American History TV visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to learn about a 19th century U.S. Government expedition to circumnavigate the globe, map and chart Pacific islands, and prove that Antarctica was a continent. The 40 tons of specimens collected by the expedition’s six naval vessels became the foundation for the Smithsonian Institution, and are still used for scientific research today.  Portions of this program are from a 2003 "Booknotes" interview with author Nathaniel Philbrick, whose book Sea of Glory chronicles the four year expedition.