A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences 1863-1913 (1913) / Chapter Skim
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I. The Founding of the Academy
I. The Founding of the Academy
Pages 1-24
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From page 1... ...
" Propositions relative to a permanent scientific commission: " fist. There shall be constituted a permanent commission consisting of, for the present, Commodore Davis, Professor Henry, and Professor Bache, to which shall be referred questions of science and art upon which the Department may require · ~ ntormatlon.
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From page 2... ...
There was, apparently, but one Commission, which owed its rather peculiar name to an endeavor on the part of Admiral Davis to find a designation corresponding to the term " Select Commission " sometimes employed by the British Government.3 Admiral Davis was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Navigation in the Navy Department in July, ~862, and resided in Washington from November of that year until April, ~865. During that time, according to Captain Davis, " he wrote home almost every day." Among the published letters of this period are four which throw a strong light on the steps which led to the organization of the Permanent Commission and the Academy.
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From page 3... ...
I told you a word about the Academy in one of my notes, but only a word, being in a hurry. The appointment of a Permanent Commission was suggested to me by one of my letters, which quoted a passage from the British War Office which spoke of a Select Commission; and when I mentioned it to Bache and Henry they acquiesced, and the latter presented the plan to the department.
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From page 4... ...
They inform us that Admiral Davis, having come to Washington in November, ~862, heard and participated in various discussions among his scientific associates of the need of a national scientific organization. Having served as a member of various advisory boards, the idea occurred to him not long before :February a, ~863, that the organization might take the form of a Permanent Commission.
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From page 5... ...
Admiral Davis asserts that the plan of action adopted on this occasion was his own, " amplified and improved." While there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the statements regarding the organization of the Academy contained in these letters, which were written while the events were taking place, it is interesting to find that many of them are corroborated by other documents. That Louis Agassiz was nominated by Senator Wilson as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution at the time mentioned by Davis is verified by the record of the proceedings of the 37th Congress contained in the Congressional Gio be.
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From page 6... ...
Indeed, I must confess that I had no idea that the national legislature, amid the absorbing; and responsible duties connected with an intestine war, which threatened the very existence of the Union, would pause in its deliberations to consider such a proposition." 9 Whether other motives than the mere doubt of the feasibility of the plan for incorporating the Academy influenced Henry in refraining from attending the meeting of February I9, can, perhaps, not be discovered after the lapse of so many years. As soon as the Academy had been established, he took an active part in its proceedings, becoming chairman of the first committee appointed in ~863, and a member of two others appointed in ~863 and ~864.
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From page 7... ...
Ibis though as Goode teas abort Was in the minds of ~ashlngton, Jefferson, Barlow, and other early American statesmen and publicist and led to practlca1 results of large importance through the Chides of Franklin, John Adams and Poinse,. Bacbe dwelt on the need of ~ national scientific organization in his address as retiring President of 1be American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Albany, in I86I, on Ebb occasion be said: ~ But first ~ few otse^~dons on the ~dlnary Yes of pr~otlng sconce; in connexlon Nab filch, I would Troy out for your conslderatlon some reasons Lab induce me to bulge that ~~ ;~f~;o~ of ;~ &~ go c~;~, oafs ~ Bark ~~ ;~ oar co~, to ~~e ,~r JO ;~ rr~s fo ,~r Iffy.....
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From page 8... ...
The public tryout Could ~ sued many Ales He puppet of such ~ ~ncll, by the sound AL -1~ it would d~ in regard to the varl~s project ably a~ constantly forced upon their notice, Ed in regard to AL tab are now Dappled to decide Abut the kn~ed~ whl~ Ale can ensure ~ Else c-duslon. Be ma of sclen~ Lo are ~ the seat of Averment either custody or temporally, ~= too ~~ Coupled in Be special Ark -1~ belong to their ~~ odds to answer =^ ~ purple; besides, the ~J8ltl~d resp~slblllty Thy, if Hey were Led to~ber, they must n~essarDy bears would prove too Heat ~ burtben, conslJerlng the fe~ld zeal =d I moat Smut say fierceness Lab AL questers of intent are pursued and the very ~tr~rdlnary means resorted to to bring Bat su=~ful concIusl-.....
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From page 9... ...
Peter Lesley. In a biographical sketch of his life read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers in ~903, Benjamin S
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From page 10... ...
The Academy was incorporated by the United States Congress in ~863, and he was one of the original members, and continued to be a member throughout his life." ~4 The foregoing assertion of Lesley's early interest in the formation of an academy bears the impress of accuracy, but is somewhat at variance with a published letter of Mrs. Lesley, dated Starch 8, ~863, as follows: " Yesterday came an official letter from the Honorable Henry Wilson, naming him [Lesley]
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From page 11... ...
It is perhaps an unnecessary task to endeavor to determine who should be considered the head and front of the Academy movement, but judging from contemporary evidence, this distinction probably belongs to Professor Bache. Arnold Guyot sneaks of him as " the enlightened and far-seeinz head of the -rip O ~ ~ ~ At ~ [~ .~ ~ ~ ~ ,1 a_ ~ _ _ ~ ~ ~~ 17 (boast purvey and the touncter or tnls ~caaemy.E.
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From page 12... ...
336.) The purposes of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are set forth in its charter, from which the following is an extract: "That the end and design of the institution of the said Academy is, to promote and encourage the knowledge of the antiquities of America, and of the national history of the country, and to determine the uses to which the various national productions of the country may be applied to promote and encourage medical discoveries, mathematical disquisitions, philosophical enquiries and experiments; astronomical, meteorological and gem graphical observations; and improvements in agriculture, arts, manufactures and commerce; and, in fine, to cultivate every art and science, which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity and happiness of a free, independent and victorious people." Charter granted May 4, ~780.
