An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings currently on display.
"I've got good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman inquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."
"That's wonderful!" the artist exclaimed, "What's the bad news?"
With concern, the gallery owner replied, "The guy was your doctor."
French Academy of SciencesIn 1666, the French Academy of Sciences was founded by seven mathematicians and seven physicists meeting in the king's library. The society was an outgrowth of an informal community of scientists who coordinated their research efforts through the efforts of Marin Mersenne, a monk at the Minim monastery, who had exchanged 10,000 letters with them. In 1699, King Louis XIV (who also supported the Paris Observatory) issued a formal decree of protection to the new Academy. Initially, in the constitution that he gave the society, the king retained the right to appoint members, but later membership was given by election. In 1805, the Academy moved its meetings from the Louvre to the Institute of France building.«* |
