Abstract
THE oldest scientific society in the new world is, I believe, the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. The Society was founded by Benjamin Franklin, son of an English father and born at Boston, Massachusetts, in January, 1706. It was natural that the bicentenary of the birth of a man of such extraordinary and diverse genius as Franklin should be commemorated in his native land, and accordingly during the past winter the Society issued invitations to leading universities and societies throughout the world to be present, through their delegates, at a festival to be held at Philadelphia from April 17 to 20. The date of the meeting was no doubt chosen because Philadelphia is liable to be intolerably hot in the summer, and would certainly be deserted at that season by many of the leading members of the Society, yet the chosen time was not a good one for European delegates, since academic duties would certainly preclude any large attendance from across the seas. Although, then, there were actually present only some half-dozen delegates from Europe, yet many European societies were represented by honorary members of American nationality, and sent addresses of congratulation to the Philosophical Society. The United States and Canada were naturally in great force, and the hundred and fifty or two hundred delegates who attended formed an imposing body of men of scientific repute.
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DARWIN, G. The Bicentenary Celebration of the Birth of Benjamin Franklin . Nature 74, 36–37 (1906). https://doi.org/10.1038/074036a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/074036a0
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