Gentlemen of Science. Scientific societies and personae during the professionalization of the sciences in the Netherlands, 1840-1876

Abstract

How did scientific societies in the Netherlands ‘do’ science, how did these practices relate to professionalization of the sciences, and what kind of persona did the (changing) practices of the scientific societies imply? That is the threefold question this research tries to answer. Looking at scientific societies rather than universities regarding professionalization, and through using a comparative scope (comparing medical, historical and physical societies), this research tries to offer a new point of view regarding both the history of scientific professionalization and the history of scientific societies in the Netherlands.