| "It
is proposed to found in the city of Washington, an institution
which...shall in the broadest and most liberal manner encourage
investigation, research, and discovery [and] show the
application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind..." |
|
Andrew Carnegie
founded the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1902 as an organization
for scientific discovery. His intention was for the institution
to be home to exceptional individuals—men and women with
imagination and extraordinary dedication capable of working at
the cutting edge of their fields. Some of Carnegie’s leading
researchers from the early and middle years of the 20th century
are well known:
- Edwin Hubble, who revolutionized astronomy with his discovery
that the universe is expanding and that there are galaxies other
than our own Milky Way;
- Charles Richter, who created the earthquake measurement scale;
- Barbara McClintock, who won the Nobel Prize for her early work
on patterns of genetic inheritance;
- Alfred Hershey, who won the Nobel Prize for determining that
DNA, not protein, harbors the genetic recipe for life;
- Vera Rubin, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Science
for her work confirming the existence of dark matter in the universe;
and
- Andrew Fire, who with colleagues elsewhere opened up the world
of RNA interference, for which he shared a Nobel Prize in 2006
Today,
Carnegie scientists continue to be at the forefront of scientific
discovery. Working in six scientific departments on the West and
East Coasts, Carnegie investigators are leaders in the fields
of plant biology, developmental biology, earth and planetary sciences,
astronomy, and global ecology. They seek answers to questions
about the structure of the universe, the formation of our solar
system and other planetary systems, the behavior and transformation
of matter when subjected to extreme conditions, the origin of
life, the function of genes, and the development of organisms
from single-celled egg to adult.
The
Carnegie Institution is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Richard
A. Meserve serves as president.
The Carnegie Institution’s Six Research Departments:
Department of Embryology,
Baltimore, Maryland
The Department of Embryology was founded in 1913 in affiliation
with the department of anatomy at The Johns Hopkins University.
Until the 1960s its focus was human embryo development. Since then
the researchers have addressed fundamental questions in animal development
and genetics at the cellular and molecular levels. Some researchers
investigate the genetic programming behind cellular processes as
cells develop, while others explore the genes that control growth
and obesity, stimulate stem cells to become specialized body parts,
and perform many other functions.
Geophysical Laboratory,
Washington, D.C.
Researchers at the Geophysical Laboratory (GL), founded in 1905,
examine the physics and chemistry of Earth’s deep interior.
The laboratory is a world-renowned center for petrology—the
study of rocks. It is also a world leader in high-pressure and high-temperature
physics making significant contributions to both Earth and material
sciences. The GL, with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism co-located
on the same campus, is additionally a member of NASA’s Astrobiology
Institute—an interdisciplinary effort to investigate how life
evolved on this planet and determine its potential for existing
elsewhere. Among their many projects is one dedicated to examining
how common rocks found at high-pressure, high-temperature hydrothermal
vents at the ocean bottom may have provided the catalyst for life
on this planet.
Department
of Global Ecology, Stanford, California
Established in 2002, Global Ecology is the newest Carnegie department
in over 80 years. Using innovative approaches, these researchers
are picking apart the complicated interactions of Earth’s
land, atmosphere, and oceans to understand how global systems operate.
With a wide range of powerful tools—from satellites to the
instruments of molecular biology—these scientists explore
issues such as the global carbon cycle, the role of land and oceanic
ecosystems in regulating climate, the interaction of biological
diversity with ecosystem function, and much more. These ecologists
also play an active role in the public arena, from giving congressional
testimony to promoting satellite imagery for the discovery of environmental
“hotspots.”
Department
of Plant Biology, Stanford, California
The Department of Plant Biology began as a desert laboratory in
1903 to study plants in their natural habitats. Over time the research
evolved to the study of photosynthesis. Today, using molecular genetics
and related methods, these biologists study the genes responsible
for plant responses to light and the genetic controls over various
growth and developmental processes including those that enable plants
to survive disease and environmental stress. In addition, the department
is a world leader in bioinformatics. It developed and now manages
an online-integrated database that supplies all aspects of biological
information on the most widely used model plant, Arabidopsis.
Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism, Washington, D.C.
The Department of Terrestrial Magnetism was founded in 1904 to map
the geomagnetic field of the Earth. Over the years the research
direction shifted, but the historic goal—to understand the
Earth and its place in the universe—has remained the same.
Today the department is home to an interdisciplinary team of astronomers
and astrophysicists, geophysicists and geochemists, cosmochemists
and planetary scientists. These Carnegie researchers are discovering
planets outside our solar system, determining the age and structure
of the universe, and studying the causes of earthquakes and volcanoes.
With colleagues from the Geophysical Laboratory, these investigators
are also helping to define the new and exciting field of astrobiology.
The Observatories, Pasadena, California, and Las Campanas, Chile
The Observatories were founded in 1904 as the Mount Wilson Observatory.
Mount Wilson transformed our notion of the cosmos with the discoveries
by Edwin Hubble that the universe is far larger than had been thought
and that it is expanding. Carnegie astronomers today study the cosmos
with an unusual twist. Unlike most in their field, they design and
build their own instruments to capture the secrets of space. They
are tracing the evolution of the universe from the spark of the
Big Bang through star and galaxy formation, exploring the structure
of the universe, and probing the mysteries of dark matter, dark
energy, and the ever-accelerating rate at which the universe is
expanding.
Andrew
Carnegie's 22 Organizations
Beginning in 1895, Andrew Carnegie contributed his vast fortune
toward the establishment of 22 organizations that today bear his
name and carry on work in such fields as art, education, international
affairs, peace, and scientific research. |
