Portal:History of science/Article/4



The French Academy of Sciences (Académie des sciences) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the forefront of scientific developments in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Academy of Sciences owes its origin to Colbert's plan to create a general academy. He chose a small group of scholars who met on December 22, 1666 in the King's library, and thereafter held twice-weekly working meetings there. The first 30 years of the Academy's existence were relatively informal, since no statutes had as yet been laid down for the institution.

On January 20, 1699, Louis XIV gave the Company its first rules. The Academy received the title of Royal Academy of Sciences and was installed in the Louvre in Paris. On August 8, 1793, the National Convention abolished all the academies. On August 22, 1795, a National Institute of Sciences and Arts was put in place, bringing together the old academies of the sciences, literature and arts. In 1816, the Academy of Sciences became autonomous, while forming part of the Institute of France; the head of State remained its patron. The Academy proceedings were published under the name Comptes Rendues de l'Académie des Sciences.