Editing Frederick the Great (section)

==== Science and the Berlin Academy ====
[[File:Adolph-von-Menzel-Tafelrunde2 (cropped).jpg|thumb|alt=Painting of Frederick and companions seated around a table|''The Round Table of King Frederick II in Sanssouci'' by [[Adolph Menzel]] (1849,[[Alte Nationalgalerie]], Berlin). Frederick is seated at the center with [[Voltaire]] (leaning forward in a purple coat), [[Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens|Marquis d'Argens]], [[George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal|George Keith]],{{efn|George Keith and his brother [[James Francis Edward Keith]] were Scottish soldiers in exile who joined Frederick's entourage after 1745.{{sfn|MacDonogh|2000|p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatli00macd/page/193 193]}} They are unrelated to the Keith brothers, Peter and Robert, who were Frederick's companions when he was Crown Prince.{{sfn|Mitford|1970|pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat00mitf_0/page/30 30], [https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat00mitf_0/page/166 166–167]}}}}  [[Francesco Algarotti|Algarotti]], [[Julien Offray de La Mettrie|La Mettrie]], and [[Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens|Marquis d'Argens.]]{{sfn|Carruth|1899|pp=[https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1089&context=ocj 581–582]}} ]]

When Frederick ascended the throne in 1740, he reinstituted the [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]] (Berlin Academy), which his father had closed down as an economy measure. Frederick's goal was to make Berlin a European cultural centre that rivalled London and Paris.{{sfn|Smeall|2010|p=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210429043403/https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NR77555&op=pdf&app=Library&oclc_number=1019473467 227]}} He invited intellectuals from across Europe to join the academy, made French the official language and made speculative philosophy the most important topic of study.{{sfn|Aarsleff|1989|pp=193–206}} The membership was strong in mathematics and philosophy and included [[Immanuel Kant]], D'Alembert, [[Pierre Louis de Maupertuis]], and [[Étienne de Condillac]]. However the academy was in a crisis for two decades at mid-century,{{sfn|Dilthey|1927|pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatpr00pare/page/177 177–197]}} due in part to scandals and internal rivalries such as the debates between Newtonianism and Leibnizian views, and the personality conflict between Voltaire and Maupertuis. At a higher level Maupertuis, director of the Berlin Academy from 1746 to 1759 and a monarchist, argued that the action of individuals was shaped by the character of the institution that contained them, and they worked for the glory of the state. By contrast, d'Alembert took a republican approach and emphasised the international [[Republic of Letters]] as the vehicle for scientific advance.{{sfn|Terrall|1990|pp=333–364}} By 1789, the academy had gained international repute while making major contributions to German culture and thought. For example, the mathematicians he recruited for the Berlin Academy – including [[Leonhard Euler]], [[Joseph-Louis Lagrange]], [[Johann Heinrich Lambert]], and [[Giovanni Salvemini|Johann Castillon]] – made it a world-class centre for mathematical research.{{sfn|Cajori|1927|p=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2298702 112]}} Other intellectuals attracted to the philosopher's kingdom were [[Francesco Algarotti]], d'Argens, and [[Julien Offray de La Mettrie]].{{sfn|Aarsleff|1989|pp=193–206}}