed as a diverting, sneaky way to introduce readers to science, but he points out, it also useful for scientists to learn the history of their field. “I think it makes you a better scientist in that you’re a little more aware of what your work means to people, how other people view your work,” Kean says.

DNA research in particular can feel, well, so scientific, but Kean highlights the dramatic and personal connections. He came to this realization after submitting his DNA for testing. “I admit, I kind of did it on a lark,” he says. “But there were a few syndromes or diseases I found out I was susceptible too and it was sort of scary to face that because there was a history of that in my family. It brought back some bad memories,” Kean recalls. In the end, the testing episode also provided a valuable lesson for the rest of the book.

“The more I looked into it,” says Kean, “the more I realized genes really deal in probabilities, not certainties.” So while scientists are learning more about the influence genes can have on specific personality traits, we’re also learning about the role of the environment on DNA. The classic nature versus nurture split no longer holds true.

For example, identical twins have the same DNA. “But if you have ever known identical twins, you know that there are differences, you can tell them apart,” says Kean. That led Kean to his chapter on epigenetics, which examines how environmental factors can switch on or off or even amplify gene expression.

Nicoló Paganini, the eponymous violinist, was considered one of the greatest performers of all time because of his “freakishly flexible fingers.” He could do all sorts of parlor tricks with his unusual fingers and his performances in the early 19th century were so inspired that his audiences were said to burst into tears. One man, allegedly driven mad by the Italian musician’s virtuoso, swore he saw the Devil himself helping the violinist.

Satanic involvement aside, Kean says it all comes down to DNA. “It allowed him to write and play music that other violinists simply couldn’t because they didn’t have the same kind of hands.”

Check out notes, games and more extras from The Violinist’s Thumb here.

The Encore Chorale at the Kogod Courtyard at last year's popular performance.

Tuesday, May 8 Carolyn Morrow Long

Carolyn M0rrow Long, conservator at the American History Museum, will be signing copies of her two books, Madame Lalaurie, Mistress of the Haunted House and A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau. Both nonfiction books explore the myths surrounding infamous women in New Orleans. Madame Delphine Lalaurie, a wealthy society matron who had to flee the city after rumors that she abused her slaves started to spread. On the other side of the spectrum, Marie Laveau, the “voodoo princess,” became legendary for her charisma and charity in caring for yellow fever victims and condemned prisoners alike. Long traveled the country to untangle the roots of these stories and separate truth from sensationalism. Free. 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. American History Museum.

Wednesday, May 9 Encore Chorale: A Spring Concert

Enjoy a lunchtime performance by the Encore Chorale for Older Adults, directed by Jeanne Kelly and featuring baritone David Williams. The concert features lively renditions of pop songs, including “When I’m 64,” “Rockin’ Jerusalem,” “Shenandoah,” and Gilbert & Sullivan show tunes. Free. 1:00 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Thursday, May 10 The Unknown Aaron Burr

He was a Revolutionary War hero, a prominent New York politician, and a U.S. vice president, but Aaron Burr is best remembered today as the villain who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Discover the full story in this talk by Pulitzer Prize finalist and best-selling author H.W. Brands, whose new book, The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr, depicts a man ahead of his time, tragically ensconced in political scandal. Brands draws on Burr’s extensive, witty correspondence with his daughter Theodosia to trace the arc of Burr’s scandalous political career, but also includes the touching story of a father’s love for his daughter. $20 for general admission, $15 for members. 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

Kogod Courtyard is a 28,000-square-foot space with seating, free Wi-Fi and a Courtyard Café. Courtesy of Timothy Hursley

If you are taking classes at one of the area universities and need to study, but you are looking for a change of scenery, the Smithsonian Institution offers some quiet, study nooks.

Kogod Courtyard: In the Donald W. Reynolds Center, which houses the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Kogod Courtyard is a 28,000-square-foot space with seating, free Wi-Fi and a Courtyard Café. Designed by Foster + Partners, a world famous architectural firm, the courtyard is covered by a wavy, 900-pound, glass and steel canopy. I suggest staking out a study spot here if you are sick of your stuffy library, dorm room or office, because with loads of natural light, ficus, black olive trees and water scrims by landscape architects Kathryn Gustafson and Rodrigo Abela, it at least gives you the sense that you are outdoors.

