Carnegie Institution for Science

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, January 28, 1902

Founded on January 29, 1902, through a $10 million endowment from industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the Carnegie Institution of Washington was established to promote original scientific research and discovery. The institution initially supported both individual investigators and institutional research. Over time, the institution shifted away from funding external researchers and focused on conducting research through its own laboratories and departments. Within its first decade, the institution had established ten major research departments, including the Desert Laboratory, the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, the Geophysical Laboratory, and Mount Wilson Observatory, laying the foundation for its modern scientific programs.

When the United States joined World War II, Vannevar Bush was president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Several months prior to June 12, 1940, Bush persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt to create the National Defense Research Committee (later superseded by the Office of Scientific Research and Development) to coordinate the nation's scientific war effort. Bush housed the new agency in the Carnegie Institution's administrative headquarters at 16th and P Streets, Northwest, in Washington, D.C., converting its rotunda and auditorium into office cubicles. From this location, Bush supervised multiple projects, including the Manhattan Project. Carnegie scientists assisted with the development of the proximity fuze and mass production of penicillin.

Carnegie Science is composed of three scientific divisions on the East and West Coasts that center on life and environmental science, Earth and planetary science, and astronomy and astrophysics: Biosphere Sciences & Engineering, Earth & Planets Laboratory, and Observatories. In addition to facilities in the United States, Carnegie Science manages the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

Life and Environmental Sciences

Carnegie Science’s life and environmental science research activities are currently housed under the institution's Biosphere Sciences & Engineering Division located in Pasadena in association with Caltech. Research areas at this division include global ecology, symbiosis and nested ecosystems, and plant and algal research.

Life and environmental science research activities were historically housed under departments, including the Department of Embryology, located on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore, MD and the Department of Plant Biology and Department of Global Ecology, located on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, CA.

The former Department of Plant Biology began as the Desert Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona 1903 to study desert plants in their natural habitats. The department employed early ecologists Forrest Shreve and Frederic Clements and the Desert Lab became a nexus for early work in ecology. Over time and with the move to the Stanford campus, research at the department evolved to the study of photosynthesis.