Giving Back!

James did.

James was born in England into a bit of a charmed and wealthy life … from an early age he was able to travel far and wide to study anything and everything he liked … which he then published papers on … by the time James was in his early 60s he’d become a renowned scientist with a sizeable fortune .. Now loving science and education as he did, he never married or had children so James decided to write out his will in a rather unique way … he’d leave everything to his only nephew … unless, of course his nephew died first … in that case James’ entire fortune .. absolutely everything .. would be given to … the people of a country he’d actually had never visited in all his travels … so long as they built an institution in their capital city for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.

Well the nephew passed away first… so you know what happened to James’s fortune … well that country’s leaders debated for over a decade about what to do with the very sizable bequest before starting an institution they named after James.

Today, almost 200 years later, the institution located in the country James Smithson never visited and wouldn’t exist without his bequest or his nephew dying before he did … is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex attracting 30 million visitors annually … the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian Institution is a great idea because helping increase and diffuse real knowledge when you have the resources to do so makes you and everyone a winner every time!