The role of Scientific Societies in publishing and scientific communication:

1

• The role of Scientific Societies in publishing
  and scientific communication
• A historical view
• Turid Hedlund

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
2
Two examples

• The 17th century (based on Ornstein The role of
  scientific societies in the seventeenth century
  1913 reprint 1975)
• The first scientific journals
• The 20th century
• Commercial publishers
• Electronic journals
• Open Access movement

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
3
Åbo Akademi 1640
The Royal Society in London (1662-)
Collegium Naturae Curiosorum in Schweinfurt,
Germany (1652-)
The Académie des sciences in Paris (1666-)
Accademia del Cimento in Florence (1657-67)
Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
4
Scientific Societies and their publications

• Italy
• Accademia dei Lincei in Rome
• 1603-1630. Founded by Duke Frederico Cesi.
  Galileo member 1609-1615.
• Accademia del Cimento
• 1657-1667. Founded in Florence by the Medici
  brothers, Prince Leopold and the Grand Duke
  Ferdinand II. Torricelli and Viviani students of
  Galileo members.

• Proceedings of the society Gesta Lynceorum
• Saggi di naturali esperienze fatte nell Accademia
  del Cimento

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
5

• The work of 9 scientists united effort was
  disseminated as a published book. Their work to
  elaborate instruments, acquire experimental
  skills to determine fundamental truths became the
  laboratory manual of the 18th century.

Digitised version from Instituto E Museo Di
Storia Della Scienca
http//fermi.imss.fi.it/rd/bd?lngit
Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
6

• Germany
• Collegium Naturae Curiosorum
• The society was founded in Schweinfurt in 1652.
  A society of physicians, with the main function
  to publish scientific papers on original
  research.
• Later it became the
• Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina
• http//www.leopoldina-halle.de/

• Miscellanea Curiosa cited in Philosophical
  Transactions of the Royal Society vol. 5 p.
  2077-2078

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
7

• England
• The Royal Society, London
• 1660-
• Its official foundation date is 28 November
  1660, at Gresham College, as a result of informal
  meetings. In the charter they obtained the right
  to appoint printers and engravers, receive and
  anatomize bodies of executed criminals.
• 96 fellows were appointed, Oldenburg secretary.
  Newton became a member 1672.
• http//www.royalsoc.ac.uk/

• Philosophical transactions of the Royal society
  vol. 1 1665 Developed out of Oldenburgs wide
  corresepondence and his records of the
  experiments performed in the society. Oldenburg
  was the editor of the first twelve volumes but
  they never gave him more profit than four pounds
  a year. There was always a fear that printing and
  paper costs would not be covered.

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
8

• France
• Académie des Sciences
• was founded in Paris in 1666 by
• Colbert, with the approval of Louis
• XIV.

• Journal des Scavans
• Published by Denis de Sallo.
• First volume in January 1665.
• The first scientific periodical
• Not an official publication of the
• Académie

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
9
Impact of the societies

• They encouraged experimental science
• Creating laboratories and instruments
• Published news of ongoing work and works of other
  scientists
• Rapid dissemination and reporting important
• Quarrels regarding the right to scientific
  discoveries could be eliminated through
  publishing
• Development of scientific journalism

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
10
The 20th century

• In the beginning of the century the Scientific
  societies played a major role in publishing
  scientific articles.
• In 1905 Annalen der Physik published three
  articles by Albert Einstein. The year was called
  Annus mirabilis.
• In 1916 Annalen der Physik published the basis
  for the relativity theory.

• A. Einstein, AdP 17, 549 (1905) 12 pp. Über
  die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der
  Wärme geforderte Bewegung
• von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten
  Teilchen
• Einstein, AdP 17, 891 (1905) 31 pp. Zur
  Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper
• A. Einstein, AdP 18, 639 (1905) 3 pp. Ist die
  Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt
  abhängig
• A. Einstein, AdP 49, 769 (1916) 54 pp. Die
  Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
11
Number of scientific journals

• Exponential growth of journals since 1700 (Price
  From Science since Babylon 1961 and Little
  Science, Big Science 1963)
• After the world war two commercial publishers
  entered the market
• Tests with electronic journals since 1970
  (Tenopir and KingTowards electronic journals
  2000)

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05
12

• 2005 (source Ulrichs web directory of
  periodicals)
• Around 25.000 scientific refereed journals
• Around 14000 online scientific journals
• 1750 Open access journals
• 7100 in Journal citation report of which 211 open
  access.

Turid Hedlund 17.10.05