Academy of Science South Africa 2005/6 Annual Report

ASSAfA short history ofhow the ASSAf came to beParliament unanimously passed the Academy of Science of South Africa Bill on 26 October 2001,and the Act formally came into operation on 15 May 2002. This allocates to the Academy the domain ofthe science system of this country that is characteristically occupied by national science academies. Suchacademies are:independent of government (but able to be funded for performing specific tasks);self-perpetuating (in the sense that new members or fellows are elected by all existing Members orFellows, forming a meritocracy as defined in the particular academy’s constitution);multidisciplinary (striving to represent science as a consilient continuum of knowledge, insight andpractical conclusions);held in high public regard; andconnected to the national science academies of other countries (through strong bonds and mechanismof co-operation and exchange).The origins of the ASSAfThe best way to describe the ASSAf’s beginning is to quote key sections from its 2001 ‘Plan Document’:Historical backgroundThe Academy idea has been presented in South Africa in various guises for over 150 years. Onehistorical sequence led from the formation of the South African Institution in 1825 to the South AfricanPhilosophical Society in 1877 that developed into the Royal Society of South Africa in 1980, which byvirtue of its statutes is dedicated to the furtherance of science but flourishing mostly in English-speakingcircles and institutions. A separate historical strand was initiated by a parliamentary statute that in 1909called into being the Zuid-Afrikaansche Akademie voor Taal, Lettere en Kunste. In 1941 it developedinto the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns, largely but entirely pre-occupied with thepromotion of the Afrikaans language in the arts and sciences. Yet another significant development wasAnnual Report 2005/0687