Prussian Academy of Sciences

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Unter Den Linden 8. Today it houses the Berlin State Library
.

The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (German: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer.[1][2][3] In the 18th century, when French was the language of science and culture, it was a French-language institution.

Origins

Prince-elector Frederick III of Brandenburg, Germany founded the Academy under the name of Kurfürstlich Brandenburgische Societät der Wissenschaften ("Electoral Brandenburg Society of Sciences") upon the advice of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who was appointed president. Unlike other Academies, the Prussian Academy was not directly funded out of the state treasury. Frederick granted it the monopoly on producing and selling calendars in Brandenburg, a suggestion from Leibniz. As Frederick was crowned "King in Prussia" in 1701, creating the Kingdom of Prussia, the Academy was renamed Königlich Preußische Sozietät der Wissenschaften ("Royal Prussian Society of Sciences"). While other Academies focused on a few topics, the Prussian Academy was the first to teach both sciences and humanities. In 1710, the Academy statute was set, dividing the Academy into two sciences and two humanities classes. This was not changed until 1830, when the physics-mathematics and the philosophy-history classes replaced the four old classes.[1][2]

Frederick the Great

The reign of

anatomical theater in 1717; a Collegium medico-chirurgicum in 1723; a botanical garden in 1718; and a laboratory in 1753. However, those were later taken over by the University of Berlin
.

As a French-language institution its publications were in French such as the Histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences et belles lettres de Berlin which was published between 1745 and 1796.

A linguistics historian from

Leibnizian views, and the personality conflicts between the philosopher Voltaire and the mathematician Maupertuis. At a higher level, Maupertuis, the director from 1746 to 1759 and a monarchist, argued that the action of individuals was shaped by the character of the institution that contained them, and they worked for the glory of the state. By contrast, d'Alembert took a republican rather than monarchical approach and emphasized the international Republic of Letters as the vehicle for scientific advance.[4] By 1789, however, the academy had gained an international repute while making major contributions to German culture and thought. Frederick invited Joseph-Louis Lagrange to succeed Leonhard Euler as director; both were world-class mathematicians. Other intellectuals attracted to the philosopher's kingdom were Francesco Algarotti, Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, and Julien Offray de La Mettrie. Immanuel Kant published religious writings in Berlin which would have been censored elsewhere in Europe.[1][2][5]

19th century

Beginning in 1815, research businesses led by Academy committees (such as the Greek-Roman Archeology Committee or the Oriental Committee) were founded at the Academy. They employed mostly scientists to work alongside the corresponding committee's members. University departments emanated from some of these businesses after 1945.

20th century

On 25 November 1915 Albert Einstein presented his field equations of general relativity to the Academy.

Under

Jewish employees and members were expelled starting in 1933, Jewish Academy members were not expelled until 1938, following a direct request by the Ministry of Education.[6]
The new Academy statute went into effect on 8 June 1939, reorganizing the Academy according to the Nazi leadership principle (the Führerprinzip).

Following

German Reunification, the Academy was disbanded and the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften ("Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities") was founded in its place, in compliance with a 1992 treaty between the State Parliaments of Berlin and Brandenburg. Sixty of the AdW members broke off and created the private Leibniz Society in 1993.[7]

Notable members

References

  1. ^
    MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
    . August 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities". Akademienunion.de. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  3. ^ "History of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities". Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  4. ^ Mary Terrall, "The Culture of Science in Frederick the Great's Berlin," History of Science, Dec 1990, Vol. 28 Issue 4, pp 333–364
  5. ^ Hans Aarsleff, "The Berlin Academy under Frederick the Great," History of the Human Sciences, May 1989, Vol. 2 Issue 2, pp 193–206
  6. ISBN 978-3-939818-14-4
    (English and German), p. 59-69.
  7. ^ Notzoldt, Peter; Walther, Peter Th. (2004). "The Prussian Academy of Sciences during the Third Reich". Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy. 42 (4): 421–444. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  8. ISBN 3-05-002153-5
    , S. 45
  9. ^ "Heinrich Wild – Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften". www.bbaw.de. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Latest intelligence – The Berlin Academy of Sciences". The Times. No. 36094. London. 20 March 1900. p. 6.

Further reading

External links
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