dating from 4000 B.C to A.D- 1900. She is trying to determine 

 the location, function, and cultural uses of those pieces and 

 place them in a taxonomy of use throughout that period to see 

 what changes occurred. 



Reproductive research by research veterinarian Steven 

 Monfort at the National Zoo's Conservation and Research 

 Center in Front Royal, Virginia, could contribute to saving 

 the endangered scimitar-horned oryx, a species of African 

 antelope that is extinct in the wild. Monfort 's research ream 

 developed new sperm freezing and artificial inseminarion 

 techniques to enhance the global genetic management of this 

 rare antelope. 



The reports from museums and research institutes on the 

 following pages describe more research highlights. Together, 

 these reports communicate the extent and the significance of 

 the Smithsonian research enterprise. 



In the decades ahead, the Smithsonian must remain on the 

 leading edge. The Chandra X-ray Observatory is an especially 

 striking example because it could change our view of the 



cosmos through the power of X-ray astronomy. In other 

 realms, the opportunities are also compelling: the National 

 Museum of American History's research on the Teodoro Vidal 

 Collection of Puerto Rican Material Culture, the Hirshhorn 

 Museum and Sculpture Garden's analysis of rhe complex 

 questions of beauty in late-rwencieth-century art, the 

 Smithsonian Tropical Research Insritute's important 

 interdisciplinary research in tropical paleontology, 

 archaeology, and geology. 



How fortunate we are to have the legacy of Henry, Baird, 

 Langley, and Wakort. The Smithsonian's extraordinary research 

 resources are of great value in the "increase" of knowledge and in 

 sharing it with scholarly communities. Of equal value, however, 

 is the potential to carry that knowledge to the public. Using the 

 results of research by Smirhsonian scholars in the arts, the 

 humanities, and the sciences, the Institution can demystify the 

 unfamiliar, challenge assumptions, and stimulate new ways of 

 thinking and understanding. That is the ultimate power of our 

 research tradition. 



