The Importation of Being Earnest

The Early St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3306337
AutoresMichael D Gordin (0000-0001-5853-7503, autor correspondente)
Ano2000
Volume91
Fascículo1
Páginas1-31
Data de publicação2000-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoIsis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/384624
OpenAlexW2018846494
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9

Recent studies in the history of early modern science, using examples from Western Europe, have placed great emphasis on the role etiquette protocols played as conditions of possibility for the establishment of scientific societies. The Russian case provides a unique counterpoint to these claims, since in 1725 the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was imported ready-made from the Berlin model proposed to Peter the Great by Leibniz several years earlier. In contrast to standard interpretations of the academy as a purely utilitarian endeavor, this essay argues that Peter took Leibniz's academic structure and used it as the apex of both his educational projects and new manners reforms designed to transform Russia into a "Western" state. This view of the academy is explored to shed light on Russian natural philosophical publications, scientific disputes in the early academy, and the issue of the "Enlightenment" in Russia

Counterpoint · Enlightenment · Epistemology · Etiquette · Political science · Regional science · Russian federation · Sociology · St petersburg · State (computer science · Classics · Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Philosophy and Science · History · History of Science and Medicine · Law · Philosophy