Among the oldest and most enduring of American institutions are those that have been devoted to the encouragement of the arts and the sciences. During the nineteenth century, a great many scientific societies came and went, and a few in individual disciplines achieved permanence. But the century also witnessed the founding of three major organizations with broadly interdisciplinary interests: the Smithsonian Institution in 1846; the Association of American Geologists and Naturalists, which in 1848 became the American Association for the Promotion (later, Advancement) of Science; and the National Academy of Sciences in 1863.

The founding of the National Academy of Sciences represented a momentous event in the history of science in the United States. Its establishment in the midst of a great civil war was fortuitous, perhaps, and its early existence precarious; and in this it mirrored the state of science at that time. The antecedents of the new organization in American science were the national academies in Great Britain and on the Continent, whose membership included the principal men of science of the realm. The chartering of academies under the auspices of a sovereign lent the prestige and elements of support and permanence the scientists sought, and in return they made their scientific talents and counsel available to the state.

The National Academy of Sciences: The First Hundred Years, 1863-1963 describes the National Academies from inception through the beginning of the space age. The book describes the Academies' work through different periods in history, including the Postbellum years, World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II.

Contents

• Foreword
• 1. The Academy's Antecedents
  • The European Academies and the Royal Society
  • The American Philosophical Society
  • The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
  • Concern for a National University
  • The Columbian Institute
  • The National Institute
• 2. Scientists and Scientific Organizations in Mid-Century America
  • The Smithson Bequest
  • Bache and Henry
  • The Program of the Smithsonian
  • Growth and Spread of Scientific Societies
  • Louis Agassiz and His Influence on American Science
  • The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• 3. The Incorporation and Organization of the Academy
  • "The Lazzaroni" and Their Influence
  • The Outbreak of the Civil War
  • The Permanent Commission
  • The Drafting of the Academy Bill
  • Reaction to the New Academy
  • The Organization Meeting
• 4. The Government Calls upon the Academy
  • Alexander Dallas Bache (1863–1867)
• 5. Postbellum Years and the Crisis within the Academy
  • Joseph Henry (1868–1878)
• 6. The End of the Nineteenth Century
  • William Barton Rogers (1879–1882)
  • Othniel Charles Marsh (1883–1895)
  • Wolcott Gibbs (1895–1900)
• 7. The Academy Marks Its Semicentennial
  • Alexander Agassiz (1901–1907)
  • Ira Remsen (1907–1913)
• 8. World War I and the Creation of the National Research Council
  • William Henry Welch (1913–1917)
  • Charles Doolittle Walcott (1917–1923)
• 9. The Research Council's Permanent Status and the Academy's New Home
  • Postwar Organization of the Research Council
  • NRC Policy, Procedures, and Relation to the Academy
  • Activities of the Research Council
  • The Academy Acquires a Home
• 10. The Twenties: New Horizons in Science
  • Albert Abraham Michelson (1923–1927)
  • Thomas Hunt Morgan (1927–1931)
• 11. The Academy During the Great Depression
  • William Wallace Campbell (1931–1935)
• 12. The New Deal and the Science Advisory Board
  • Creation of the Science Advisory Board
  • Organization and Activities of the Science Advisory Board
  • "Recovery Program of Science Progress"
  • A New Executive Order Expanding the Science Advisory Board
  • The National Planning Board and Its Successors
  • Division within the Academy Over the Science Advisory Board
  • Failure of Compton's "National Program"
  • Frank Rattray Lillie (1935–1939)
• 13. The Academy in World War II
  • Frank Baldwin Jewett (1939–1947)
• 14. The Postwar Organization of Science
  • Research Board for National Security
  • The First Kilgore Bill
  • Science, the Endless Frontier
  • Hearings on Science Legislation
  • Atomic Energy Legislation
  • New Science Legislation
  • The Dispersal of OSRD
  • The Steelman Report
  • A Restatement of Academy Policy
• 15. The Years Between the Wars
  • Alfred Newton Richards (1947–1950)
• 16. The Academy in the Fifties — Beginnings of the Space Age
  • Detlev Wulf Bronk (1950–1962)
• 17. Academy Centennial
  • Frederick Seitz (1962–1969)
• Appendix A Act of Incorporation: National Academy of Sciences
• Appendix B Minutes of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences at the Meeting Held for Organization in the Chapel of the New York University on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Days of April 1863
• Appendix C Constitution and By-Laws of the National Academy of Sciences, Adopted January 1864
• Appendix D Members and Foreign Associates of the National Academy of Sciences, 1863–1963, and Year of Election*
• Appendix E Officers and Members of the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 1863–1963
• Appendix F Executive Orders Defining the Duties and Functions of the National Research Council
• Appendix G Chairmen of the National Research Council
• Appendix H Executive Secretaries and Executive Officers of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council
• Appendix I Executive Orders Relating to the Science Advisory Board: Establishment, July 31, 1933; Appointment of Additional Members, May 28, 1934; and Continuation, July 15, 1935