"Autonomy" of savants in the 18th century : what we know from the financial records of the Royal Academy of Science in Paris

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00255
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 01080:Sociology of science, history of science and technology-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo (2022); Nagoya University (2018-2021)
• Principal Investigator: Oki Sayaka 東京大学, 大学院教育学研究科(教育学部), 教授 (60536879)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: パリ王立科学アカデミー / 財務会計史料 / 学問の自由 / 学問の自律 / ビュフォン / コンドルセ / ラヴォワジエ / レオミュル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examines royal investment in scientific research in 18th-century France through the financial history of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris. Due to scattered and incomplete records, we reconstructed the data from related documents in various archives. Through this financial history, we depicted the formation of a modern academic system where the State invested unrestricted public funds in savants(scholars), from a patronage system to a system of public investment. We also confirmed that the savants played an active role as actors in it, adapting to the financial system of the day, as well as embracing the ideal of academic autonomy. Some of them even lent their own funds to the State and became creditors to both the king and the academy. This research resulted in several invited lectures and the submission of articles to important journals for studying 18th-century France.

Free Research Field

科学史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

公的資金に支援されながらも、支援者である国家や宗教団体の意思に左右されない自律性を有する学術集団を作り上げることは、近代的な科学研究制度が発展する上で欠かせない条件であった。研究能力の高い学者共同体を持ち、かつ革命により共和制を作り上げたフランスはその条件を先駆的に達成した地域とされていたが、史料保存状況の悪さゆえにその実態の詳細が明らかになっていなかった。本研究はその問題に取り組み複数の招待講演の対象となった。また、一八世紀研究やフランス革命期研究の重要な国際誌への論文投稿にもつながった。