Lerner Room: Maybe natural light is something I crave working in a cubicle, but another bright space is the Lerner Room, on the third floor of the Hirshhorn Museum. The room, on the north side of the ring-shaped museum, has a panoramic expanse of floor-to-ceiling windows that offers visitors a great view of the National Mall. A curved couch positioned in front of the window makes it a perfect place to curl up with a book, and there are also large tables, which make it a great work space. Enormous Sol LeWitt drawings, one in color and the other in black and white, on the room’s other two walls also give it a cheery atmosphere.

Mitsitam Cafe: The native foods from the Western Hemisphere’s Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America and Great Plains cooked up at the National Museum of the American Indian’s highly-rated Mitsitam Cafe certainly draw crowds. But if you don’t mind the clamor of diners, or you actually work better with some background noise, then the cafe, with lots of seating and Wi-Fi, can be a nice place to study. Bonus: the traditional frybread makes for a sweet snack.

Enid A. Haupt Garden: Sick of the quad, but in need of some fresh air? Visit a Smithsonian garden. There are several along the stretch between the Hirshhorn and the Freer Gallery on the south side of the National Mall. My favorite is the immaculately-kept, four-acre Enid A. Haupt Garden just behind the Smithsonian Castle—and just above an underground complex that includes the National Museum of African Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the S. Dillon Ripley Center. Bring a blanket to spread under a large shade tree, and your laptop. There is free Wi-Fi. On a hot day, you can always retreat to the Castle Café.

Luce Foundation Center: This space on the third and fourth floors of the Smithsonian American Art Museum is a library of a different sort. The museum keeps more than 3,300 pieces of art from its permanent collection in large glass cases, and coins and jewelry in layers of drawers. If you take up post at one of the tables in the center, perhaps you want to time it with an Art + Coffee event that includes a brief talk or tour of the center with coffee and tea. Occasionally and usually on Wednesdays through Sundays, at 1:30 p.m., the center hosts a tour and talk, with complimentary coffee or tea, followed by an acoustic concert by a local musician.

Update 9/23/2011: This post now includes additional information about the Kogod Courtyard.

David "Bio" Baranek today. Photo courtesy of David Baranek.

CDR David Baranek, USN (Ret.), actually lived the TOPGUN lifestyle as both a student and an instructor–yet not as a Maverick, but as a Goose. An F-14 radar intercept officer (RIO), Baranek whose callsign was Bio, eventually became commander of his own F-14 squadron.

Now the 20-year Navy man adds author to his credentials, with his recent book, TOPGUN Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America’s Best Fighter Jocks.

The book details stints at TOPGUN, his deployments, and the part that he played in the film Top Gun. “I wanted to go back to that time and talk about the things I worried about and not do it from hindsight,” Baranek said.

Illustrations were easy to come by, since “Bio” always carried a camera with him on his flights. As a result, he was able to capture images of some of the Navy’s finest 1980s airpower from an intimate perspective. Check out a gallery of some of his shots here.

“Bio” will be at the National Air and Space Museum this Saturday, April 23, signing copies of his book, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.. I spoke to him about his time at TOPGUN, how he might have gotten the finger from Tom Cruise, and if he, as Maverick and Goose did , still feels the need–the need for speed.

You were an F-14 radar intercept officer (RIO), like Goose was in the film. What were your primary flight responsibilities–and were you capable of piloting an F-14, if necessary?

The primary flight responsibilities are spelled out in the F-14 operating manual. Those are navigation, communication and operating the weapons system. When the F-14 was designed, because of parts of its mission and state of automation, they still needed one guy to make the radar be most effective. In addition, the RIO shared responsibility for the safety of the airplane. And if we were in a dogfight, I shared responsibility [with the pilot]. He’d keep track of the people he could, and he’d hand people off to me. In terms of piloting the plane, that’s easy. One, the Navy did not train RIOs to fly. And two, the F-14 had no flight controls in the back seat. That was not an option.

Calm, cool and in control, that’s the stereotype of the fighter pilot, right? What was the tightest spot you’ve been in?

I thought you were going to say the stereotypical image was obnoxious, arrogant and loud [laughing]! The biggest adventure I had was when I ejected from an F-14 landing on an aircraft carrier. But the situation lasted one second, so there was no time to get nervous…

As a former graduate and a former instructor, what kinds of things were done to really push the buttons of  pilots selected for TOPGUN?

