THE rnrSSIAN academy- of science. 523 



THE EOYAL PRUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND 

 THE FINE AETS. BERLIN. 



By EDWARD F. WILLIAMS, 



CHICAGO, ILL. 

 II. 



History of the Royal Prussian Academy of Science and the Fine Arts 

 from its reorganization under Frederich the Great till his 



death in 1786. 



UNDER the patronage of the new king, which was continued with 

 increasing sympathy during the forty-six years of his reign, the 

 academy in Berlin acquired world-wide influence. The Literary 

 Society of Berlin, Avhich had been a serious rival, was united with it, 

 and the new organization was named The Royal Prussian Academy of 

 Science and the Fine Arts. The king had intended, it is thought, that 

 Voltaire should be its president, but for some reason, greatly to the 

 mortification of the Frenchman, Francis Algaratti, of Paris, was given 

 that honor. But he did not retain it long. 



The king was anxious to have Wolff, the philosopher, in the academy 

 as a representative of the thought of the new time, and Maupertuis, 

 of Paris, as a representative of the attainments and the spirit of Sir 

 Isaac Newton. Wolff did not care to leave his professorship in Halle, 

 and though Maupertuis was made one of 'The Immortals ' of the 

 French Academy in 1743, he came to Berlin in 1741, and at the king's 

 wish, assumed control of the academy and continued at its head till his 

 death on July 17, 1759. In 1743 the last volume of the Berlin 'Mis- 

 cellanies' was issued. The academy now entered thoroughly into an 

 era of reorganization. Its publications became cosmopolitan in char- 

 acter. Even if expenses increased the income grew. Men of distinc- 

 tion began to think favorably of Berlin as a home, and of membership 

 in the academy as desirable. New societies for the study of natural 

 history and literature, for which the inefficiency of the academy had 

 furnished an excuse, were united with it on the broad plan of Leibniz. 

 In the reorganized institution there were to be classes for the study of 

 physics, mathematics, philosophy and philology, with a director at the 

 head of each class. There were to be 24 members, and these were to 

 be selected by the king from lists of names placed in his hand. The 

 members of the old academy were all retained, but new men of the 

 highest standing only were granted membership in the new institution. 



