CURRENT ISSUE

May 2005

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine image Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine mobile image

Features

Fire in the Hole

Raging in mines from Pennsylvania to China, coal fires threaten towns, poison air and water, and add to global warming

calcutta_boy.jpg

Young Eyes on Calcutta

Zana Briski and collaborator Ross Kauffman's Academy Award winning documentary chronicals the resilience of children in a Calcutta red-light district

seeds_woman1.jpg

The Seeds of Civilization

Why did humans first turn from nomadic wandering to villages and togetherness? The answer may lie in a 9,500-year-old settlement in central Turkey

mars_img.jpg

Life on Mars?

It's hard enough to identify fossilized microbes on Earth. How would we ever recognize them on Mars?

Toulouse-Lautrec

The fin de sià¨cle artist who captured Paris' cabarets and dance halls is drawing crowds to a new exhibition at Washington, D.C.'s National Gallery of Art

tribal_indian.jpg

Tribal Fever

Twenty-five years ago this month, smallpox was officially eradicated. For the Indians of the high plains, it came a century and a half too late

homage_jar.jpg

Homage to the Anchovy Coast

You may not want them on your pizza, but along the Mediterranean they're a prized delicacy and a cultural treasure

Supreme Court 1937

Showdown on the Court

Buoyed by his reelection but dismayed by rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, a president overreaches

Departments

Indelible Images

Model Family

Sally Mann's unflinching photographs of her children have provoked controversy, but one of her now-grown daughters wonders what all the fuss was about

Molly Roberts
Phenomena & Curiosities

Rising from the Ashes

The eruption of Mount St. Helens 25 years ago this month was no surprise. But the speedy return of wildlife to the area is astonishing

David B. Williams
The Object at Hand

A Sculptor's Provocative Memorial Acknowledges the High Cost of Conflict

Paul Thek's haunting sculpture looks beyond the pomp of traditional battle memorials

Presence of Mind

Fatal Triangle

How a dark tale of love, madness and murder in 18th-century London became a story for the ages

John Brewer
Editor's Note

Digging Deep

For some stories, the roots go way back, even to childhood

Carey Winfrey, editor
From the Secretary

Science Matters

The Institution decides to focus on four basic questions

Lewis and Clark

Rocky Mountain High

After a canoe capsizes, the first sight of the mountainous "snowey barrier" lifts the corps' spirits

Smithsonian magazine