The Period to 1850 5 



from session to session throughout the meeting, at which 43 papers were 

 presented. 



In spite of this auspicious beginning, the National Institution never held 

 another general meeting and it passed out of existence technically, as well 

 as actually, with the expiration of its charter in 1861. Its founding was a 

 valiant attempt to organize the science of the country more or less under 

 central political sponsorship, but it failed without appreciable effect upon 

 American science and culture. 



The American Journal of Science 



An event of major importance for the progress of science in America was 

 the founding, in 1818, of the American Journal of Science and Arts (the 

 words "and Arts" omitted after the year 1880) by Benjamin Silliman. No 

 other scientific periodical in this country has enjoyed uninterrupted publi- 

 cation for so long a period, now 122 years. The American Journal of 

 Science owes everything to Silliman, for he was not only its founder and its 

 editor for many years, but its financial backer as well. Silliman's Journal, 

 as it was often called, drew together as contributors, and after 1851 as 

 associated editors, most of the leading scientists of the country. It pro- 

 vided them a place in which to publish their writings and made them ac- 

 quainted with one another during a period in which travel was difficult 

 and costly. It contributed greatly to solidarity among American scientists. 1 



Natural Philosophy and Natural History 



In the early part of the nineteenth century science was almost universally 

 classified as Natural Philosophy and Natural History. Although Benjamin 

 Franklin had made many important contributions to what later became 

 known as physics, geology was the first of the branches of Natural Philoso- 

 phy to be vigorously cultivated in America. Interest in geology was partly 

 utilitarian, for a new continent was to be explored and its mineral riches 

 brought to light. Seventeen states made provisions for geological surveys 

 between 1823 and 1839. This rapidly expanding interest in geology led to 

 attempts at forming national geological societies. The first was the Ameri- 

 can Geological Society, incorporated in Connecticut in 18 19. Silliman was 

 one of its vice-presidents, and men from every state in the Union were in- 

 cluded in its membership. The society died in 1826, but its spirit reappeared 

 in the Association of American Geologists, organized in 1840. 



Origin of the American Association 



Interest in natural history was not lacking, for provisions for it were in- 

 cluded in the organization of general scientific societies, such as the Ameri- 



1 For an extended account of the origin and history of the American Journal of Science, see A 

 Century of Science in America (1818-1918). Yale University Press. 19 18. 



