Not all of the members of this American organization are Americans.............

Since its inception, the Society attracted America's finest minds. Early members included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson,^[2] Alexander Hamilton, James McHenry, Thomas Paine, David Rittenhouse, Nicholas Biddle, Owen Biddle, Benjamin Rush, James Madison, Michael Hillegas, John Marshall, and John Andrews. The Society also recruited philosophers from other countries as members, including Alexander von Humboldt, the Marquis de Lafayette,Baron von Steuben, Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Princess Dashkova.

By 1746 the Society had lapsed into inactivity. In 1767, however, it was revived, and, on January 2, 1769, it united with the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge under the name "American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge". Benjamin Franklin was elected the first president.^[3] During this time, the society maintained a standing Committee on American Improvements; one of its investigations was to study the prospects of a canal to connect the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River.^[4] The canal, which had been proposed by Thomas Gilpin, Sr., would not become reality until the 1820s.^[5]

After the American Revolution, the Society looked for leadership to Francis Hopkinson, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Under his influence, the Society received land from the government of Pennsylvania, along with a plot of land in Philadelphia where Philosophical Hall now stands.

Illustrious names have continually been added to the membership roster, reflecting the society's scope. Charles Darwin, Robert Frost, Louis Pasteur, Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, John James Audubon, Linus Pauling,Margaret Mead, Maria Mitchell, and Thomas Edison became members of the Society. The Society continues to attract names of high renown today, with a current membership list (as of the April 2005 elections) of 920 members, including 772 resident members (citizens or residents of the United States) and 148 foreign members representing more than two dozen countries.

Many members of the Society of the Cincinnati were among the APS' first board members and contributors; today the APS and SOC still maintain an informal, collegial relationship.

Awards[edit]

In 1786, the Society established the Magellanic Premium, a prize for achievement in "navigation, astronomy, or natural philosophy", the oldest scientific prize awarded by an American institution, which it still awards. Other awards include the Barzun Prize for cultural history, Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation, the Benjamin Franklin Medal, the Lashley Award for neurobiology, the Lewis Award, and the Thomas Jefferson Medal for distinguished achievement in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.

Publications[edit]

The APS has published the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society since 1771. Currently five issues appear each year. The Proceedings have appeared since 1838: they publish the papers delivered at the biannual meetings of the Society. The Society has also published the collected papers of Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Henry, William Penn, and Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Jane Aitken bound some 400 volumes for the Society.^[6]