Publications
The list of selected staff publications may be searched by keyword or author and can be sorted by year.
Online biographical profile of inventor Percy Spencer (1894-1970), who is best known for his discovery of microwave cooking but also earned the US Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his magnetron research at Raytheon.
Places of Invention tells the stories of people who lived, worked, played, collaborated, adapted, took risks, solved problems, and sometimes failed--all in the pursuit of something new. It dispels the myth of the lone inventor and shows that invention and innovation abound--not just in the Silicon Valleys of America but in hometowns across the country.
Monica Smith served as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Museum Education from 2005 to 2008.
This chapter examines how the Lemelson Center's first major exhibition evolved into an exhibition focused on play, and the research, implementation, and evaluation processes along the way, to hopefully provide inspiration for future play-related museum initiatives.
This article in the bimonthly journal of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) provides an overview of the Places of Invention (POI) project, including the exhibition and public programs at NMAH and with Smithsonian Affiliate project partners, as well as POI-related questions that could be adapted by other museums for public programs and oral history projects.
This peer-reviewed article shares the Lemelson Center's primary and secondary research behind the award-winning Invention at Play exhibition regarding connections among play, child development, creativity, and invention.
Provides a brief history of the invention and early development of the electric guitar in America. Reprinted from the American Heritage of Invention and Technology 20, no. 1 (summer 2004).
The magazine's cover article about the invention and development of the electric guitar and how it changed the world of music during the 20th century. Features guitarists, makers, and innovators who played important roles in the evolution of the instrument and helped influence popular music styles including rock and roll. Reprinted in Regional Cultures in American Rock 'N' Roll: An Anthology, edited by David Stuart and Scott Anderson (2011).
This virtual exhibition features instruments that illustrate how innovative makers and players combined the guitar with a pickup and amplifier to create a new instrument and a new sound that profoundly changed popular music—blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll—in the 20th-century. From an exhibition produced by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, November 1996 through October 1997.
Entries in specialized science and technology encyclopedia about the invention and development of irons, stoves, and washing machines in America, with links to other inventions featured in the publication.
This peer-reviewed article provides an overview of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History and its Places of Invention exhibition project. Reprinted in two parts in Inventors Digest 31, nos. 2-3 (February and March 2015).
Provides an overview of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History and its Places of Invention exhibition project. Reprinted from Technology and Innovation 16, nos. 3-4 (2014): 175-185.
A description of the conservation treatment of a scrapbook of early aeronautica in the collection of the National Air and Space Museum’s rare book collection.
A description of the use of shrink wrap to protect 30,000 rare books during a collection storage renovation.
A description of the use of shrink wrap to protect 30,000 rare books during a collection storage renovation.
