This book charts the development of Czech non-university science from its beginnings in humanist learned societies to the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences’ transformation as the Czech Academy of Sciences.

A team of experienced authors present attractively written chapters covering the history of such important scientific institutions as the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences, the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Masaryk Academy of Labour and the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. A special chapter is devoted to the main scientific institution for the Germans living in the Czech lands – Gesellschaft zur Förderung deutscher Wissenschaft, Kunst und Literatur in Böhmen.

This richly illustrated book also presents the profiles of prominent figures who were highly influential in the development of the Czech sciences, as well as chapters summarizing the development of science in the 19th and 20th centuries. It offers readers a fascinating look at the dramatic ups and downs in the unique story of the Czech sciences, which had to fight for their position and status on the world stage.

Translated by Melvyn Clarke and Hana Jirkalova.