The Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala (), is the oldest of the royal academies in Sweden, having been founded in 1710. The society has, by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

of 1906, 50 Swedish fellows and 100 foreign. Early members included

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...

and

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedes, Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories ...

. The

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

was founded in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

1739. Its founders, some of whom were members of the

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, specifically wanted a different academy.

Historical sketch

The academy was founded 1710 in

on the initiative of the university librarian Erik Benzelius (jr) (later

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

) under the name of ''Collegium curiosorum''. The name was changed to ''Societas Literaria Sueciae'' in 1719, when it received a royal charter in 1728 to ''Societas regia literaria et scientarium'', and it was known from the mid 18th century as the ''Societas regia scientarum upsaliensis''. All the academy's publications were in the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

language until 1863.

Structure

The academy has 130 national members and 100 foreign members, belonging to one of the four "''classes''": the "''

Mathematical Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

- Physical''" class, the "''

Natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

-Medical''" class, the "''Historical- Archeological''" class and the "''

Technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ...

-Economical''" class. All the sections are ruled by a single

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

, which is formed by a president, a vice-president, a secretary, a vice-secretary and a treasurer: the

king of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

is the Honorary President of the academy.

Prizes

The prizes awarded by the academy are as follows: *Linnaeus prize: the oldest prize awarded by the academy, named after

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

: the prize was instituted upon a donation by Linnaeus widow, Sara E. Linnaeus, on 8 September 1803. * Celsius Gold Medal is the most prestigious prize awarded by the academy, named after

. It was first awarded in 1961, and it is reserved to scientists working in

mathematical Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

physical science Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together is called the "physical sciences". Definition ...

s, and as such, it is awarded upon decision by the "

- Physical class" of the academy.See the "

Structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

" section of the entry. *Bergstedt prize is the second oldest prize awarded by the academy, instituted on 12 May 1827, upon a donation by the Secretary of State Erik Bergstedt. * Thalen prize was instituted in 1902 and is named after the

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

professor Robert Thalén. * (Lilly and Sven) Thureus prize was instituted upon a donation from Lilly and Sven Thureus in 1971: originally it was a single prize, but at present it is awarded yearly upon decision by each one of the four classes of the academy. * Benzeliusbelöningarna (Benzelius grants) is awarded yearly, named after

Erik Benzelius the younger Erik Benzelius the younger (27 January 1675 in Uppsala – 23 September 1743) was a priest, theologian, librarian, Bishop of Linköping, 1731–1742 and Archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, 1742–1743. He was a highly learned man and one of Sweden' ...

,The founder of the academy: see the " Historical sketch" section of the entry. instituted in 1980 and entirely founded by the academy: it is meant as a grant to young researchers.

Notes

References

*. *.

External links

*. {{coord, 59.8587, N, 17.6321, E, source:wikidata, display=title Sciences, Society Uppsala University 18th-century establishments in Uppsala County