The National Academy of Sciences; The First Hundred Years 1863-1963
Blume, David (Title Page Photograph) Washington DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1978. Presumed First Edition/First Printing. Hardcover. xv, [1], 694, [2] pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Appendixes. Name Index. Subject Index. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Election to the National Academies is one of the highest honors in the scientific field. Members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation" on science, engineering, and medicine. The group holds a congressional charter. Founded in 1863 as a result of an Act of Congress that was approved by Abraham Lincoln, the NAS is charged with "providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. … to provide scientific advice to the government 'whenever called upon' by any government department. The Academy receives no compensation from the government for its services." The Act of Incorporation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1863, created the National Academy of Sciences and named 50 charter members. Many of the original NAS members came from the so-called "Scientific Lazzaroni," an informal network of mostly physical scientists working in the vicinity of Cambridge, Massachusetts They also elicited support from Swiss-American geologist Louis Agassiz and American mathematician Benjamin Peirce, who together planned the steps whereby the National Academy of Sciences was to be established. This bypassed Joseph Henry, who was reluctant to have a bill for such an academy presented to Congress. Nevertheless, Henry soon became the second President of NAS. The National Academies did centralize American scientific efforts. In 1870, the congressional charter was amended to remove the limitation on the number of members. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: National Academy of Sciences, Louis Agassiz, Alexander Bache, Isaiah Bowman, Vannevar Bush, Detlev Bronk, Wolcott Gibbs, Karl Compton, James Conant, George Hale, Joseph Henry, Frank Jewett, Robert Millikan, Benjamin Peirce, Charles Wolcott, William B
ISBN: 0309025184
[Book #72861]
Price: $50.00