Jump to content

National Academy of Sciences: Difference between revisions

National Academy of Sciences (view source)

Revision as of 08:21, 4 February 2025

35 bytes removed ,  4 February
m
Text replacement - "Civil War" to "Civil War"
VisualWikitext
m (1 revision imported)
m (Text replacement - "Civil War" to "Civil War")
 
(One intermediate revision by the same user not shown)
Line 29: Line 29:
| successor =  
| successor =  
| formation = {{start date and age|1863|3|3}}
| formation = {{start date and age|1863|3|3}}
| founders = [[Alexander Dallas Bache]]<br>[[Abraham Lincoln]]
| founders = [[Alexander Dallas Bache]]<br>Abraham Lincoln
| founding_location = 2101 [[Constitution Avenue]], NW, [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. 20418
| founding_location = 2101 [[Constitution Avenue]], NW, [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S. 20418
| extinction = <!-- use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| extinction = <!-- use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
Line 90: Line 90:
As a [[national academy]], new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the National Academy is one of the highest honors in the scientific field. [[Member of the National Academy of Sciences|Members of the National Academy of Sciences]] serve ''[[pro bono]]'' as "advisers to the nation" on science, engineering, and medicine. The group holds a [[congressional charter]] under [[Title&nbsp;36 of the United States Code]].
As a [[national academy]], new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the National Academy is one of the highest honors in the scientific field. [[Member of the National Academy of Sciences|Members of the National Academy of Sciences]] serve ''[[pro bono]]'' as "advisers to the nation" on science, engineering, and medicine. The group holds a [[congressional charter]] under [[Title&nbsp;36 of the United States Code]].


Congress legislated and President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed an [[Act of Congress]] (1863) establishing the National Academy of Sciences as an independent, trusted government institution, created for the purpose of "providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology [and] to provide scientific advice to the government 'whenever called upon' by any government department."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/#:~:text=The%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20(NAS)%20is%20a%20private%2C,related%20to%20science%20and%20technology. |title=Mission |website=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=April 15, 2022 |archive-date=October 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020022809/https://nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/#:~:text=The%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20(NAS)%20is%20a%20private%2C,related%20to%20science%20and%20technology. |url-status=live }}</ref> This objective gave the academy the purpose of enriching and providing resources to any part of the federal government -- rather than serving a single branch or executive agency, in contrast to the Library of Congress or many entities that report to the President. The goal was somewhat unusual at the time, and also different than other knowledge based entities serving a branch of government, such as the Library of Congress. The academy receives no compensation from the government for its services.<ref name="NASmission">{{cite web|title=Overview: NAS Mission|url=http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/|publisher=National Academies of Science|access-date=April 25, 2015|archive-date=October 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020022809/https://nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Congress legislated and President Abraham Lincoln signed an [[Act of Congress]] (1863) establishing the National Academy of Sciences as an independent, trusted government institution, created for the purpose of "providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology [and] to provide scientific advice to the government 'whenever called upon' by any government department."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/#:~:text=The%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20(NAS)%20is%20a%20private%2C,related%20to%20science%20and%20technology. |title=Mission |website=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=April 15, 2022 |archive-date=October 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020022809/https://nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/#:~:text=The%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%20(NAS)%20is%20a%20private%2C,related%20to%20science%20and%20technology. |url-status=live }}</ref> This objective gave the academy the purpose of enriching and providing resources to any part of the federal government -- rather than serving a single branch or executive agency, in contrast to the Library of Congress or many entities that report to the President. The goal was somewhat unusual at the time, and also different than other knowledge based entities serving a branch of government, such as the Library of Congress. The academy receives no compensation from the government for its services.<ref name="NASmission">{{cite web|title=Overview: NAS Mission|url=http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/|publisher=National Academies of Science|access-date=April 25, 2015|archive-date=October 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020022809/https://nasonline.org/about-nas/mission/|url-status=live}}</ref>


==Overview==
==Overview==
Line 125: Line 125:
==History==
==History==
[[File:Keck Center of the National Academies.JPG|thumb|The Keck Center of the National Academies in Washington, D.C., one of several facilities where the National Academy of Sciences maintains offices]]
[[File:Keck Center of the National Academies.JPG|thumb|The Keck Center of the National Academies in Washington, D.C., one of several facilities where the National Academy of Sciences maintains offices]]
The Act of Incorporation, signed by President [[Abraham Lincoln]] on March&nbsp;3,&nbsp;1863, created the National Academy of Sciences and named 50 charter members. Many of the original [[Member of the National Academy of Sciences|NAS members]] came from the so-called "[[Scientific Lazzaroni]]", an informal network of mostly physical scientists working in the vicinity of [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] ({{Circa|1850}}).<ref>{{cite web |author=ITS |url=http://www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/nasfounding.html |title=Founding of the National Academy of Sciences |publisher=.nationalacademies.org |access-date=March 12, 2012 |archive-date=February 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203154802/http://www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/nasfounding.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Act of Incorporation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on March&nbsp;3,&nbsp;1863, created the National Academy of Sciences and named 50 charter members. Many of the original [[Member of the National Academy of Sciences|NAS members]] came from the so-called "[[Scientific Lazzaroni]]", an informal network of mostly physical scientists working in the vicinity of [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] ({{Circa|1850}}).<ref>{{cite web |author=ITS |url=http://www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/nasfounding.html |title=Founding of the National Academy of Sciences |publisher=.nationalacademies.org |access-date=March 12, 2012 |archive-date=February 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203154802/http://www7.nationalacademies.org/archives/nasfounding.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>


