Scandinavian Scientist Conference

The Scandinavian Scientist Conferences (Nordiske Naturforskermøde/Nordiska Naturforskarmöte a.k.a. Naturforskerselskabet/Naturforskarsällskapet or Scandinavian Association of Naturalists) was a series of meetings 1839-1936 for scientists and physicists from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, later also Finland and Iceland, in the era Scandinavism. The scientific community in Scandinavia were small and scattered, but collectively they had by the 1830s attained the critical mass for meeting at conferences. The inspiration came from Germany, where the scientists since 1822 had held conferences to improve communication in the fragmented geopolitical landscape. The creation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1831) drew on the same source of inspiration. From the start, the Scandinavian Scientist Conferences became an outlet for important scientific results. However, towards the end of the 19th Century, uni-disciplinary conferences and scientific journals became competitors to the Scandinavian conference as vehicle for scientific communication. As the presentations given at the Scandinavian conferences increasingly were summaries of results already published elsewhere, the meetings lost their importance. The early meetings were held every second year, then every third year, and then at increasingly irregular intervals. In the 20th Century, only four Scandinavian Scientist Conferences were held, the last in Helsinki 1936.

The banquet at the 1847 meeting, held in Roskilde. The president of the meeting H. C. Ørsted is speaking. Christopher Hansteen, who presided the 1844 meeting in Oslo, is standing right in front of the speaker. Half-way standing to the left is Japetus Steenstrup. Wall painting by Erik Henningsen in the aula of the University of Copenhagen.
No. Year Venue No.of participants Title of printed proceedings Notable participants
1. 1839 Gothenburg
 Sweden
92 Förhandlingar vid det af skandinaviska naturforskare och läkare hållna möte i Götheborg år 1839. Götheborg, 1840; 188 pp.
2. 1840 Copenhagen
 Denmark
303 Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres andet möde, der holdtes i Kjöbenhavn fra den 3die til den 9de juli 1840. Kjöbenhavn, J. Jørgensen & Co, 1841; 424 pp.
3. 1842 Stockholm
 Sweden
436
4. 1844 Oslo
 Norway
176 Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres fjerde möde i Christiania den 11-18 juli 1844. Christiania, 1847; 434 pp. H.C. Ørsted
[1]
5. 1847 Copenhagen
 Denmark[2]
472 Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres femte møde, der holdtes i Kiøbenhavn fra den 12te til den 17de juli 1847. Kiøbenhavn, Gyldendalske Boghandel, 1849; 989 pp. Anders Retzius
H.C. Ørsted
Elias Fries
Japetus Steenstrup
6. 1851 Stockholm
 Sweden
362
7. 1856 Oslo
 Norway
246 Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres syvende möde i Christiania den 12-18 juli 1856. Christiania, Werner, 1857; 658 + 34 pp. Japetus Steenstrup
8. 1860 Copenhagen
 Denmark
451 Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres ottende møde, i Kiøbenhavn fra den 8de til den 14de juli 1860. Kiøbenhavn, Den Gyldendalske Boghandel, 1861; 908 pp.
9. 1863 Stockholm
 Sweden
713
10. 1868 Oslo
 Norway
368 Eugen Warming
S.M. Jørgensen
11. 1873 Copenhagen
 Denmark
418 Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres 11te møde i Kjøbenhavn fra den 3die til den 9de juli 1873. Kjøbenhavn, Schultz, 1874; 725 pp. Eugen Warming
Jacob Georg Agardh
12. 1880 Stockholm
 Sweden
734 Förhandlingar vid de Skandinaviska Naturforskarnes Tolfte Möte i Stockholm från den 7:e till den 14:de Juli 1880. Stockholm, 1883. Eugen Warming
13. 1886 Oslo
 Norway
450 Forhandlinger ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres trettende möde i Christiania 7. - 12. juli 1886. Christiania, Grøndahl, 1887; 194 pp.
14. 1892 Copenhagen
 Denmark
563 Beretningen om Forhandlingerne ved de skandinaviske naturforskeres 14. møde i Kjøbenhavn den 4-9. juli 1892. Kjøbenhavn, Ursins eftf., 1892; 683 pp. Eugen Warming
15. 1898 Stockholm
 Sweden
585 Förhandlingar vid det 15de Skandinaviska naturforskaremötet i Stockholm den 7-12 juli 1898. Stockholm, Skandinaviska naturforskaremöten, 1899; 415 pp. Eugen Warming
16. 1916 Oslo
 Norway
503 Forhandlinger ved de Skandinaviske naturforskeres 16. møte i Kristiania den 10.-15. juli 1916. Kristiania, 1918 J.N.F. Wille (chair)
Eugen Warming
Niels Bjerrum
Lennart von Post
Kaj Birket-Smith
Johannes Brøndsted
Johannes Fibiger
Knud Jessen
Wilhelm Johannsen
Carl Wesenberg-Lund
Astrid Cleve
G.E. Du Rietz
Hanna Resvoll-Holmsen
Thekla Resvoll
Svante Arrhenius
Otto Nordenskiöld
17. 1923 Gothenburg
 Sweden
Förhandlingar vid det 17de Skandinaviska naturforskaremötet i Göteborg den 9-14 juli 1923. Göteborg, Wettergren & Kerber, 1925; 339 pp.
18. 1929 Copenhagen
 Denmark
Beretning om det 18. Skandinaviske Naturforskermøde i København 26.-31. August 1929". Frederiksberg Bogtrykkeri, København; 551 s. Lars Onsager
Harald Sverdrup
19. 1936 Helsinki
 Finland
Pohjoismainen (19. skandinaavinen) luonnontutkijain kokous, Helsingissä elokuun 11-15 pnä 1936 = Nordiska (19. skandinaviska) naturforskarmötet i Helsingfors den 11-15 augusti 1936. Helsinki, Skandinaviska naturforskaremöten, 1936; 570 pp. Niels Bohr
Anton F. Bruun
Jens Clausen
Magnus Degerbøl
Knut Fægri
Paul Gelting
Thorvald Sørensen
Ragnar Spärck

Notes

  1. H.C. Andersen wrote lyrics for a song celebrating the event, Oresundstid.dk
  2. The venue was the new main building of the University of Copenhagen

References

Eriksson, Nils (1991) "I andans kraft, på sannings stråt": De skandinaviska naturforskarmötena 1839-1936. Gothenburg studies in the history of science and ideas 12, 512 pp. ISBN 91-7346-233-0

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