Hi everyone,
Apparently, I have also selected this week to lead the class discussion. I hope this will be insightful as I bring my sociological reading of historical works (Alter and the Report of the National Academy of Sciences). I was fascinated by the presence of Anthropology in National Academie of Sciences, so I looked at some works to see how human sciences was able to aquire this position amidst natural sciences. I will bring my findings to the class tomorrow. Besides that, these are my questions.
1. What made these collaborations “international” in International Association of Academies? Or "Cosmopolitan? What does it mean? (To me, there are issues of representation and power)
2. How or in what ways did the International Association of Academies as an 'institution of science' shaped the idea of nation or nation-building?
3. The Royal society is supportive of the French Academie on multiple occasions, and the later also shapes the standing of Royal society when it comes to excluding/including Germany. WHY? What was the relationship dynamic between the Royal Society and the French Academie like? Was this political? Alter mentions about having insufficient data, but what possible stimulations can be made about this?
4. We see the British Academy of the Arts was struggling to legitimize and receive the recognition from the House of Commons as well as the public, when and how was it able to achieve that in significant years?
5. Regarding the role of non-European countries especially India ("In 1910, the Royal Society of London made efforts to give India its own representative in the Association"), why was it rejected? Whose interests did it serve?
6. If and how did the scientific practice of the Royal Society have any impact on its colonies' scientific practice (if there was something like that or later on)?
See you all tomorrow!
Best,
Meera