''West C^ourt lixiknig Uiwcud south jjavtiiun and rotunda, 

 and showing the projection oj the stair towers, from 

 United States National Museum Bulletin 80 (1913). 

 Presuniahly the nealkiiiays loere for stroUmg in the court, but 

 no one recalls the door to the ton it's he/ng unlocked for the 

 general fjuhlic. 



for study ot the history of a minute fossil crustacean, 

 the ostracod."'" 



Benson, the first curator hired after Ripley was ap- 

 pointed Secretary, had worked with the second SEM 

 sold commercially at the University of Leicester in Eng- 

 land. He returned convinced that the Museum should 

 have such an instrument, frightiully expensive as it was 

 by the standards of the day. By this time several Amer- 

 ican companies had begun to manufacture them, and 

 a "Buy American" policy was in effect. After convincing 

 the Museum that a SEM would be a worthwhile in- 

 vestment, Benson was able to demonstrate, in a court 

 trial with the Department of Commerce in regard to 

 importation, that the depth of field of the Cambridge 

 instrument was better than that of the new models being 

 made in the United States. 



Once the way had been cleared legally, a machine 

 was purchased. Benson went around the ground floor 

 with a pan of water, setting it on the floor and watching 

 how much the reflection of the lights flickered as a way 

 of determining the amount of vibration in different 

 parts of the building. The SEM went into a former 

 storage area in the northern half of the east range. 

 There are no windows, but those who work under dark- 

 ened conditions have no need for windows anyway. 

 Walter Brown, who was hired to run the SEM. made 



such a success of it that later the U.S. Geological Survey 

 put a second instrument in the laboratory under his 

 charge. Still later a third was installed, along with many 

 changes in the kinds of instruments, position of walls 

 in the area, plumbing, wires, gas cylinders, and other 

 details. As with ADP, the story of SEM is one of in- 

 creasing sophistication of machinery. 



There is a great deal of skill involved in making one 

 of these brutes function, let alone function properly. 

 By 1983. however, familiarity with the machine had 

 reached the point that the Department of Agriculture 

 could purchase an instrument for their scientists to 

 operate themselves, with a minimum of assistance. Until 

 that time a technician had always sat down with the 

 scientist to operate the machine. Although one of the 

 flrst three is no longer in use, the USDA's machine is 

 functioning well, and the scientists seem to be enjoying 

 running it themselves. 



The SEM, again like ADP, is not for everyone or for 

 every problem. But where SEM investigations are used, 

 they provide remarkable new insight on morphological 

 detail at a scale no one dreamed of two decades ago. 

 The SEM is so popular that the biggest problem has 

 been to accommodate all customers. For a time it was 

 first come, first served. Then the system changed to 

 signing up on Friday. When the lines in the hall got 

 too long, a lottery was instituted. The SEM lab is a 

 shared facility in the f ullest sense of the term, for the 

 uses and USDA give Museum scientists part-time ac- 

 cess to their machines in exchange for maintenance 

 and technical assistance as needed. 



One "first" at the laboratory was the making of a 

 hologram — a three-dimensional picture — of a one-celled 

 microfossil, the foraminifer, first cousin to an amoeba. 

 This enlargement of about a thousand times was nearly 

 a foot high, and suggests some interesting ideas for 

 displaying tiny objects to the public. While holograms 

 may not be the wave of the future, they should certainly 

 inspire a few nove\ exhibits. 



In 1984 the Museum produced a major temporary 

 exhibit based on the work of the SEM laboratory. This 

 show. Exploring Microspace, attracted a great deal of 

 nationwide attention." Most of the exhibit consisted of 

 greatly enlarged SEM photographs, but its most pop- 

 ular feature was probably the instrument itself. At cer- 

 tain times of day, visitors could watch it being operated 

 by scientists or technicians. The three-month show was 

 such a hit that a permanent exhibit is being planned. 



Travel Services Office 



Still another shared facility is the Travel Services Office, 

 which like the library, serves the Smithsonian staff at 

 large. Founded in 1966. the Travel Office is swift, ef- 

 ficient, and helpful, and the Museum staff has wel- 

 comed its presence in the building. The Museum is 

 more involved in travel than any bureau of the Insti- 



152 



The Museum 



