A history of the first half-century of the National Academy of Sciences, 1863-1913.

  • National Academy of Sciences, U.S.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A history of the first half-century of the National Academy of Sciences, 1863-1913. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    however, appear in the first list of officers of the Academy, nor of the members of the Council. While, as has been seen, many of the statements in Admiral Davis’ letters regarding the initial steps in the formation of the Academy are substantiated by other records, the most important one has yet to be considered. ‘This is his claim that the practical plan for bringing the organization into existence was his own, though “ amplified and improved,” as he remarks, by the sug- gestions of others. It is not to be supposed that Davis intended to claim having originated the idea of a national scientific association or academy. This thought, as Goode has shown,” was in the minds of Wash- ington, Jefferson, Barlow, and other early American statesmen and publicists, and led to practical results of large importance through the activities of Franklin, John Adams and Poinsett. Bache dwelt on the need of a national scientific organization in his address as retiring President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Albany, in 1851, on which occasion he said: “ But first a few observations on the ordinary modes of promoting science; in connexion with which, I would throw out for your consideration some reasons which induce me to believe that an institution of science, supplementary to existing ones, is much needed in our country, to guide public action in reference to scientific matters. .... “Tt is, I believe, a common mistake to associate the idea of academical insti- tutions with monarchial institutions. We show in this, as in many other things, the prejudice of our descent. We have among us the two extremes of exaggerated nationality and of excessive imitation; let us modify each by the other, and be wise. A national institute is not necessary to Great Britain, with her rich and powerful universities. Republican France has cherished her Institute, seeking rather to extend than to curtail its proportions. ... . Nor does the idea of a necessary connexion between centralization and an institution strike me as a valid one. Suppose an institute of which the members belong in turn to each of our widely scattered states, working at their places of residence and reporting their results; meeting only at particular times, and for special purposes; engaged in researches self-directed, or desired by the body, called for by Congress or by the ® Goode, G. Brown, The Origin of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States. Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc. for 1889, pp. 53-161. 1890.
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