You get all kinds [laughing]. Most pilots and RIOs are good. They respect the instructors and know that they have things to learn. Of course they bring confidence, but they’re mature enough not to be offensive. But every once in awhile you get a student and he’s ready to take on his TOPGUN instructors, too [chuckling]. I have to tell you, TOPGUN instructors can handle that stuff! You’re coming into their arena, and although they appreciate a good enthusiastic fighter pilot, you’ve got to know your limits! They can put people in their place. If you don’t get the message the first time, they’ll do it again.

During your time as air-to-air combat instructor, what was the most important advice you passed on to your students?

For me, one of the things I tried to emphasize was that you’re not supposed to just sit in the back seat and play with the radar and talk to the pilot. There are times when you need to be directing things on the radios. You need to be assertive.

As an RIO, regarding the type of pilot you’d rather fly with, are you a Maverick guy or an Iceman guy?

I flew with a lot of talented pilots, and I have to say that I’m a little bit selfish. I liked flying with a good pilot who does his job. A lot of flying, especially back then, is pretty boring, so you want to fly with a pilot who’s funny and entertaining, so you can tell stories [laughing]. So kind of like with a personality of Maverick, but a flying style of Iceman.

An F-14 Tomcat climbs into the evening sky in full afterburner during a training mission over Southern California. Photo by David Baranek.

So is that why you started taking pictures, because you had time to kill during flights? (view image gallery here).

I just got that from my father. I started taking pictures in grade school, and it’s something I picked up. It was a few years after I started loving airplanes and wanting to fly. We all flew the same mission and had a lot of time in the plane, but some guys just never carried a camera. It just didn’t interest them.

You were on board for some of the aerial stunts in Top Gun–so was that you onscreen behind one of the black helmets in one of the enemy fighters?

[laughs] The close-ups were of pilots [not RIOs]. In terms of flying the black jets, I’m pretty sure that it’s me in the scene where Maverick is flying inverted above the MiG [Tom Cruise's character, "Maverick," gives the finger to the pilots in the enemy MiG while flying above them, upside-down.]. I went out there and flew that mission. But we filmed that, and later I found out that one other RIO did that, also.

And how did you help Paramount with the dialogue?

A pilot and I went up to Paramount for two days. We looked at the film clips over and over again, and we helped one of the film editors to stitch clips into logical sequences for dogfights. And the main purpose was to tell Paramount what they [pilots and RIOs] would be saying in situations. We just sat there and looked at the film and the pilot and I started talking to each other…And a lot of that was dialogue for the flying scenes of the movie. But then they threw in a bunch of Hollywood stuff, too… “You hook ‘em, I’ll fry ‘em?” Come on! That’s Hollywood writer stuff! [laughing]

Now with the increase of unmanned drones, do you think dogfighting is dead?

It’s hard to say. People have been predicting that for decades now. Nowadays there seems to be less dogfighting… I think it’s going to be awhile before we can turn everything over to unmanned vehicles. They’re great for some missions, but they can’t do everything. As long as you’ve got humans in tactical airplanes, they better be prepared to meet enemy airplanes. We’ve got to be ready to face a lot of countries around the world, and as long as they have fighters with people in them, we’ve got to be ready to duel with them and defeat them. I think dogfighting is going to be around for at least, certainly 20 more years–probably 50 more years.

It appears that most of your experience was in the F-14. Is there another particular airplane in which you’re still craving some quality flight time?

[Laughs] The planes that I want are gone. I always loved the F-8 Crusader, but you have to be a pilot to fly that. I loved the Air Force F-106. Just a huge, powerful, beautiful plane. But you have to be a pilot for that, and those are retired, too. One of these days I’ll get up in a biplane and that’ll be fun!

The "Godmother of Punk" performs at a benefit for the Archives of American Art in 2008. Courtesy of the Archives of American Art

First Aircraft Moved to New Hangar: This week, AirSpace reports that the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was the first aircraft to move into the Udvar-Hazy Center’s new Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar. Designed in 1938 and manufactured in 1942, the scout bomber flew in World War II. The Air and Space Museum’s plane is one of only a handful still in existence. The plane is scheduled to be restored over the course of the coming year, along with several other aircraft that will soon move into the new hangar. Later in 2011, the mezzanine level of the hangar will open so that visitors can see the aircraft refurbishment in action.

Patti Smith Wins National Book Award: Singer Patti Smith, perhaps best known as the “Godmother of Punk,” just won the National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids, which chronicles her friendship with photographer and artist Robert Mapplethorpe. The Archives of American Art blog has a sound clip of Smith reading at a 2008 benefit, or your can hear her on NPR.

