TheRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Swedish:Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of theroyal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promotingnatural sciences andmathematics and strengthening their influence in society, whilst endeavouring to promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines.
The goals of the academy are:
To be a forum where researchers meet across subject boundaries,
To offer a unique environment for research,
To provide support to younger researchers,
To reward outstanding research efforts,
To communicate internationally among scientists,
To advance the case for science within society and to influence research policy priorities
To stimulate interest in mathematics and science in school, and
To disseminate and popularize scientific information in various forms.
The academy has elected about 1,700 Swedish and 1,200 foreign members since it was founded in 1739. Today, the academy has about 470 Swedish and 175 foreign members which are divided into ten "classes", representing ten various scientific disciplines:[8]
Kongl. Svenska Vetenskaps-Academiens handlingar, volume XI (1750).
The transactions of the academy (Vetenskapsakademiens handlingar) were published as its main series between 1739 and 1974. In parallel, other major series have appeared and gone:
Öfversigt af Kungl. Vetenskapsakademiens förhandlingar (1844–1903)
Bihang till Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar (1872–1902)
Vetenskapsakademiens årsbok (1903–1969)
The academy started publishing annual reports in physics and chemistry (1826), technology (1827), botany (1831), and zoology (1832). These lasted into the 1860s, when they were replaced by the singleBihang series (meaning: supplement to the transactions). Starting in 1887, this series was once again split into four sections (afdelning), which in 1903, became independentscientific journals of their own, titled "Arkiv för..." (archive for...). These included:
The purpose of the academy was to focus on practically useful knowledge, and to publish inSwedish in order to widely disseminate the academy's findings. The academy was intended to be different from theRoyal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, which had been founded in 1719 and published inLatin. The location close to the commercial activities in Sweden's capital (which unlikeUppsala did not have a university at this time) was also intentional. The academy was modeled after theRoyal Society of London andAcademie Royale des Sciences in Paris, France, which some of the founding members were familiar with.[citation needed]
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