Abstract
IN these two volumes, Dr. Hildebrand gives an account of the inception, foundation and early-years of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which is now two hundred years old. Already in the seventeenth century the spirit of research in the natural sciences was afoot, and the tendency to do away with Latin in place of the worker's national language was gaining ground. There was, however, a strong utilitarian bias in scientific work. The Royal Society of London and the Academy of Science of Paris showed the way to pure research. The foundation of these and later that of the Academy of Science of Russia prepared the way in Sweden. A few attempts to found learned societies failed, for the universities still were dominated by the dead languages, but in 1728 the Royal Society of Sciences was founded in Uppsala. About the same time the capital saw the start of academies of music, painting and literature, and in 1739 the Academy of Science was founded on the model of the Royal Society and the French Academy of Science; two years later it received a royal charter.
Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademien:
Förhistoria, Grundläggning och Första Organisation. Av Bengt Hildebrand. Pp. xv + 672. Noter, Bilagor M.M. Pp. v + 673–886. (Stockholm: Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademien, 1939).
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B., R. Kungl Svenska Vetenskapsakademien. Nature 147, 495 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147495a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147495a0