Twain Galore: It seems that in addition to Around the Mall’s post honoring Mark Twain’s would-be 175th birthday, a couple other blogs around the Smithsonian have paid their own tributes to the 19th century American author. Face to Face has posted some of their favorite Twain quotes as well as Edwin Larson’s 1935 portrait of the writer. The Smithsonian Libraries blog has a list of further reading straight from the Smithsonian’s collections.

Flamingo-Keeping: Now on the Smithsonian Science homepage, a video from the National Zoo features footage of the Zoo’s 61-bird flock of flaming pink Caribbean flamingos. Sara Hallager, flamingo keeper, says the birds are extraordinarily social animals (their squawks can be heard in the background). She discusses how she and the other keepers prevent inbred chicks during mating season by putting different colored bands on the flamingos’ feet to keep track of who’s who.

National Museum of “Dad-Trolling”? The web comic XKCD has proposed a new Smithsonian museum that specializes in enabling fathers to tell little white lies to their children. Click on various parts of the museum’s floorplan and see what waits inside the “Hall of Misunderstood Science,” “Regrettable Pranks: An Interactive Experience” or the “Rotunda of Uncomfortable Topics,” among others.

A detail from one of the folios depicts a giant bird bringing food to its nest. "Zal is Sighted by a Caravan," attributed to Abdul Aziz, ca. 1525. Image courtesy of the Sackler Gallery.

Last week at a media preview for “Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings,” the Sackler Gallery’s new exhibit, chief curator Massumeh Farhad pulled back the black gallery doors to allow a group of journalists into a dimly lit lair of ancient manuscripts and gleaming silver loosely reminiscent of Aladdin’s cave.

The exhibit is centered around the thousand-year-old, 50,000 verse Persian epic poem, Shahnama (pronounced shah-nah-MEYH), a blend of mythology and Persian history. While there are no talking parrots or diamonds in the rough, the text offers its own brand of fantasy that Farhad likens to Shakespeare and Grimms’ fairytales.

“It’s the most popular text in Iran. Nearly every household has a copy of the Quran and a copy of the Shahnama,” says Farhad.

The narrative traces the history of Iran through the 7th century Arab conquest, focusing on the exploits of 50 different Persian monarchs. The poet Abul-Qasim Firdawsi wrote the epic over a period of 30 years, during which time the ruling local dynasty, the Samanids, permitted cultural and artistic expression to flourish. But by the time the poet finally finished in the year 1010, the Samanids had been overthrown by a Turkic dynasty from Central Asia, the Ghaznavids, who cared little for the arts. Still hoping to be rewarded for his 30 years of literary labor, the poet petitioned Mahmud, the king, showing him his 50,000 verses.  The king responded with an insulting reward that was but a pittance for his work. A despondent Firdawsi proceeded to drown his sorrows in beer at a local bath house.

The king lived to regret his decision. Ten years later, Mahmud reread the text and immediately sent a caravan of camels loaded with precious indigo to Firdawsi the poet as a peace offering, but it was too late. As the camels entered Firdawsi’s town, they ran right into a funeral procession. The poet was dead.

“For every king to rule, they had to have ‘farr’, the divine rule to kingship,” says Farhad. “The Shahnama deals with the moral consequences of becoming too proud and forgetting who you are.” Each Persian king who came after the infamous Mahmud commissioned his own copy of the text, which became an emblem of the divine right to rule.

Starting in the 1300s, these royal copies were illustrated with opaque watercolors, gold and black ink. The illustrations—so intricate as to warrant the use of a magnifying glass—make up the majority of the exhibit, which is also punctuated with a 16th century full manuscript of the epic and several silver and bronze vessels from the 6th and 7th centuries.

After an introductory hall, the exhibit is divided into two sections, one focusing on history and the other on myth. The former largely offers the story of Alexander, the Macedonian conqueror, who despite his imperialist spirit is nonetheless described in the Shahnama as a just ruler. The mythological section features morality tales of kings who lost touch with their roots and thus lost their divine rule, their farr. These are often populated with mythical beings; one folio on display depicts a Harry Potter-like hippogriff. (“J.K. Rowling must have seen a copy of the Shahnama,” insists Farhad.)

Despite the ancient objects in the exhibit that give the sense of having only just been unearthed, Farhad says the poem is still relevant today. “I think it’s because of the universal themes of truth and honesty that resonate, whether you’re Iranian or not.”

“Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings” will be on display at the Sackler Gallery through April 17, 2011.

Cover of Ruth and the Green Book. Image courtesy of Carolrhoda Books.

In the 1930s as automobiles became a fixture in American culture, millions of people took to the roads, causing hotels, restaurants and other roadside entertainment to flourish. But for African Americans, hopping in a car and taking a road trip was no simple endeavor. Having to contend with wide-spread racism, it was all too often that the proprietors of hotels, eateries and gas stations would deny them service.

But in 1936, a postal worker living in New York City  named Victor H. Green provided African Americans with an indispensable tool: The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide that provided a list of nondiscriminatory places to eat and rest so to save travelers from indignities on the road. Each year, Green printed and sold 15,000 of the books, which were available at Esso Stations (the only gas station to welcome African Americans) and black-owned businesses until 1964. “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published,” he wrote in the introduction. “That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States.”

Green began collecting citywide information about hotels, eateries, gas stations and businesses that would serve black customers. First published in 1936, demand was so great that Green continued to expand his guide on an annual basis so that it eventually covered the continental United States, Bermuda, Mexico and Canada.

Atlanta author and playwright Calvin Alexander Ramsey never heard of the Green Book until a few years ago when it casually sprung up in conversation. He has since written both a play and a children’s book around the traveler’s guide and the light it sheds on race relations in mid-century America. A dramatic reading of the play, sponsored by the Smithsonian’s African American History Museum and set in a Missouri African American tourist home, takes place Wednesday evening, September 15 16, at Washington, D.C.’s Lincoln Theater. (And for a discussion of spots in the District of Columbia that were once featured in The Green Book, check out this Washington Post piece.)

For those unable to make the reading, check out Ramsey’s new children’s story Ruth and the Green Book. It’s a wonderful take on the classic “to grandmother’s house we go” tale, but with the hardships of the Jim Crow South thrown into the mix—and the Green Book as the “magic talisman” that helps a young girl and her family safely reach their destination.

Untitled, from the series The Pond. John Gossage. Courtesy of the American Art Museum.

Celebrated photographer John Gossage first came to Washington, D.C., as a boy to attend Walden, an experimental school in the mid-1960s. His first book, published in 1985, was aptly titled The Pond, and explored marginal spaces in the modern landscape. It is widely considered one of the most important works of its kind, and features several photographs from the Washington D.C. area.

For the first time ever, the photographs from the book are featured in an exhibit, “The Pond,” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The show opens today and runs through January 17, 2011. Twenty-five years and 18 books after he produced The Pond, Gossage and I had a conversation about his first major work and whether or not Henry David Thoreau was onto something.

How does it feel to be revisiting The Pond after its original publication in 1985?

The Pond was actually my first major [mass] circulation book. I did one limited edition book with my gallery before that, but there were only 14 copies made, so this is the first one that really went out to a book-buying public. I have lived with it an awfully long time. Now, I’ve started looking at it again.

A contemporary artist’s job description is, if you have great ambition, make great work. But then you’re also obliged to set the context in which the work needs to be seen. The odd thing is, for the first edition I decided—since I wanted it to be emphatically a book—that the book was the original, instead of a catalog from the show. I never did a show of it. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it all up on the wall, which was really interesting for me. I actually sort of liked the show. I’m so used to [the photographs]. But it actually is a new way of looking at it.

How does it affect one’s perspective?

With books, you get a picture, and then you turn the page, it passes into memory and you get another picture. So you’re seeing one image at a time. To actually stand in a room and be able to scan multiple images is a very different experience. You see where you’re headed and where you’ve been at the same moment, because the book is a narrative. It’s actually about the proposition that there is such a thing as narrative landscape, which doesn’t really happen in literature, or it’s hard to pull off in literature, which is more character-driven. In photography, there is that possibility of being able to do that. So that’s what I wanted to experiment with, because I had not known of it being intently done before.

Photography books tag along on the literary model; you start at one point, and you end at another. With shows, no matter what intention you have, there are three rooms at the Smithsonian that contain the show. And with all intent, you want people to start at the start. But, there is absolutely no expectation on my part that at least half of the people will come in the right door. It doesn’t happen. You can’t herd people like that. I don’t herd like that. So they will see them in the order that they see them.

Speaking of literature, at the time you were taking these photos, what did you see as the connections between The Pond and the work of Henry David Thoreau?

