Significanceofestablishment
Mostoftheselectedmembersarerepresentativesofmathematics,physics,geography,biologicalsciencesandmedicalresearch,socialsciences,andhumanities.Somemembersareselectedbecauseoftheirprofessionalorpublicaffairscontributions.Thetotalmembershipislimitedto500U.S.residentsand100foreignscholars.
PayattentiontothedifferencebetweentheAssociationandtheAmericanPhilosophicalAssociation(APA).TheAmericanPhilosophicalAssociationisaprofessionalcommitteethatspecializesinphilosophy,andtheAmericanPhilosophicalAssociationisthehighestacademicresearchinstitutionintheUnitedStates,anditsstatusisequivalenttothatoftheRoyalSocietyintheUnitedKingdom.TheAmericanPhilosophicalSocietyisanational-levelsocietyestablishedbyAmericanscientistBenjaminFranklinbasedontheRoyalSociety.TheheadquartersoftheAmericanPhilosophicalSocietyislocatedinPennsylvania.Philadelphia.
TobecomeamemberoftheAmericanPhilosophicalAssociation,youmustfirstbein5academicfields,namely,mathematicsandphysics,biology,socialsciences,humanities,skills,andpublicandprivatefields.Achieveacademicachievements.Atthebeginningofthe21stcentury,themembershipoftheAmericanPhilosophicalSocietyhasreachedapproximately850.
Organizepublications
Specializedlibraries.ThedocumentsofBenjaminFranklinandCharlesDarwinarealsocollectedhere.Themainpublicationsare"ConferenceMinutes","Journal","Yearbook"and"Proceedings"(monographs).Thesocietygrantsmanyresearchgrants.
Historyofdevelopment
AmericanPhilosophicalSocietyreferencedbyBenjaminFranklinRoyalSocietyofLondonin1743Foundedintheyear.(HeusestheoriginalmeaningofthetermAizhiinphilosophy.)Thesocietyceasedactivitiesshortlyafteritsestablishment,butresumedin1769andmergedwiththeAmericanSocietyestablishedin1750(accordingtoFranklin's"SpeakingandReadingSociety"in1727.The"Junto"modelisestablished).WiththeexceptionofPhiladelphia,whichwasoccupiedbytheBritishin1777-78,theAssociationheldannualmeetingsafter1769.ThesocietyhasservedasthedefactoNationalAcademyofSciencesformanyyears.