The Zeeuwsch Genootschap and
the Formation of its Correspondence
Network, 1766-17711
Judith Brouwer
The Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen2 was established in 1769 as
one of the many learned societies that were founded in the 18th century.
The rise of academies is often attributed to the lack of scientific progress
within universities at that time. It is argued that 17th-century universities were
stuck in their Aristotelian ideology, teaching well-established knowledge, despite
the demand for new, more practical knowledge that related to the current state of
societies and their power regimes.3 The role of the academies was to both produce
and disseminate this new knowledge.4 The idea of academies is attributed to Fran
cis Bacon's notion of the 'House of Solomon, where inductive and experimental
methods are combined to gain a deeper understanding of nature, and thereby,
establish human's superiority over the natural world.5 To achieve this combina
tion of theory with practice, academies promoted the mingling of artisans and
philosophers.6 It was an approach that produced mechanical knowledge, which
was believed to be the best means to stimulate progress in society.7
97
1 Article written by G.J.E. Brouwer as part of an academic internship for University College
Roosevelt at the Society for the Sciences of Zeeland (KZGW) under supervision of Prof. dr.
A. van Dixhoorn and Drs.C.E. Heyning.
2 Zeeland Scientific Society [From now on ZGW].
3 Huib J. Zuidervaart, Van 'Konstgenoten' en Hemelse Fenomenen: Nederlandse Sterrenkunde in
de Achttiende Eeuw. Rotterdam: Erasmus Publishing, 1999, 86-87.
4 Zuidervaart, Konstgenoten, 86.
5 Joel Mokyr, The Enlightened Economy: Britain and the Industrial Revolution 1700-1850. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 2009, 41.
6 Mokyr, Enlightened Economy, 40-41.
7 Mokyr, Enlightened Economy, 35; Margaret C. Jacob, The First Knowledge Economy: Human
Capital and the European Economy, 1750-1850. Cambridge University Press, 2014, 5.
