science · 22 December 1666 · 358 years ago
In 1666, the French Academy of Sciences was founded by seven mathematicians and seven physicists meeting in the king's library. The society was an outgrowth of an informal community of scientists who coordinated their research efforts through the efforts of Marin Mersenne, a monk at the Minim monastery, who had exchanged 10,000 letters with them. In 1699, King Louis XIV (who also supported the Paris Observatory) issued a formal decree of protection to the new Academy. Initially, in the constitution that he gave the society, the king retained the right to appoint members, but later membership was given by election. In 1805, the Academy moved its meetings from the Louvre to the Institute of France building.
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