‘Tarzan of the sciences’: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in the communication jungle, CA 1970

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss how the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences attempted to transform itself from an unofficial government agency into what might be called a scientific public relations organization in the years around 1970. On an organizational level, this transformation manifested in the establishment of new positions at the Academy: an international secretary was hired in 1970 and an information secretary in 1973, both soon followed by their own departments and staff. On a more existential level, it involved redefining its role in Swedish scientific research and administration, in relation to other institutions and to its own past position.