Russian mineralogical society as a socio-historical phenomenon (Russian mineralogical society in the XIX—first half of the XX century)

The article is an analysis of materials on the history of science (primarily mineralogy), which make it possible to understand the role of scientific societies in the development of the creativity of scientists. The author of this article was primarily interested in the personal, «human» dimension of the problem. The materials for solving this problem were the memoirs and epistolary of scientists, as well as historiographic materials accompanying the activities of the Russian Mineralogical Society in the period from the 19 th to the middle of the 20 th century. The recent 200 th anniversary of the RMS was a vivid testimony to the viability of the Society, and therefore the focus of the author of the proposed article was that of the «centripetal forces» that allowed the RMS to be preserved, while many other scientific societies disintegrated. In the course of the analysis of the above materials, the following motives are outlined that determine the work of the scientist within the scientific community: scope for personal initiative, the possibility of consolidating efforts, material support for research. Additional incentives for membership in the RMS were revealed: the Society as a post-graduate school, the Society as a guarantor of the traditions of scientific ethics. In addition, the double genesis of the RMS was revealed, which was a continuation of the European line of mineralogy development and at the same time a new direction in domestic science, which eventually becomes the leading one.