Den 13. november 2017 fejrede Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab sit 275-års jubilæum. Det markeredes med udgivelsen af en stor, gennemillustreret bog.
Bogen giver en fremstilling af hele Selskabets historie med særlig vægt på de seneste 25 år. Den falder i to dele, den »lange« historie og fagenes historie i Selskabet. I første del beskrives dels Selskabets oprindelse og institutionelle udvikling, dels Selskabet og det omgivende samfund. Anden del består af fem kapitler om hver sit store fagområde, skrevet af aktive forskere inden for hvert område. Bogen indledes med en oversigt over de tidligere fremstillinger af Selskabets historie og er forsynet med et omfattende personregister.
Den gode videnskabsformidling er omdrejningspunktet for alle kapitler. Nogle fag er vanskeligere at formidle end andre, men forhåbentlig vil alle, der interesserer sig for en konkret videnskab eller et bestemt emne, have fornøjelse af at læse i bogen. Fagene er vidt forskellige, det samme gælder forfatterne, og det er blevet respekteret uden forsøg på at fjerne individuelle særpræg, der i Selskabets ånd er blevet opfattet som en rigdom.
Omslaget markerer, at Selskabet ER medlemmerne. På forsiden afbildes det nuværende medlemsdiplom, på bagsiden referatet af det stiftende møde den 13. november 1742 med portrætter af de fem stiftere. Indersiden af omslaget er en mosaik med portrætter af samtlige nulevende medlemmer i Danmark.
November 13th 2017 the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters celebrated its 275 years' jubilee. Part of the celebration was the publication of a comprehensive, lavishly illustrated book.
The book contains an account of the history of the Academy from its beginning up to the jubilee, with special attention paid to the latest 25 years. The book consists of two parts, "The long history", and "The history of the scholarly subjects treated at the Academy". The first part describes the founding of the Academy and its institutional development, as well as the Academy in relation to society. The second part contains five chapters, each dealing with a broad range of subjects, written by active researchers in these fields. As an introduction, a short chapter gives an overview of the earlier accounts of the history of the Academy. A comprehensive index of personal names winds up the book.
Popular presentation of research is the aim of all the chapters. Some subjects are, though, more difficult to communicate than others, but hopefully every person interested in a definite subject or field will feel pleased and informed by reading the book. The subjects vary greatly, and so do the authors, and we have respected this without trying to suppress individual characteristics which have been judged to be a richness, perfectly in accordance with the spirit of the Academy.
The covering illustrates the fact that the Academy is constituted by its members. The front shows the Academy's present diploma, the back contains an account of the founding meeting of the Academy on November 13th 1742 with portraits of the five founding fathers of the Academy. The flyleaves and pastedowns display a mosaic with portraits of all the present members in Denmark.
