What were the function of scientific societies in the 17th century? How their functions could be comparable to modern scientific societies, such as APA?

-- Marina Bluvshtein (mb_newland@hotmail.com), October 15, 2002

Answers

This is a difficult question. Different "scientific societies" (the term is anachronistic in this context) functioned in different ways in different places. You might have a look at a history of the Royal Society of London, for a start. Since the term "scientists" was not developed until the 19th century, "scientific society" doesn't mean the same thing in the 17th cnetury as it does today. The Royal Society, for instance, was full of gentlemen who did no real research but liked it as a social club.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), October 15, 2002.

Among the important functions of the early scholarly societies(including the members who were the "scientists" of the times) was the publication of empirical and theoretical research papers. Here is a brief "history" of the first two scholarly societies...first two in the western hemisphere, at least.

The Royal Society was the first scholarly organization, and it continues as one of the world's most prestigious societies today; it was founded in 1660. Its founding was largely due to the prior efforts of Samuel Hartlib, a London philanthropist, who hosted weekly meetings of scientists in London. The founding of the society was also enabled by the sponsorship of King Charles II. The first scholarly journal was The Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions, founded in 1665. The Academie des Sciences in France and its journal, Memoirs, were founded in 1666 with the sponsorship of Louis IVX. Both journals published important papers by persons who were or became important in the history of science.

-- Roger K. Thomas (rkthomas@uga.edu), October 16, 2002.