In 1863, the organizers enlisted the support of [[Alexander Dallas Bache]], and also [[Charles Henry Davis]], a professional [[astronomer]] who had been recently recalled from the Navy to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] to head the [[Bureau of Navigation (United States Navy)|Bureau of Navigation]]. They also elicited support from Swiss-American geologist [[Louis Agassiz]] and American mathematician  [[Benjamin Peirce|Peirce]], who together planned the steps whereby the National Academy of Sciences was to be established. Senator [[Henry Wilson]] of Massachusetts was to name Agassiz to the Board of Regents of the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref>For an analysis of the motives by Alexander Dallas Bache for founding the NAS, see Jansen, Axel (2011). ''Alexander Dallas Bache: Building the American Nation through Science and Education in the Nineteenth Century''. Campus. p. 285–314.</ref>
In 1863, the organizers enlisted the support of [[Alexander Dallas Bache]], and also [[Charles Henry Davis]], a professional [[astronomer]] who had been recently recalled from the Navy to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] to head the [[Bureau of Navigation (United States Navy)|Bureau of Navigation]]. They also elicited support from Swiss-American geologist [[Louis Agassiz]] and American mathematician  [[Benjamin Peirce|Peirce]], who together planned the steps whereby the National Academy of Sciences was to be established. Senator [[Henry Wilson]] of Massachusetts was to name Agassiz to the Board of Regents of the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref>For an analysis of the motives by Alexander Dallas Bache for founding the NAS, see Jansen, Axel (2011). ''Alexander Dallas Bache: Building the American Nation through Science and Education in the Nineteenth Century''. Campus. p. 285–314.</ref>
Line 135: Line 135:
Although hailed as a great step forward in government recognition of the role of science in American society, at the time, the National Academy of Sciences created enormous ill-feelings among scientists,<ref name=Miller/> whether or not they were named as incorporators.
Although hailed as a great step forward in government recognition of the role of science in American society, at the time, the National Academy of Sciences created enormous ill-feelings among scientists,<ref name=Miller/> whether or not they were named as incorporators.


The act states:<blockquote>[T]he Academy shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art, the actual expense of such investigations, examinations, experiments, and reports to be paid from appropriations which may be made for the purpose, but the Academy shall receive no compensation whatever for any services to the Government of the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ocga/Other/Act_to_incorporate.asp|title=An Act to Incorporate the National Academy of Sciences|publisher=.nationalacademies.org|author=OCGA|access-date=2012-03-12|archive-date=April 17, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417074050/http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ocga/Other/Act_to_incorporate.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>The National Academies did not solve the problems facing a nation in [[American Civil War|Civil War]] as the Lazzaroni had hoped, nor did it centralize American scientific efforts.<ref name=Miller/>  However, election to the National Academy did come to be considered "the pinnacle of scientific achievement for Americans" until the establishment of the Nobel Prize at the end of the 19th century.<ref name="Stankus p. ">{{cite book | last=Stankus | first=Tony | editor-last=Stankus | editor-first=Tony | title=Scientific Journals | publisher=Routledge | date=December 6, 2019 | isbn=978-1-003-00222-2 | doi=10.4324/9781003002222 | page=| s2cid=34142177 }}</ref>{{Rp|30}}
The act states:<blockquote>[T]he Academy shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art, the actual expense of such investigations, examinations, experiments, and reports to be paid from appropriations which may be made for the purpose, but the Academy shall receive no compensation whatever for any services to the Government of the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ocga/Other/Act_to_incorporate.asp|title=An Act to Incorporate the National Academy of Sciences|publisher=.nationalacademies.org|author=OCGA|access-date=2012-03-12|archive-date=April 17, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417074050/http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ocga/Other/Act_to_incorporate.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>The National Academies did not solve the problems facing a nation in Civil War as the Lazzaroni had hoped, nor did it centralize American scientific efforts.<ref name=Miller/>  However, election to the National Academy did come to be considered "the pinnacle of scientific achievement for Americans" until the establishment of the Nobel Prize at the end of the 19th century.<ref name="Stankus p. ">{{cite book | last=Stankus | first=Tony | editor-last=Stankus | editor-first=Tony | title=Scientific Journals | publisher=Routledge | date=December 6, 2019 | isbn=978-1-003-00222-2 | doi=10.4324/9781003002222 | page=| s2cid=34142177 }}</ref>{{Rp|30}}


In 1870, the congressional charter was amended to remove the limitation on the number of members.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Chronicle of Public Laws Calling for Action by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, &#91;and&#93; National Research Council |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiYrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7 |access-date=March 22, 2014 |year=1985 |publisher=National Academies |location=Washington, DC |page=5 |id=NAP:11820}} [16 Stat. 277 and 36 U.S.C. § 252], Accessed at [[Google Books]]</ref>
In 1870, the congressional charter was amended to remove the limitation on the number of members.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Chronicle of Public Laws Calling for Action by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, &#91;and&#93; National Research Council |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PiYrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7 |access-date=March 22, 2014 |year=1985 |publisher=National Academies |location=Washington, DC |page=5 |id=NAP:11820}} [16 Stat. 277 and 36 U.S.C. § 252], Accessed at [[Google Books]]</ref>
Retrieved from ‘https://openusaproject.com/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/23759...27211’