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THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

ITS HISTORY AND ACTIVITIES

"To advance scientific research and discovery; to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of scientific problems; to publish and distribute the results of research, and to interpret them for the promotion of the common welfare" - these are the purposes which The New York Academy of Sciences has served successfully for one hundred and forty-seven years.

The Academy started modestly. On February 24, 1817, a group of twenty-one foresighted New York scientists met at a place called Harmony Hall at Duane and William Streets in lower Manhattan to sign a constitution and inaugurate a new scientific society.

THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Sharing the respect which all educated people of that day had for ancient Greek culture, and recognizing the preeminent position of the natural sciences at that time, they named their new organization the "Lyceum of Natural History in the City of New York." It was issued a charter as a "body corporate and politic" by the State of New York on April 29, 1818.

Although little scientific knowledge, as we now know it, existed in 1818, a great epoch was just beginning. Inspired by giants like Darwin, Agassiz, Helmholz, Pasteur, Kelvin, and a host of others, science was making rapid strides as the nineteenth century reached its middle years. Not only were the existing sciences advancing rapidly but new fields were being explored. Totally new scientific disciplines were established and the trend toward specialization was accelerated.

The Lyceum, too, widened the scope of its activities. By the latter part of the century it became apparent that the term "Natural History" was too narrow and limiting to be fully descriptive of the Society's new and expanding interests.

Also, during the same period, the designation "Lyceum" had become commonplace as a name for a great variety of enterprises, many of them purely theatrical and some even trivial. In the popular mind it had lost almost all its classical association. "Academy" seemed more appropriate and accurate for this society whose