George Perkins Merrill, a Smithsonian scientist in the early 1900s, made discoveries about meteorites that still shape our understanding of the solar system's birth. Using microscopes to examine tiny spherical grains called chondrules, the building blocks of stony meteorites, he concluded they formed through multiple processes.. He also showed that meteorites record a history of alteration by heat and pressure over time. His laid groundwork for meteorite research for over a century.

A detailed history of the Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie (MPAe), including its research and deleopment.