The Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) is a foundation established by Andrew Carnegie in 1902 to support scientific research. Its first president was Daniel Coit Gilman, founder of Johns Hopkins Medical School. Today the CIW supports science in six main areas: plant biology, developmental biology, global ecology, Earth and planetary sciences, and astronomy (through the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (OCIW)). A Foundation is a type of philanthropic organization set up by either individuals or institutions as a legal entity (usually either a corporation or a trust) with the purpose of distributing grants to support causes in line with the goals of the foundation. ... Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company which later became U.S. Steel. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Daniel Coit Gilman Daniel Coit Gilman (1831-1908) was an American educator. ... The Johns Hopkins University is an internationally prestigious private institution of higher learning located in Baltimore, Maryland. ... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Developmental biology is the study of the process by which organisms grow and develop. ... ... Planetary science, also known as planetology or planetary astronomy, is the science of planets and the solar system, and incorporates an interdisciplinary approach drawing from diverse sciences. ... Lunar astronomy: the large crater is Daedalus, photographed by the crew of Apollo 11 as they circled the Moon in 1969. ...

One of the Institution's first grant recipients was George Hale in 1904. Hale needed backing for the construction of a telescope built around a large mirror blank that he had received as a gift from his father. The OCIW funded the completion of the 60-inch Hale Telescope on Mount Wilson, in the San Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena, California. Immediately work began on designing the even larger Hooker Telescope (100-inch), completed in 1917. Two solar telescopes were also constructed with Carnegie support and together they form the Mount Wilson Observatory, still chiefly supported by the Carnegie Institution after 100 years. The OCIW went on to help Hale design and build the 200-inch telescope of the Palomar Observatory (construction was mostly paid for by a Rockefeller grant). The OCIW's chief observatory is now the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, where two identical 6.5 meter Magellan telescopes operate. OCIW is the lead institution in the consortium building the Giant Magellan Telescope, which will be made up seven mirrors each 8.4 meters in diameter for a total telescope diameter of 25.4 metres (83 feet). The telescope is expected to have over four times the light-gathering ability of existing instruments. George Ellery Hale (June 29, 1868 – February 21, 1938) was an American astronomer. ... 1904 (MCMIV) is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mount Wilson lies in the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. ... San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains are located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, USA. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the Mojave Desert. ... Pasadena is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California. ... Palomar Observatory is a privately-owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Mount Wilson Observatory, on Palomar Mountain. ... Las Campanas Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Carnegie Institution of Washington. ... The Magellan Telescopes are 6. ... The Giant Magellan Telescope is a ground-based telescope planned for completion in 2016. ...

In 1920 the Eugenics Record Office in Cold Spring Harbor, New York was merged with the Station for Experimental Evolution to become the CIW's Department of Genetics. The CIW funded that laboratory until 1939. It closed in 1944 and its records were retained in a university library. The CIW continues its support for genetic research, and among its notable grantees in that field are Nobel laureates Barbara McClintock and Alfred Hershey. 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... The Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York was a center for eugenics and human heredity research in the first half of the twentieth century. ... Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located in Suffolk County, New York. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Barbara McClintock Barbara McClintock (June 16, 1902 – September 2, 1992) was a pioneering American scientist and one of the worlds most distinguished cytogeneticists. ... Alfred Day Hershey (December 4, 1908_1997) was a Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist. ...

The Institution supported archaeology in the Yucatan Peninsula in the 1910s through the 1930s, including extensive excavations (under Carnegie associate and Mayanist scholar Sylvanus G. Morley) of Chichen Itza , Copán, and other sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Archaeology, archeology or archæology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. ... // Events and trends The 1910s represent the culmination of European militarism which had its beginings during the second half of the 19th Century. ... // Events and trends A public speech by Benito Mussolini, founder of the Fascist movement The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... Mayanist is a term which has been in widespread use from the late 19th century onwards, to refer to scholars who have specialised in research and study of the Central American pre-Columbian Maya civilization. ... Photo taken c. ... Temple of the Warriors Chichen Itza is the largest of the Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Yucat n, Mexico. ... Location of Copán The Pre-Columbian city now known as Copán is a locale in extreme western Honduras, in the Copán Department, near to the Guatemalan border. ... The term Pre-Columbian is used to refer to the cultures of the New World in the era before significant European influence. ... The Maya civilization is a historical Mesoamerican civilization, which extended throughout the northern Central American region which includes the present-day nations of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras and El Salvador, as well as the southern Mexican states of Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatán peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Campeche...

Presidents of the CIW

• Daniel Coit Gilman (1902-1904)
• Robert S. Woodward (1904-1920)
• John C. Merriam (1921-1938)
• Vannevar Bush (1939-1955)
• Caryl P. Haskins (1956–1971)
• Philip Abelson (1971–1978)
• James D. Ebert (1978–1987)
• Edward E. David, Jr. (Acting President, 1987–1988)
• Maxine F. Singer (1989-2002)
• Michael E. Gellert (Acting President, Jan.- April 2003)
• Richard A. Meserve (April 2003-present)

Daniel Coit Gilman Daniel Coit Gilman (1831-1908) was an American educator. ... John Campbell Merriam (October 20, 1869 - October 30, 1945) was an American paleontologist. ... Vannevar Bush (March 11, 1890 – June 30, 1974) was an American engineer and science administrator, known for his political role in the development of the atomic bomb, and idea of the memex—seen as a pioneering concept for the World Wide Web. ... Philip Hauge Abelson (April 27, 1913 - August 1, 2004) was a physicist, editor of scientific literature, and science writer. ...

External links

• Official website