Well, the reason I came to Washington was to go to a place called Walden School. So let’s put it this way: I’ve read Thoreau. Or else, you fail certain courses at a school called Walden.

One of the things I wanted to reference is Thoreau’s vision in Walden Pond of nature being a respite from the city, being this sort of philosophical escape from the 19th century. And it wasn’t quite true anymore. It’s a wonderful book. But what, in the late 20th century, could you say about going to the edge of town and looking at a pond? What does the pond look like now?

Which came first: the concept for The Pond, or the actual photos themselves?

The photos. I don’t work as a conceptualist. Let’s say the conceptual art model is that you have a project idea, or a set of concerns, and then you illustrate those concerns in whatever manner you see appropriate. For me, it has always been that the world suggests far more subtle and interesting variations than I could ever come up with. At a certain point in each project, you get an idea and you investigate it. But I always take my prompting from the work being done. And back then, I had some pictures and I thought, yes. And then I filled it out.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

I’m tall and handsome.

To see for yourself, Gossage will be at the American Art Museum on October 14 at 7 p.m., for a conversation with museum-goers about the exhibit. His book will be re-issued with a new introduction written by the museum’s curator of photography and will be available for purchase in the museum store in September.

One Red Dot by David A. Carter, 2004, a whimsical example of a modern pop-up book is on display along with dozens of others including some that date from the 14th century, at the American History Museum.

Pop-up books? Sure, they sound like kid fare, but as the recent new exhibition at the National Museum of American History proves, they are far more than just that. “Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop, and Turn,” on view until next fall, not only showcases the history of the pop-up book, (which dates back to the 11th century), but also the intricate complexities that artisans have employed in creating these endlessly fascinating works.

When this visitor recently entered the darkened exhibit (many of the oldest pieces must be kept sheltered from light), the fantastical array of spinning carousels, giant spaceships, moveable skeletons, and airplanes poised for flight brought on an almost childlike giddiness.

Each book—the product of the author, the illustrator and the paper engineer—is ingeniously endowed with pull tabs, cut paper, string, boxes and cylinders. In some cases, the paper engineer proves to be doubly talented and serves as the illustrator as well. The exhibit showcases 53 of these works of genius, dating from the 14th century to modern times. A video explores the collaborative efforts among the three artists and a stop-motion film details the impressive feat it is to construct the pop-up book’s most revered and anticipated feature—the large centerpiece that unfurls in splendor when the book is opened and collapses between pages when the book is closed.

Modern assumptions make children the popular target of these wondrous works, but the exhibit quickly renders that notion myth. Anatomy, astrology, geometry, astronomy, theology, technology are just a few of the subjects the pop-ups in this exhibit cover. In fact, the oldest pop-up books were intended as instructional tools for adults, rendering difficult concepts into a kind of 3D instruction manual. The pop-ups in Euclid’s 1570 book, The Elements of Geometrie . . . help readers visualize geometrical forms and three-dimensional figures. More recent pop-up books, such as Sharon Gallagher’s 1984 Inside the Personal Computer uses similar strategies to help readers identify and understand the workings of a personal computer. Of course, books for children are featured in the exhibit. An 1850 rendering of the popular tales the Little Glass Slipper and Cinderella are sure to delight young visitors.

Stephen Van Dyk , director of the library at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City, said that the hardest part about putting together the show was deciding what would be displayed. “I had over 1,200 books available to showcase, but could choose just 53 books that best show the diversity.”

– by Jacqueline Sheppard

Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop, and Turn will be on view through the Fall of 2011 at the National Museum of American History.

The Smithsonian Castle. Image courtesy of the United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

First, we heard that bestselling writer Dan Brown visited the Smithsonian for book research. Then, when “The Lost Symbol” came out, we checked his version of the institution for accuracy. Now, in the wake of the book’s publication, the National Postal Museum has combed its collection and published an online exhibition on the theme, “The Lost Symbol on U.S. Postage Stamps.”

Curators selected about 50 stamps featuring images related to Brown’s fast-paced thriller set in Washington D.C. “As I read the book, I kept thinking, there is a stamp of that scene,” says chief curator of philately Cheryl Ganz. “The surprising discovery was how many stamps exist of sites in Washington D.C.”

The Capitol. Image courtesy of the United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Included are artistic renderings of Dulles Airport, where the book’s main character Robert Langdon lands; the Smithsonian Castle and the Capitol Rotunda, which are described at length; and 14 presidents who were prominent Masons, since the plot delves into the history of Freemasonry.

