sionals and mercantile businessmen—most of the patrons of science liked 
to be called cultivated; a description of pleasingly lofty connotations, 
it signified their sense of distance from a country they found downright 
philistine. . . .!’ 
In the nineteenth century, the Academy functioned like a private 
club supported by a few learned and ‘‘cultivated’’ members. By 1893, 
the organization had transformed into a more populist one. It still 
endeared itself to amateur and professional scientists and to the cream 
of society, but in addition it attracted educated members of the middle 
class who also wished to be associated with the lofty notions of science. 
At the turn of the century, the Academy still enjoyed the support 
of this diverse range of constituents. But much of this support quickly 
evaporated. The reforms the Academy instituted in the 1890s— 
democratizing the voting process and popularizing meetings—had a 
levelling effect that worked for a brief period. In those expansion years 
the Academy worked to become all things to all people, which forced 
it to balance the scholarly activity of publishing with public programs 
that alternated from popular to ‘‘uplifting’’ to technical. Despite this 
juggling act the organization found it increasingly difficult to attract 
and hold new members. 
Younger scientists and engineers favored specialized professional 
organizations, such as the American Physical Society and the American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers, over the discursive Academy and other 
organizations that served as common clearing houses of scientific 
thought. Popular support for the Academy declined because the mid- 
dle class, and often the elite, moved away from the “‘higher’’ abstrac- 
tions of science toward a preoccupation with the gritty realities of social 
reform. For them, science went out of style in the Progressive Era. 
The Academy tried to adapt when it became apparent that its ap- 
peal was flagging. It turned reform-minded—supporting a bill that limited 
the diversion of water from Niagara Falls.'* At the same time, the 
Academy courted engineers and professional scientists by offering more 
lectures on highly technical subjects and by making other overtures in 
attempts to lure them back into the fold.'* Unfortunately, these attempts 
failed and membership plummeted. However, enough amateur scien- 
tists and ‘‘old school’’ professionals remained active through the try- 
ing times of war to carry on into the third decade of the century. 
