Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Academies of Science

These people were important. Bacon’s expansion of the Alhazen’s scientific method and William of Ockham’s parsimony, which has become something of a creed in science known as Occam’s Razor are examples. But science in the modern sense, depended less on any individual as it did with organization. London’s Invisible College, a confederation of natural philosophers that became the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge in 1660 was the first of these. Newton, Darwin and Lyell would become some of its most famous Fellows. Today, it is simply known as the Royal Society. It is the scientific academy of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth. To be elected to membership is one of the greatest honors a scientist can receive.

The formation if the Académie des sciences in Paris in 1666 was next. Other nations and major cities followed suit. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded in 1739. It is best known for every year selecting the Nobel prize winners in chemistry and physics. In 1863, the United States National Academy of Science was formed when President Abraham Lincoln signed it into being. Today most countries, many states and large cities have honorific science academies and societies.