“I hope visitors see stamps as a creative way to illustrate a story,” says Ganz. “We never gave away the plot, and at the same time, someone who had not read the book could still enjoy the exhibit because of the historical significance of the images and the beauty of the engravings and art.”

Fact or Fiction: The two most popular residents of the Smithsonian Castle were two barn owls, named Increase and Diffusion. Photo courtesy of flickr user Metal Chris.

Towards the beginning of his new thriller The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown introduces his main character Peter Solomon, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Peter’s phone number is mentioned twice in two pages (a detail that struck this reader as odd). And if by chance you should happen to call the number, as I did, your call will go directly to a hauntingly realistic voicemail—“Hello. You’ve reached Peter Solomon….”

Typical Dan Brown.

The bestselling writer is notorious for blurring the boundary between fact and fiction, and his latest book is no exception. The Smithsonian plays a dominant role in the plot. A major character works at the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. The true-life address of that facility is even revealed. And he includes brief forays into the architecture and history of the Castle and the story of founder James Smithson.

So naturally (the magazine has schooled me well in fact checking), I thought I’d look into some of the details included in the book. How accurately did Brown describe the Smithsonian?

Fact or fiction?

1.Dan Brown asserts that the Museum Support Center, a storage center for objects in the Smithsonian collection not on display, houses more pieces than the Hermitage, the Vatican Museum and the New York Metropolitan, combined.

Fact: The MSC houses 55 million objects and specimens. Some quick sleuthing on the web sites of the Hermitage, the Vatican Museum and the Met reveal that the total number of objects in their collections, combined, is less than 10 million.

2.  In the story, the MSC is a zigzag-shaped building and includes five connected pods—each larger than a football field.

Fact: Each pod is three stories high, and in addition to the pods, there is a wing with labs and offices. The pods are referred to by number, as Brown does in the book, but he took some liberties with their uses.

Fact or Fiction: The "wet pod" in the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center contains over 20,000 species. Photo courtesy of flickr user ap2il.

3.  The “wet pod,” with its many jarred specimen, houses over 20,000 species.

Fact (sort of): The operative word here is “over.” Brown was a little off. I checked in with MSC. Try about 212,000 species.

4.  The MSC contains, in its holdings, poisoned darts from New Guinea, handwritten codices, a kayak made of baleen and extinct flowers.

Fiction: This may be splitting hairs, but a source at the MSC says that Brown was shown poison darts from Ecuador on the tour he took of the facility in April 2008. They have a few blowgun darts from New Guinea, but they do not know if they are poisoned. Also, some handwritten Islamic and Buddhist manuscripts, prayer books and Korans, all from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, are kept there. But they don’t really fit the definition of a codex. The facility reports having no kayaks made completely of baleen and says that extinct flowers are kept in the herbarium at the National Museum of Natural History. He did, however, get it right in saying that the MSC has meteorites, a collection of elephant skulls brought back from an African safari by Teddy Roosevelt and Sitting Bull’s pictographic diary.

5.  Only two percent of the Smithsonian’s collection can be displayed in the museums at any given time; the MSC stores the other 98 percent.

Fiction: The Smithsonian, as a whole, displays less than two percent of its collection, estimated at the end of 2008 to be 136.8 million items. And the MSC stores more like 40 percent of the collection, while the rest of the objects not on display are housed behind-the-scenes in the museums (about 58 percent at the Natural History museum) or other off-site storage facilities.

6.  The Smithsonian Castle, located on the National Mall, is a blend of Gothic and late Romanesque architecture—basically, a quintessential Norman castle, like those found in England at about the 12^th century.

Partly Fiction: Though influenced by the Gothic, Romanesque and Norman styles, the building is a 19^th century hybrid, a romanticized Victorian era mix that was meant to be a new “national style” of architecture, according to Richard Stamm, curator of the Castle collection.

7.  The Castle once had two resident owls, named Diffusion and Increase.

Fact: Secretary S. Dillon Ripley (1964-84) had a pair of barn owls housed in one of the towers. He hoped that they would produce offspring (increase), explains Stamm. They did, but they “flew the coop” (diffusion) when the windows were opened to let the owls fend for themselves. Ripley named the adult pair Increase and Diffusion in reference to the Smithsonian’s mission, “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

Interested in more about Dan Brown’s Washington? Read about the Masonic temple that features heavily in the novel.