Chemical Education Today
ACS National Meeting
Exploring Washington, DC by Paul S. Cohen and Brenda H. Cohen
The National Mall The mile-long National Mall, one of the oldest federal parks in the nation, goes from the Capitol grounds to the Lincoln Memorial. The Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum complex, has nine of its 16 museums and art galleries along The Mall between 4th Street and 14th Street, NW. Four of these museums are devoted to science and industry.
Washington Convention & Visitors Association
Arts & Industries Building Next to the “Castle”, the original 1855 Smithsonian Institution building and now the Smithsonian Visitors Information Center, is a Victorian structure known as the Arts & Industries Building, the second oldest building in the complex. This museum holds a major collection of Victorian Americana and memorabilia displayed at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Highlights include working steam engines, a Baldwin locomotive, and a 51-foot model of the sloop-of-war, Antietam. Details Touring time: 2 hours. Address: 900 Jefferson Drive, SW. Telephone: 357-2700. WWW: http://web1.si.edu/ai/ Open hours: daily 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Directions: M-Smithsonian.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Arts & Industries Building which is better known as the “Castle”.
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC, the site for the ACS national meeting in August 2000, is a carefully planned city and an easy place in which to find your way around. It has been laid out in a grid with streets running north and south having number designations and streets going east and west having letter designations. Diagonal avenues, named after states, dissect the grid. This entire network is divided into quadrants: NW (North West), NE (North East), SE (South East), and SW (South West). As Washington grew beyond the alphabet streets, two and then three syllable street names came into use. The Metro public transportation system makes getting around the city very easy and comfortable. The convenient Metro consists of buses and a Metrorail rapid transit system (stations designated as M-). We suggest not using a car, as parking is very difficult and expensive. Our nation’s capitol has an abundance of sites of every description. Science touring in the city and the surrounding area is particularly plentiful.
A map of the Washington, DC portion of the Smithsonian Institution, at http://www.si.edu/activity/planvis/ , then click on Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Each of the museums shown on the map has a link to its individual home page.
National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum has more than twenty exhibits exploring the history and development of air and space technology. Artifacts include the Wright brothers’ 1903 “Flyer”, Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis”, the Apollo 11, John Glenn’s Spacecraft “Friendship Seven”, and the gondola of the first balloon to travel nonstop around the world, the “Brietling Orbiter 3”. For an American astronaut experience walk through the Skylab Orbital Workshop. Exhibits also examine the computer revolution in aerospace. The special exhibit this August is R. G. Smith: The ‘Old Master’ of the Sky. Smith has recorded the history of flight on canvas. Details Touring time: 3–4 hours, plus additional time for the IMAX theater and planetarium. Address: 7th Street and Independence Avenue, SW. Telephone: 357-2700. WWW: http://www.nasm.si.edu/ Open hours: daily 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m. Directions: M-L’Enfant Plaza. National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History illuminates the scientific, cultural, political, and technological developments of the U.S. and its people. Among the topics covered are the Industrial Revolution, agriculture in America, printing and graphics, maritime history, and musical instruments. Historic inventions include the Samuel F. B. Morse telegraph, experimental telephones designed and used by Alexander Graham Bell, and Samuel Slater’s textile machinery. The Science in American Life section has an area on chemistry in America, created with the assistance of the ACS. A new gallery, Lightning Revolution 2, brings the story of electricity up to date. The special exhibit, First Attacks and Boomers: Submarines in the Cold War will be open in August 2000. This show incorporates graphics, artifacts, and interactive displays for the examination of submarines.
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Chemical Education Today
ACS National Meeting Smithsonian Institution
Details Touring time: 1 hour. Address: Maryland Avenue at 1st Street, SW. Telephone: 225-8333. Open hours: daily 9 a.m.– 5 p.m. Directions: M-Federal Center Southwest. Off the Mall (South)
The National Museum of Natural History is at Constitution Avenue at 10th Street, SW.
Details Touring time: 4 hours. Address: Constitution Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets, SW. Telephone: 357-1729. WWW: http://americanhistory.si.edu/ Open hours: daily 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Directions: M-Smithsonian or Federal Triangle.
National Museum of Natural History The extensive collections at this institution trace natural history and human cultures. Displays include dinosaur skeletons, a living coral reef, an insect zoo, the 45.5-carat Hope Diamond in the gem collection, and dioramas on early humans. This summer’s exhibit is Vikings: The North Atlantic, which commemorates the 1,000-year anniversary of the Vikings’ arrival in North America. Details Touring time: 3–4 hours. Address: Constitution Avenue at 10th Street, SW. Telephone: 357-2700. WWW: http:// www.mnh.si.edu/ Open hours: daily 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Directions: M-Smithsonian or Federal Triangle. United States Botanic Garden At the foot of the Capitol Building, on the west side of The Mall, is this national garden, a museum of plants of aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeutic, and ecological value. The renovated conservatory is scheduled to reopen late in 2000. Check to see if it is now accepting visitors.
