The National Academy of Sciences in the American Democracy: A History

An Albert M. Greenfield Forum in the History of Science

In 2014, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Daniel J. Kevles and Peter Westwick were invited to write the 150th anniversary history of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and were given unprecedented access to its extensive archival collection, much of which had never attracted scholarly attention. Their manuscript, tentatively titled The National Academy of Sciences in the American Democracy: A History is now very close to completion. The book is a contextual as well as an institutional history. It situates the Academy in both American and global history, covering the history of the natural and social sciences as well as engineering and medicine. It aims to weave the internal evolution of the Academy together with its impact on American government and society--and vice versa.

For more resources on this topic, see https://www.chstm.org/video/154

Recorded March 2, 2023.