Sciences, Academy of

Sciences, Academy of

▪ French organization
French  Académie des Sciences 

      institution established in Paris in 1666 under the patronage of Louis XIV to advise the French government on scientific matters. This advisory role has been largely taken over by other bodies, but the academy is still an important representative of French science on the international stage. Although its role is now predominantly honorific, the academy continues to hold regular Monday meetings at the Institut de France in Paris.

      The Academy of Sciences was established by Louis's financial controller, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (Colbert, Jean-Baptiste), to formalize under government control earlier private meetings on scientific matters. In 1699 the Academy received a formal constitution, in which six subject areas were recognized: mathematics, mechanics, astronomy, chemistry, botany, and anatomy. There was a hierarchy of membership, in which the senior members (known as pensioners, who received a small remuneration) were followed by associates and assistants.

      The Academy organized several important expeditions. For example, in 1736 Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (Maupertuis, Pierre-Louis Moreau de) led an expedition to Lapland to measure the length of a degree along the meridian. His measurement verified Isaac Newton (Newton, Sir Isaac)'s contention that the Earth is an oblate spheroid (a sphere flattened at the poles).

      Following the French Revolution of 1789, the academy was directed in 1791 by the National Assembly to rationalize the nation's system of weights and measures; this resulted in the adoption of the metric system. In 1793, during a period of revolutionary egalitarianism, the academy was temporarily abolished, together with other royal academies, because of its royalist title and elitist nature. In 1795 the academy was revived under the title of First Class of the National Institute. The idea of the institute was to combine under one organization the main formerly separate royal academies, which together represented all branches of learning and culture. Science, however, was placed first according to the ideology of the Enlightenment and was the largest group. At the Bourbon Restoration of Louis XVIII in 1816, the academy resumed its former title, though it remains a constituent section of the National Institute, which now includes the French Academy; the Academy of Fine Arts; the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres; and the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences.

      In 1835 the academy began publication of its Comptes rendus, a weekly journal of its proceedings that appeared within the week, thus creating a precedent for the rapid publication of scientific news. The Comptes largely superseded the annual volume of Mémoires, and it is still the academy's principal publication. The academy has a limited government budget and is officially answerable to the minister of education. In the 19th century, the academy wielded great power through publication, prizes, and patronage for academic posts. Unlike the Royal Society of London, its (resident) membership was strictly limited (to 75 in the 1800s), and elections were hotly contested, voting being restricted to resident members. It was usual for candidates to stand several times before being successful. Marie Curie (Curie, Marie) tried only once in 1910 and was narrowly defeated. Charles Darwin (Darwin, Charles) was nominated several times before finally being elected as a corresponding member in 1878. On the other hand, the academy could boast of its association with many eminent French scientists, such as Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent), Pierre-Simon Laplace (Laplace, Pierre-Simon, marquis de), and Louis Pasteur (Pasteur, Louis).

      In a major reorganization and modernization in 1976, membership was vastly increased, and attention was paid to recent scientific developments. Two major divisions were established, one covering mathematical and physical sciences with their applications and the other chemical, natural, biological, and medical sciences with their applications. The total number of resident members was increased to 130, correspondents to 160, and foreign associates to 80—and even these numbers seem likely to be increased. Vacancies open on the death of existing members. In order to encourage younger members, half the places in elections are reserved for candidates less than 55 years of age.

Maurice P. Crosland

Additional Reading
Roger Hahn, The Anatomy of a Scientific Institution: The Paris Academy of Sciences, 1666–1803 (1971), is a well-written account of the academy's early years. Maurice Crosland, Science Under Control: The French Academy of Sciences, 1795–1914 (1992, reissued 2002), is the definitive account of the academy during the 19th century.Maurice P. Crosland

▪ Russian organization
in full (1917–25 and since 1991)  Russian Academy of Sciences  , Russian  Rossiiskaya Akademiya Nauk  

      highest scientific society and principal coordinating body for research in natural and social sciences, technology, and production in Russia. The organization was established in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1724. Membership in the academy is by election, and members can be one of three ranks—academician, corresponding member, or foreign member. The academy is also devoted to training students and to publicizing scientific achievements and knowledge. It maintains ties with many international scientific institutions and collaborates with foreign academies. The academy directs the research of other scientific institutions and institutions of higher education. It includes departments of mathematics; physics; power engineering, mechanics, and control processes; information science and computer technology; chemistry and materials; biology; earth sciences; social sciences; and history and philology. Its membership is more than 1,400, with roughly 700 corresponding members, 500 academicians, and 200 foreign members.

      Founded by Peter I the Great, the academy was opened in 1725 by his widow, Catherine I, as the Academy of Sciences and Arts. Later known under various names, it held its present name from 1917 to 1925 and took it once more in 1991. In its early decades, foreign scholars, notably the Swiss mathematicians Leonhard Euler (Euler, Leonhard) and Daniel Bernoulli (Bernoulli, Daniel), worked in the academy. The first Russian member was Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilyevich), scientist and poet, who was elected in 1742 and contributed extensively to many branches of science. The society's highest prize, the Lomonosov Medal, bears his name. Under the tsars, the academy was headed by members of court circles and controlled a small number of institutions. After 1917 the academy chose its president and expanded its activities as new scientific institutions arose throughout the Soviet Union. By 1934, when it transferred from St. Petersburg to Moscow, it embraced 25 institutes. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the academy directed more than 260 institutions, including laboratories, naval institutes, observatories, research stations, and scientific societies, and its branches were spread throughout the Soviet Union.

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Universalium. 2010.

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