Academy of Sciences Founded in Paris
1666
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's controller-general, founded the Academie des Sciences as a state-funded research institution modeled loosely on the Royal Society but more tightly controlled by government. French science had gained institutional patronage and a commitment to utility that would distinguish it from its English counterpart, producing generations of mathematicians, astronomers, and naturalists who served both truth and the crown.
In context
Also in 1666 (3 other events on record)
- Newton Describes Gravity at Woolsthorpe · Europe · Science
- Great Fire of London · Europe · Politics
- Sabbatai Zevi Converts to Islam · Middle East · Religion
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Science
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.