Editing Age of Enlightenment (section)

===Learned academies===
[[File:Sébastien Leclerc I, Louis XIV Visiting the Royal Academy of Sciences, 1671.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Louis XIV]] visiting the {{lang|fr|[[French Academy of Sciences|Académie des sciences]]}} in 1671: "It is widely accepted that 'modern science' arose in the Europe of the 17th century, introducing a new understanding of the natural world"—Peter Barrett<ref>Peter Barrett (2004), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fwxViwX6KuMC&pg=PA14 Science and Theology Since Copernicus: The Search for Understanding],'' p. 14, [[Continuum International Publishing Group]], {{ISBN|978-0-567-08969-4}}</ref>]] [[File:Zoom lunette ardente.jpg|thumb|[[Antoine Lavoisier]] conducting an experiment related to combustion generated by amplified sun light]]
The history of Academies in France during the Enlightenment begins with the [[French Academy of Sciences|Academy of Science]], founded in 1666 in Paris. It was closely tied to the French state, acting as an extension of a government seriously lacking in scientists. It helped promote and organize new disciplines and it trained new scientists. It also contributed to the enhancement of scientists' social status, considering them to be the "most useful of all citizens." Academies demonstrate the rising interest in science along with its increasing secularization, as evidenced by the small number of clerics who were members (13%).<ref>Daniel Roche,'' France in the Enlightenment,'' (1998), 420.</ref> The presence of the French academies in the public sphere cannot be attributed to their membership, as although the majority of their members were bourgeois, the exclusive institution was only open to elite Parisian scholars. They perceived themselves as "interpreters of the sciences for the people." For example, it was with this in mind that academicians took it upon themselves to disprove the popular pseudo-science of [[Animal magnetism|mesmerism]].<ref>Roche, 515–16.</ref>

The strongest contribution of the French Academies to the public sphere comes from the ''concours académiques'' (roughly translated as "academic contests") they sponsored throughout France. These academic contests were perhaps the most public of any institution during the Enlightenment.<ref>Caradonna JL. ''Annales,'' "Prendre part au siècle des Lumières: Le concours académique et la culture intellectuelle au XVIIIe siècle"</ref> The practice of contests dated back to the [[Middle Ages]] and was revived in the mid-17th century. The subject matter had previously been generally religious and/or monarchical, featuring essays, poetry, and painting. However, by roughly 1725 this subject matter had radically expanded and diversified, including "royal propaganda, philosophical battles, and critical ruminations on the social and political institutions of the Old Regime." Topics of public controversy were also discussed such as the theories of Newton and Descartes, the slave trade, women's education, and justice in France.<ref>Jeremy L. Caradonna, "Prendre part au siècle des Lumières: Le concours académique et la culture intellectuelle au XVIIIe siècle," ''Annales. Histoire, Sciences sociales,'' vol. 64 (mai-juin 2009), n. 3, 633–62.</ref> More importantly, the contests were open to all, and the enforced anonymity of each submission guaranteed that neither gender nor social rank would determine the judging. Indeed, although the "vast majority" of participants belonged to the wealthier strata of society ("the liberal arts, the clergy, the judiciary and the medical profession"), there were some cases of the popular classes submitting essays and even winning.<ref>Caradonna, 634–36.</ref> Similarly, a significant number of women participated—and won—the competitions. Of a total of 2,300 prize competitions offered in France, women won 49—perhaps a small number by modern standards but very significant in an age in which most women did not have any academic training. Indeed, the majority of the winning entries were for poetry competitions, a genre commonly stressed in women's education.<ref>Caradonna, 653–54.</ref>

In England, the [[Royal Society]] of London played a significant role in the public sphere and the spread of Enlightenment ideas. It was founded by a group of independent scientists and given a royal charter in 1662.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/history/royal-charters/ |title=Royal Charters |work=royalsociety.org}}</ref> The society played a large role in spreading [[Robert Boyle]]'s [[experimental philosophy]] around Europe and acted as a clearinghouse for intellectual correspondence and exchange.<ref>Steven Shapin, ''A Social History of Truth: Civility and Science in Seventeenth-Century England,'' Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press, 1994.</ref> Boyle was "a founder of the experimental world in which scientists now live and operate" and his method based knowledge on experimentation, which had to be witnessed to provide proper empirical legitimacy. This is where the Royal Society came into play: witnessing had to be a "collective act" and the Royal Society's assembly rooms were ideal locations for relatively public demonstrations.<ref>Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer, ''Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985), 5, 56, 57. This same desire for multiple witnesses led to attempts at replication in other locations and a complex iconography and literary technology developed to provide visual and written proof of experimentation. See pp. 59–65.</ref> However, not just any witness was considered to be credible: "Oxford professors were accounted more reliable witnesses than Oxfordshire peasants." Two factors were taken into account: a witness's knowledge in the area and a witness's "moral constitution." In other words, only civil society were considered for Boyle's public.<ref>Shapin and Schaffer, 58, 59.</ref>