[Leopoldina insights. The "Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher" around 1750 as reflected in its correspondence].
The 18th century was the 'Golden Age' of scientific academies and learned societies. The oldest national medical academy still in existence, the "Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher" (Leopoldina), founded in 1652 in Schweinfurt as a private society, underwent steady growth after becoming an imperial institution with substantial privileges over the course of several decades. However, in comparison with other renowned academies in Europe, e.g. the English Royal Society or the French Académie des Sciences, it never gained a similar status due to the fact that its members lived far apart from each other and the seat of the academy was transferred to the residence of each new president, thus prohibiting the development of a geographical center. This paper focuses on the analysis of the central dialogue within the Leopoldina around 1750, the correspondence between the 6th president Andreas Elias Büchner (1701-1769), in Halle and the editor of the Leopoldina journal , the 13th Director Ephemeridum, Christoph Jacob Trew, in Nuremberg. Glancing at the four main topics of their long distance conversation - publishing the journal then called the '(Nova) Acta physico-medica', searching for new scientifically active members, improring the corporate identity amongst the Leopoldina members, enlarging the academy's library - it becomes clear that the Leopoldina profited greatly from the strong axis between Büchner and Trew. Their correspondence formed the center of a wide-spread network of letters through which the Leopoldina raised an active voice in the respublica litteraria, playing down Baroque curiosity and favoring a strong interest in rare and useful observations. Communication, interdisciplinarity and expertise formed the essential features of the Leopoldina's participation in the European natural scientific discourse.
Schnalke
Thomas
T
D015709:Correspondence as Topic / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049671:History, 18th Century; D012958:Societies, Scientific / Q000266:history*