Convention and Visitors Association
http://www.washington.org (there is much useful information at this site; click on Maps for travel information to or within the city) Smithsonian Institution
http://www.si.edu http://www.si.edu/activity/planvis/ (Museum Visitor’s Guide, with links and Museum Maps) The National Mall
http://www.nps.gov/nama Other Washington Museums
http://www.si.edu/activity/planvis/sightsee.htm
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Off the Mall (North) The National Aquarium Just opposite The Ellipse, in the basement of the Department of Commerce building, is the nation’s first public aquarium. This small facility houses about 250 species from around the world. The displays are, for the most part, in natural habitat exhibits. Details Touring time: 1 hour. Address: 13th Street and Constitution Avenue, SW. Telephone: 482-2825. Open hours: daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Directions: M-Federal Triangle.
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building, provides a one-hour guided tour so that visitors have an overview of the past and present operations of the agency. Through a viewing window visitors can see the forensic laboratories. An extensive collection of firearms is enhanced with a live demonstration. Details Touring time: 1 hour. Address: E Street between 9th and 10th Streets, SW. Telephone: 324-3447. WWW: http://www.fbi.gov/ Tour hours: Monday to Friday 8:45 a.m.–4:15 p.m. Reservations for the tour suggested. Directions: M-Metro Center. National Building Museum The landmark Pension Building, in which this museum is housed, has been the site of Presidential Inaugural Balls since 1885. Exhibits span all aspects of building including architecture, engineering, building crafts, and urban planning. Not only are the exhibits enlightening but so is the tour of the building.
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 77 No. 8 August 2000 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
National Building Museum
Some WWW Addresses for Washington, DC
Bureau of Engraving and Printing One block south of the Washington Monument is the site where the U. S. government designs, engraves, and prints money, bonds, and postage stamps. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing conducts half-hour tours through the facility. Details Touring time: 30 minutes. Address: 14th and C Streets, SW. Telephone: 874-3019. WWW: http://www.bep.treas.gov/ Tour hours: Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.–1:40 p.m. and 5 p.m.– 6:40 p.m. Call for required tour tickets. Directions: MSmithsonian.
The Pension Building, home of the National Building Museum.
Chemical Education Today
ACS National Meeting Details Touring time: 1–2 hours. Address: F Street between 4th and 5th Streets, SW. Telephone: 272-2448. WWW: http:// www.nbm.org/ Open hours: Monday to Sat 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday 12 N–4 p.m. Call for tour times. Directions: M-Judiciary Square.
The Navy Museum Displays in the Navy Museum follow the development of the technology of weapons and examine important naval battles and early naval heroes. Notable exhibits include a fully rigged foremast fighting top from the frigate USS Constitution, a submarine room with operating periscopes, and the bathyscaph Triest. Details Touring time: 1–2 hours. Address: Building 76, Navy Yard, 9th and M Streets, SE. Telephone: 433-6897. WWW: http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/nhcorg8.htm. Open hours: Monday to Friday 9 a.m.–4 p.m., Saturday and Sun 10 a.m.– 5 p.m. Directions: M-Navy Yard or Eastern Market. The National Geographic Society Four blocks north of the White House is the headquarters of The National Geographic Society. The society’s museum, Explorer’s Hall, exhibits memorabilia with interactive exhibits from National Geographic Society sponsored expe-
ditions. Earth Station One is an eleven-foot hand-painted sphere with great details of the world. Check for lectures and free films held in the auditorium. Details Touring time: 1 hour. Address: M Street and 17th Street, NW. Telephone: 857-7588. WWW: http://www. nationalgeographic.com/explorer/index.html. Open hours: Monday to Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Directions: M-Farragut North or Farragut South. Northwest
The National Zoo The National Zoo, another Smithsonian facility, has evolved into a biological park displaying all forms of life. The 5,000 animals are, for the most-part, in indoor and outdoor environments combining living plants, animals, museum specimens, and art. Visitors are made aware of the delicate balance of the earth’s ecosystems and how to preserve them. Details Touring time: 3–4 hours. Address: Connecticut Avenue at Harvard Street or Beach Drive, SW. Telephone: 673-4717. WWW: http://www.si.edu/natzoo/ Open hours: Daily 6 a.m.– 6 p.m. Directions: M-Red Line Metroline at Woodley ParkZoo or Connecticut Ave. bus line L2 or L4.
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