The APS has been adding items to its archives for nearly 300 years with methods that have changed over time. In this Meeting Talk Monday, historian and journalist Jill Lepore discusses "Asymmetry in the Archives," or the inequality in what archives keep. https://bit.ly/4jci47m

Join the APS and The Library Company of Philadelphia on January 6 for a new take on the Founding Father we thought we knew. Hear Joyce Chaplin (APS 2020) speak on Benjamin Franklin's scientific innovation and consumer invention, the Franklin stove. @joycechaplin.bsky.social https://bit.ly/4iMEfk4

The APS has long supported projects that promote useful knowledge. In December 1772, author John Leacock asked APS Members to help fund his project for planting a public vineyard to make wine, joining him as "Adventurers." Read the full letter here: https://bit.ly/48TneBC

In December 1732, Benjamin Franklin first published Poor Richard's Almanack, a calendar with weather predictions, information, and witty advice. This 1734 edition in APS collections includes an essay from "Poor Richard" (one of Franklin's alter egos) thanking readers for a successful first year.

Benjamin Banneker and Andrew Ellicott were a notable duo in 1792—a Black man and a white man working together to draw the boundaries of a new federal district in Washington, D.C. Learn more in this week's blog post by Vincent Femia. https://bit.ly/4p7gJA4

Are you busting out your cookbooks for your holiday preparations? This week's Meeting Talk comes from food historian Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, who spoke on "Cookbooks and Reality" at the November 2014 Members' Meeting. https://bit.ly/4qlVtHL

Angela Oliverio, Lewis and Clark Fund recipient (2023-2024) has recently made a groundbreaking discovery. She and her student have found a novel eukaryote at Lassen Volcanic National Park called a "Fire Amoeba" that can reproduce at temperatures previously thought impossible! https://bit.ly/3KZSA0j

Congratulations to historian and professor Gordon S. Wood (APS 1994), who was awarded the 2025 Irving Kristol Award by the American Enterprise Institute! It is the institution’s highest honor. https://bit.ly/48Uvznh

On December 17, 1790, the APS awarded its first Magellanic Premium, created by John Hyacinth Magellan to recognize the most useful discoveries. This medal, currently in APS Museum collections, was awarded to civil engineer Lewis M. Haupt in 1887. https://bit.ly/4qyRcB5

“If an idea has merit, one person can change the course of his or her family, the community, state, country, or the world.” Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom! #usefulknowledge #publicpolicy #government

Congratulations to Members Danielle Allen (APS 2015), Sylvester James Gates, Jr. (APS 2012), and Anthony Grafton (APS 1993), awardees of the 2025 Barry Prize from the American Academy of Sciences & Letters! #apsmembers #usefulknowledge https://bit.ly/4a9AVxr

On December 16, 1773, Bostonians made history with the Boston Tea Party. Mary Beth Norton (APS 2010) spoke on this and other key revolutionary events in a 2020 talk on her book 1774: The Long Year of Revolution. Here, she shares Ben Franklin's reaction.

Congratulations to renowned poet Joy Harjo (Muskogee, APS 2021) who has recently been honored by the Smithsonian as a recipient of its 2025 Portrait of a Nation Award! This award recognizes people who have made powerful contributions to the United States. https://bit.ly/48yyjIa

Scientists have long pondered the 5000 holes in the foothills of southern Peru. Jacob Bongers, 2019 Lewis and Clark Fund and 2023 Franklin Research Grant recipient was recently recognized for his work that suggests these holes were a pre-Inca marketplace. https://bit.ly/48cM1yR

Did you know that the APS Museum collection holds over 3,000 objects from scientific instruments to paintings? Here Associate Director of the Museum Mary Grace Wahl shows museum guides and APS staff an early disinfecting apparatus. Search the collection at https://bit.ly/44jsiwv

A new take on the Founding Father we thought we knew. Join the APS and The Library Company of Philadelphia on January 6 to hear Joyce E. Chaplin (APS 2020) speak on Benjamin Franklin's scientific innovation and consumer invention, the Franklin stove. #benfranklin #invention https://bit.ly/4iMEfk4

"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world." Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom! #usefulknowledge #science #vaccination #publichealth

