Judith Brouwer
acquired information; this obtained knowledge can then inform future actions.15
Peter Burke labels the process of transforming information into useful knowl
edge as 'scientification' or 'systematization.16 The study of academies fits right in
the field of the history of knowledge as the academies in the 18th century can be
considered as means that were used to transform the overflowing amount of new
information into useful knowledge through scientification.
The practices of academies, as discussed by McClellan, relate to Caradonna's
concept of enlightenment as a practice. Thus, the academies should be regarded
as institutions of knowledge which provided a stable platform for the ideas of the
scholarly community.17 One of the practices that has not been studied extensive
ly is the academies' establishment of networks of members and correspondents
- which proved to be of vital importance for academies for multiple reasons.18
First, to be deemed important, an academy had to publish a journal containing
high-quality works. The content of this journal was mainly produced by the mem
bers of the academies' network.19 Second, an academy with a vibrant member
ship life had more means of gaining financial support. Third, having renowned
members was a means to improve an academy's reputation, as it attracted new
members who wanted to be associated with the renowned members. Individu
als could join more than one academy, meaning that valuable connections could
be established through common members of academies, both between indivi
dual members and academies, as well as contact among academies themselves.20
Members would recruit others from their network who, in turn, had their own es
tablished networks, thereby increasing the influx of knowledge for the academies.
Consequently, academies increasingly sought after an international network since
the 1750s.21
A Short History of the Zeeland Scientific Society
The ZGW was the second learned society that enjoyed the protection by the
State in the Dutch Republic - the first being the Hollandsche Maatschappij der
99
15 Wolfgang Krohn, Knowledge Societies. In: Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes (eds), Internatio
nal Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavorial Sciences. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 2001, 8140.
16 Burke, History of Knowledge, 44-46.
17 McClellan, Science Reorganized, xx.
18 Caradonna, Enlightenment in Practice, 4; McClellan, Science Reorganized, xxi.
19 McClellan, Science Reorganized, 35-36, 169.
20 McClellan, Science Reorganized, 178-179.
21 McClellan, Science Reorganized, 173.
