530 ' POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



time, other members of the academy made their discoveries known to 

 the people. Thus Gerhard lectured on mineralogy, metallurgy and 

 the theory of mining, and Achard on chemistry, experimental physics 

 and electricity, so that by 1780 there was a university in Berlin in 

 everything save name and organization. 



After 1744, through the subjects proposed for prizes, the academy 

 became a sort of guide in study and research for some of the best minds 

 in Europe. Small as the prizes were, fifty ducats at first and after 

 1747 a gold medal, they were contended for by the most eminent 

 scholars and thinkers of the day. Such men as Euler, La Grange, 

 d'Alembert, Kant, Eousseau, Herder, Lessing and Moses Mendelssohn 

 entered the lists for them. In general, the themes proposed required 

 a thorough knowledge of an entire discipline and a discussion of its 

 fundamental principles. For the prize of 1780 forty-two papers were 

 sent in. During the forty-six years of Frederick's reign 26 German 

 works were crowned, and 10 French. One written in Italian received 

 the prize. Of 45 themes treated, 20 were medical or physical in their 

 character, and 25 philosophical, philological or literary. It is a fact 

 worthy of note as indicating the intellectual attainments of the min- 

 istry of the period, that ten of thirty-eight works winning the prize 

 were written by ministers of the Eeformed or Lutheran church. In 

 the twenty years following this period the average was even higher. 



The eighteenth century was not favorable to exact historical study. 

 It was fortunate, therefore, that the academy continued to offer prizes 

 for the discussion of historical themes. The spirit of the time was 

 philosophical rather than scientific or historical. The successful 

 didactic poet was in most circles thought to have realized the highest 

 ideal of life. The writings of Eousseau, Kant and the German idealists 

 were the means of extending the range of thought, giving it a new 

 direction, and of introducing a series of questions which demanded 

 immediate and thorough answer. Advocates of the Leibniz-Wolff 

 philosophy were opposed by the followers of Newton and the French 

 school. For a number of years themes were presented by the academy 

 which seemed to have for their object the overthrow of the philosophy 

 of Leibniz, and the substitution of that of Newton in its place. But 

 these were not the only subjects discussed. J. D. Michaelis, the 

 orientalist, won the prize for 1759 by pointing out, in the best way 

 possible at the time, the reciprocal infiuence of the people on their 

 language, and of language upon opinion. In 1763 Moses Mendelssohn 

 answered, in a manner which satisfied the academy, the question, *Is 

 metaphysical knowledge susceptible of the same evidence as mathe- 

 matical?' and received the prize, though he had no less a rival than 

 Immanuel Kant. Yet the rejected essay of Kant gave the death blow 

 to the philosophy of Wolff. Cochins, court preacher at Potsdam, re- 



