Dollars for Research: Science and its Patrons in Nineteenth-Century America

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Summary

This scholarly monograph looks at financial support for scientific research in the United States during the nineteenth century. It opens with a discussion of the founding of the Smithsonian Institution ("A Bounty for Research") and the role of an elite group of scientists known as the Lazzaroni in shaping it. The author also addresses support for astronomy, the role of Louis Agassiz in developing American science, the role of philanthropists in expanding opportunities for higher education in science, John Tyndall's fellowship for European science education for American students, the rise of paleontology through government-sponsored geological surveys, and the tension between support for basic versus applied research. This last issue was of particular concern to founding Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry.

Subject

  • Agassiz, Louis 1807-1873
  • Henry, Joseph 1797-1878
  • Tyndall, John 1820-1893

Category

Smithsonian Institution History Bibliography

Contained within

(Book)

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1970

Topic

  • Scientific Lazzaroni
  • Benefactors
  • American science
  • Education
  • Science
  • SI, Early History
  • History
  • Astronomy
  • Paleontology
  • Endowments
  • Science--History

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