The tradition of scholarly
publishing at the Smithsonian dates back to the Institution’s
origin. In keeping with James Smithson’s stipulation that his
bequest to the United States be “for the increase and diffusion
of knowledge,” Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian
(1846–1878), initiated in 1848 the Institution’s first
publication, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. The tradition
continues today with Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press (SISP).
One of several offices operating within the Smithsonian’s Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Collections and Interdisciplinary Support, SISP publishes research by Smithsonian scholars in many fields – particularly science, art and art history, aviation and space, and history and material culture – and research closely related to Smithsonian collections.
Grasses of Washington, D.C.
By Kamal M. Ibrahim and Paul M. Peterson
Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, no. 99
A vegetative key, descriptions, and illustrations for the identification of 182 native and naturalized grasses that occur in Washington, D.C., are presented. In addition, we provide a glossary of terms and indexes to scientific and common names. The key is based on vegetative characters to allow identification of specimens that primarily do not have flowering structures (inflorescences and spikelets).
A Chance for Lasting Survival: Ecology and Behavior of Wild Giant Pandas
English edition edited by William J. McShea, Richard B. Harris, David L. Garshelis, and Wang Dajun
From 1984 through 1995 a small band of ecologists led by Pan Wenshi from Peking University conducted a study of wild giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province. This project was the first Chinese-led conservation project in China and was conducted during a significant transition period in Chinese history, as the country opened its society and science to the world. This English version translates, condenses, and refines the original 2001 Mandarin publication on this pioneering field work.
Mammals of Ungava and Labrador: The 1882-1884 Fieldnotes of Lucien M. Turner together with Inuit and Innu Knowledge
Edited by Scott A. Heyes and Kristofer M. Helgen
From 1882 to 1884, the Smithsonian Arctic scientist Lucien Turner was stationed at the Hudson's Bay Company trading post of Ft. Chimo in Ungava Bay, Canada. Officially, he was there to collect meteorological data, but he soon expanded his observations to studies of the natural history of the region and ethnography of the Inuit and Innu. This book presents his remarkable unpublished notes on the mammals of the region, many derived from Inuit and Innu knowledge and stories.
The Coralline Genus Clathromorphum Foslie emend. Adey: Biological, Physiological, and Ecological Factors Controlling Carbonate Production in an Arctic-Subarctic Climate Archive
By Walter H. Adey, Jochen Halfar, and Branwen Williams
Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences, no. 40
Precise paleoenvironmental information can be retrieved from the coralline algal genus Clathromorphum, a dominant calcifier in the rocky Subarctic, because of its unique cytological and anatomical structures. This volume describes and models these structures and relates extensive field and laboratory data on species of this genus and their controlling environmental parameters.
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