Books

The former Motor City masterpiece-turned-American-ruin was on the brink of demolition until 2018, when Ford committed to a billion-dollar restoration project returning it to its Gilded Age grandeur.

Detroiters Have a Newly Restored Michigan Central Station to Be Thankful for This Holiday Season

With funding from Ford Motor Company, the long-dilapidated building is being transformed into a technology and innovation hub

Food has an undeniable way of breaking down barriers, whether it’s through learning about another culture’s culinary traditions or simply talking with others over a meal. 

How to Build Cross-Cultural Connections Over Food This Holiday Season

Supper clubs and immigrant-led cooking classes across the country bring people together, teaching diners to embrace their neighbors from around the world

By age 16, “being on some occasion made ashamed of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at school,” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “I took Cocker’s book of arithmetic and went through the whole by myself with great ease.”

After Failing Math Twice, a Young Benjamin Franklin Turned to This Popular 17th-Century Textbook

A 19th-century scholar claimed that "Cocker's Arithmetick" had "probably made as much stir and noise in the English world as any [book]—next to the Bible"

The title page of the first edition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

'A Christmas Carol' Marvelously Captured the Holiday's Victorian Spirit and Inspired New Traditions for Centuries to Come

Published on this day in 1843, at a time when Christmas was undergoing great transformation, Charles Dickens' novel centered the virtues of kindness, charity and reform

This year's list includes Emergency Quarters, The Iguanodon's Horn and Ernő Rubik and His Magic Cube.

The Ten Best Children's Books of 2024

This year’s top titles range from an alphabet book of quirky tunes to an authentic portrait of our nation

A suitcase containing Ernest Hemingway's early writings was stolen in 1922. The exhibition imagines what his first novel might have looked like.

None of These Books Exist. An Inventive New Exhibition Asks: What If They Did?

"Imaginary Books: Lost, Unfinished and Fictive Works Found Only in Other Books" spotlights more than 100 texts written (or invented) by the likes of Shakespeare, Byron and Hemingway

Charles de Gaulle talking to reporters in 1945

A Forgotten Collection of Charles de Gaulle's Personal Letters, Speeches and Manuscripts Has Been Discovered in a Safe

Most of the documents are heading to the auction block, where they could fetch more than $1 million. They were found in a bank vault owned by the French statesman's son

This year's favorites include Light in the Underworld, Juneteenth Rodeo and Sea Beach.

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2024

These works are not just for casual readers—they are for those who seek to expand their horizons, enrich their lives, and connect with the world on a deeper level

In the early ninth century, a Frankish courtier used a story of demonic possession to criticize the realm’s leaders for their “manifold sins.”

How a Tale of Demonic Possession Predicted the Decline of an Early Medieval Empire

A new book examines the rise and fall of the Carolingian dynasty, discussing how people across social classes understood the momentous history of their day

Smithsonian magazine’s top science titles this year.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2024

From a deep dive on a fatal space shuttle disaster to a study of a dozen iconic trees, these are our favorite titles this year

In our efforts to increase and diffuse knowledge, we highly recommend these titles this year.

The Best Books of 2024

Whether you're doing some holiday shopping or looking for your own next read, consider our thoughtfully curated lists.

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The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2024

These top titles of the year whisk readers away on adventures and remind us of the many wonders in this world

This year's list includes Clouds in Space, The Manicurist's Daughter and The Ministry of Time.

The Best Books of 2024, as Chosen by Smithsonian Scholars

Staff at the Institution pick their favorite reads of the year, including riveting memoirs, fascinating true histories and fun fiction

The products range from programmable rovers to books that introduce the terminology of robotics and circuitry to childen.

Engineers Choose the Ten Best STEM Toys to Gift in 2024

Creative circuitry and rolling robots make up this year’s top toys for teaching kids to love science, technology, engineering and math

Smithsonian's picks for the best history books of 2024 include The Barn, Eden Undone and The Wide Wide Sea.

The Ten Best History Books of 2024

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and examine how the United States ended up where it is today

The stone marked with the name "Ebenezer Scrooge" is located in a graveyard at St. Chad’s Church in Shrewsbury, England.

Vandals Destroy Ebenezer Scrooge's Fictional Tombstone Featured in a Film Adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol'

Located in an English churchyard, the stone was inscribed with the name "Ebenezer Scrooge" for the 1984 movie. Police are investigating the vandalism, which occurred earlier this month

Machiavelli's The Prince was written in 1513 and printed in 1532.

A Rare First-Edition Copy of Machiavelli’s Notorious Political Treatise 'The Prince' Heads to Auction

This copy of the 16th-century text is owned by a private collector. Until recently, historians weren't aware that it existed

Smithsonian's picks for the best books about food of 2024 include McAtlas, A Call to Farms, Slow Noodles and more.

The Ten Best Books About Food of 2024

Travel to the American South, Vietnam and beyond with this year’s best cookbooks, memoirs and historic deep dives

Makenzie Van Eyk (second from right) holds the message in a bottle that she wrote 26 years ago. Roland St. Pierre (far left) was her teacher at the time. Her daughter Scarlet (second from left) and son Huxley (far right) are enrolled in the same school she attended.

A Little Girl Dropped a Message in a Bottle Into a Lake. Her Daughter's Classmate Found It 26 Years Later

Makenzie Van Eyk wrote the letter as part of a class project in 1998, when she was in fourth grade. Recently, the note was discovered by a boy who goes to school with her daughter—who is now in fourth grade herself

The book recently underwent a three-month conservation process.

A Rare Atlas of Astronomy From the Dutch Golden Age Goes on Display in England

The copy of "Harmonia Macrocosmica" dates back to the 17th century and includes ancient theories of the universe

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