The Anatomy of a Scientific Institution: The Paris Academy of Sciences, 1666-1803The Anatomy of a Scientific Institution: The Paris Academy of Sciences, 1666-1803 delves into the Académie Royale des Sciences as a foundational force in French scientific advancement during the Enlightenment. Filling a significant gap in historical research, this study uses archival materials and existing literature to examine the Academy beyond its members' achievements, focusing on its distinct institutional character and its evolving roles over three turbulent centuries. The book outlines how the Academy established scientific norms and traditions, managed pre-Revolutionary pressures, and later faced upheaval during the French Revolution, leading to its dissolution in 1793. It then traces the Academy’s revival as part of the Institut National, exploring how the institution adapted to new political and scientific contexts that redefined its mission. This analysis reveals the Academy's essential role in aligning scientific values with societal expectations, underscoring how it navigated political shifts to maintain its influence on scientific progress. By positioning the Academy within different historical and political frameworks—the Old Regime, Revolutionary France, and Napoleonic France—the study highlights the dynamic interaction between scientific institutions and societal demands. Through this lens, it calls for further examination of other influential French institutions, such as the École Polytechnique and the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, to complete the picture of France’s unique scientific legacy. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1971. |
Contents
| 1 | |
A Republic of Science | 35 |
Integration into the Old Regime | 58 |
The Growth of Science | 84 |
Changing Demands of Society | 116 |
Revolutionary Context | 159 |
Legislative Debates | 195 |
Closing the Academy | 226 |
The Institut | 286 |
Conclusion | 313 |
A Bibliographical Note | 321 |
Bibliographical Data on Academicians | 330 |
Bibliography | 374 |
| 421 | |
| 429 | |
Democratic Science | 252 |
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Common terms and phrases
Acad academic system academicians Académie de Médecine Académie Française Academy of Sciences Academy's activities Annales artisans Arts et Métiers Aucoc Bibliothèque Birembaut BMHN Brissot Bulletin Cassini CIPCN Claude Perrault Colbert Collège Collège de France Committee of Public Condorcet critics cultural D'Alembert d'Histoire des Sciences discussed dossier Ecole eighteenth century elected Eloge Encyclopédie Enseignement et Diffusion Euvres fols Fontenelle Fourcroy Française France French function Histoire Historique Huygens important Inédite institution intellectual Jardin du Roi Jean Journal Jussieu l'Académie Royale Lakanal Lalande Lamarck Laplace Lavoisier Lavoisier's learned society legislators Louis Marat Médecine membership Mémoires National Society nature Œuvres Old Regime organization Paris Pharmacie Pierre political practices professional reform Republic of Letters Revolution revolutionary Revue d'Histoire role Royale des Sciences Savants scientific community scientists Smeaton Société d'Histoire Naturelle Société Libre Society of Arcueil Talleyrand tion vols voluntary associations XVIIIè Siècle