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From page 13... ...
No government of Europe has been willing to dispense with a body, under some name, capable of rendering such aid to the government, and in turn of illustrating the country by scientific discovery and by literary culture." 20 In the report for 1867' Joseph Henry, then President of the Academy' refers to the objects of the Academy in the following terms: " The objects of this association are principally to advance abstract science, and to examine, investigate, and experiment upon subjects on which information is desired by the government. " It was implied in the organization of such a body that it should be exclusively composed of men distinguished for original research, and that to be chosen one of its members would be considered Thigh honor, and consequently a stimulus to scientific labor, and that no one would be elected into it who had not earned the distinction by actual discoveries enlarging the field of human knowledge.
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From page 14... ...
' " The organization of this academy may be hailed as marking an epoch in the history of philosophical opinions in our country. It is the first recognition by our government of the importance of abstract science as an essential element of mental and material progress." 2\ It is obvious from the foregoing statements of B ache and Henry, that two principal objects were uppermost in the minds of the founders to afford recognition to those men of science who had done original work of real importance and thereby to stimulate them and others to further endeavors; and to aid the Government in the solution of technical scientific problems having a practical bearing on the conduct of public business.
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From page 15... ...
The establishment of this Academy may be perhaps regarded as having opened a fourth avenue for the aspirations of a laudable ambition, which interferes neither with our national prejudices nor our political principles, and which only requires the fostering care of government to become of essential benefit and importance not only to this, but all the civilized countries of the world." 22 Whatever the merit of the views enunciated by Professor Henry, no tangible evidence of distinction has been attached to membership in the Academy, such as is connected with high military, political or judicial station. The members of the early American Geological Society were accustomed to append the letters ''M.
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From page 16... ...
D BACHE, " President of the National Academy of Sciences." 24 That the founders of the Academy felt that it owed a duty to the Government is shown by the rather singular provision which was incorporated in the constitution, that each member should upon his admission " take the oath of allegiance prescribed by the Senate of the United States for its own members." This matter of an oath of allegiance was by no means regarded as one of slight importance, as is indicated by the animated discussion to which it gave rise when the report of the committee on the constitution was brought before the Academy at the first meetings Rep.
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From page 17... ...
This governmental relationship is one of the chief peculiar ities of the National Academy. Other scientific organizations were founded whose membership was drawn from all parts of the country, whose scope covered all branches of scientific research, and whose transactions reflected credit on their membership and on American science, but none could claim recognition as the scientific adviser to the Government.
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From page 18... ...
Our country has spoken it into being, in this ' dark and troubled night ' of its history, and commissioned you, gentlemen, to mould and fashion its organization, to infuse into, it that vital and animating spirit that shall win in the boundless domains of science the glittering prizes of achievement that will gleam forever on the brow of the nation. " When, a few months ago, a gentleman whose name is known and honored in both hemispheres, expressed to me the desire that an Academy of Physical Sciences should be founded in America, and that I would at least make the effort to obtain such an act of incorporation for the scientific men of the United States, I replied, that it seemed more fitting that some statesman of ripe scholarship should take the lead in securing such a measure, but that I felt confident I could prepare, introduce, and carry through Congress a measure so eminently calculated to advance the cause of science, and to reflect honor upon our country.
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From page 19... ...
I thought it just the fitting time to act. I wanted the salads of the old world, as they turn their eyes hitherward, to see that amid the Ere and blood of the most gigantic civil war in the annals of nations, the statesmen and people of the United States, in the calm confidence of assured power, are fostering the elevating, purifying, and consolidating institutions of religion and benevolence, literature, art and science.
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From page 20... ...
It is a source of profound gratification to me, that, amid the pressure of public affairs, I have been enabled to contribute something to found this Academy for the advancement of the physical sciences in America It will ever be among my most cherished recollections, that I have been permitted through your courtesy to unite with you in organizing this National Academy, which, we fondly hope, will gather around it, in the centuries yet to come, the illustrious sons of genius and of learning, whose researches will enrich the sciences, and reflect unfading lustre upon the republic." The official records of the Academy do not contain an account of this first meeting or a list of the members who attended it. The New York Commercial Advertiser of April 23, ~863, however, contains a list of the names and states that Professor Henry was elected President pro fem., and Professor Caswell, temporary secretary.
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From page 21... ...
Rogers, dated April 28, ~863, from which the follow· — sang Is an extract: " Of the fifty corporators named in the bill, thirty-two were present the first day, and twenty-seven during the rest of the session. A committee of organization was first appointed, consisting of nine, Bache being chairman, supported by Benjamin Gould, Agassiz, Peirce, Benjamin Silliman, Frazer, etc., and to which I also was admitted.
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From page 22... ...
, the members of the National Academy met in New York on the mad of April, ~863, and completed their organization, renewing by their loyal oath their obligations to serve their country and its constituted authorities to the best of their abilities and knowledge, on such subjects as were embraced in their charter, and upon which they might be consulted, and adopting a Constitution and Laws which they supposed would enable them to carry on successfully the plans of Congress as sketched in the charter. " Providing for the full and deliberate consideration and arrangement of their laws by a Committee selected for their capability in such a task, the Academy 31 Life and Letters of William Barton Rogers, edited by his wife, vol.
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From page 23... ...
In addition to considering the constitution and by-laws and electing officers, the Academy at this first meeting appointed a committee on the form of a diploma, on a corporate seal, and on a stamp for books and other property, and also a committee on the mode of electing foreign associates. The latter committee did not report until January, ~864, and the former appears nor to have presented any formal report.
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