The Organisation of Scientific Research at Leszczyński's Academy in Nancy

Abstract

During the modern era the need for knowledge and searching for truths connecting extraordinary minds of science started to become formalized by institutionalization which was – and is – one of the most important processes of the regulation of social life . The ideas of the English philosopher Francis Bacon presented in his work New Atlantis (1627) were of great importance in this process . He showed that science can and must be organized and used in practice and industry . The practical application of sciences would improve life conditions .1 Bacon insisted that the broad field of natural knowledge was too large for one man . Collecting information, which was the first step towards a scientific investigation of the laws of nature, had become so complicated by then, that is was only possible as a collective enterprise .2 In France, the process of institutionalization of scientific research was in the full swing . Groups of highly educated scholars eager to analyse their scientific discoveries and take part in intellectual disputes were created more frequently than ever before . Academies and scientific societies established in 18th century were a significant phenomenon of intellectual life not only in France, but in many European countries as well . They were set up as public institutions working for the state in the field of sciences and humanities in order to develop cooperation between scholars, exchange thoughts and achievements and create the workspace for scientific experiments . The day before the French revolution, 32 cities (without Paris) had one or more academic institutions3 . Between 1715 and 1760, the provincial academic movement acquired twenty new centers including Stanisław Leszczyński’s Academy in Nancy . It was established rather late in comparison to other scientific institutions in French provincial cities such as Dijon (1725), Marseille (1726), Arras (1737), Rouen (1744), Toulouse (1730) or Amiens (1746)4 . The Polish king, Stanisław Leszczyński, the duke of Lorraine and Bar created a formal institution with strict rules