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On October 2, 1986, Vatican City issued a two-stamp set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The two stamps depict portions of Rafael's iconic fresco, the "School of Athens", which is located in the "Room of the Segnatura" at the Vatican. The Academy is an international body whose work focuses on six major scientific disciplines: fundamental science, science and technology of global problems, science for the problems of the developing world, scientific policy, bioethics and epistemology (defined as the "theory of knowledge and the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion"). The Academy's roots date back to the Academy of the Lynxes (Accademia dei Lincei), which was founded in Rome in 1603 by Federico Cesi. It was the first exclusively scientific academy in the world. One of its first members was Galileo Galilei. Despite its auspicious beginnings, the Academy did not survive the death of Cesi in 1630. In 1847 Pope Pius IX reestablished the Academy as the Pontifical Academy of the New Lynxes, but Pope Pius XI reconstituted the Academy in 1936 and gave it its present name. The membership of the Academy is multi-national, multi-racial and non-sectarian in its composition and choice of members. The Pontifical Academicians include eighty men and women who "have made outstanding contributions in their fields of scientific endeavour". They are nominated by the Holy Father after being elected by the body of the Academicians. Although established and funded by the Holy See, the Academy is an independent entity. Pope Pius XII summed up the Academy's "freedom of inquiry" in 1940 as follows: "To you noble champions (the Academicians) of human arts and disciplines the Church acknowledges complete freedom in method and research". The Academy is governed by a President, who is nominated from among the Academicians by the Supreme Pontiff. The Academy is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV, which was built in 1561 to serve as a summer residence for Pope Pius IV. Located within the Vatican Gardens, the Casina is the location for Academy meetings and its Plenary Sessions. It was depicted on the stamp shown below, from the Vatican Scientific and Cultural Institutions Series of 1984:
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences was previously celebrated on the 20th anniversary of its founding with the two stamps below, issued in 1957:
References: Pontifical Academy of Sciences website, "www.pas.va" UFN, October 2, 1986, "The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences" Vatican Philatelic Society website (www.vaticanstamps.org), "Stamp Database Search" | |||||||||||||||||||||||