Evolutionary biologist Jonathan Losos (APS 2024) recently received the Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award from Washington University in St. Louis. His work centers on biological diversity and how species (especially lizards) adapt to urban habitats. bit.ly/4pPuiVm

Evolutionary biologist Jonathan Losos (APS 2024) recently received the Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award from Washington University in St. Louis. His work centers on biological diversity and how species (especially lizards) adapt to urban habitats. https://bit.ly/4pPuiVm

In the 1840s, newlyweds Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne kept a common journal recording daily life. Thanks to editors Nicholas Lawrence and Marta Werner, we can read it in as complete a form as possible. Learn more in this week's blog post by Jon Repetti. https://bit.ly/3MonP5y

While newlyweds in the early 1840s, Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne kept a common journal documenting their daily life. Learn more in this week's blog post by Jon Repetti. https://www.amphilsoc.org/news/backlist-spotlight-ordinary-mysteries-common-journal-nathaniel-and-sophia-hawthorne-1842-1843

Are there other worlds in the universe besides our own? And if there are other worlds, are the laws of nature and physics the same between them? This week’s Meeting Talk Monday comes from astrophysicist John C. Mather (APS 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16gpMxYlL9k #meetingmonday #astronomy

The APS went out on the road for our Fall 2025 Member Meeting! Check out this article from The San Diego Union-Tribune to learn about the first APS meeting outside of Philly in 20 years. https://bit.ly/3Ky6ExG

At our Future of Fieldwork conference, Joshua Drew of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (Lewis and Clark grant recipient) shared how students benefit from grants. Apply today for 2026 APS grants and fellowships! https://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/fellowships

Today, coffeehouses are places where friends gather and socialize, but during the American Revolution they were hotbeds of political protest. Read this interview with Michelle McDonald, Director of the Library & Museum at the APS in the Smithsonian Magazine to learn more. https://bit.ly/4pDbnxH

“A Person who knows he is endowed with Reason, will not be contented to take his knowledge intirely [sic] from second Hand.” Robert Strettell Jones (APS 1768) Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom! #usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom #criticalthinking

"Dinner with Ben Franklin: The Origins of the American Philosophical Society" This week's Meeting Monday features former APS President Linda Greenhouse's talk about the APS's early days and influence. #meetingmondays #archives #usefulknowledge #benfranklin #philadelphia

"Hatreds are superficial...If people can, by educational processes, mutually arrive at greater understanding and sympathy, these hatreds will in large measure be dissipated." Ralph Bunche (APS 1950) Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom! #usefulknowledge #education

Scientists and hobbyists of the 18th century were fascinated with the microscopic world—and with writing in books! Read this week's blog post from former fellow Al Coppola to learn more. https://www.amphilsoc.org/news/calamary-and-coal-tar #research #historyofscience #microscopes

The APS Lewis and Clark Fund turned 20 this year! Are you interested in fieldwork? Check out the videos from last month's conference on the Promise and Perils of Research in the 21st century! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoKwLGnyZL4C3gI0L1uu7Vk1hnJTnQ-sw #fieldwork #grants #lewisandclark

Bearing Burdens, Taking Up Arms: Women with the Continental Army! This week’s Meeting Monday features Holly Mayer for a discussion of women in the American Revolution. https://youtu.be/f_b1YIdFvXQ?si=XW7IQbIEhQ9zFRYb #earlyamerica #womenshistory #meetingmondays #archives

It's Native American Heritage Month! Catch up with all the happenings at the APS' Center for Native American and Indigenous Research with the November newsletter! https://www.amphilsoc.org/library/CNAIR#paragraph-3184 #archives #indigenous #nativeamerica #collaboration #libraryscience

Yuki Haba received a Lewis and Clark grant in 2019, and has recently had his APS-supported PhD work published in “Science”! https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515 #grants #fellowships #funding #research

“Nobody is capable of free speech unless he knows how to use language, and such knowledge is not a gift: it has to be learned and worked at.” Northrup Frye (APS 1976) Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom! #usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom #learning

The APS Press is celebrating local poets at our final publishing salon of the year! Join us on Thursday, December 4th for short readings by poets from the Philadelphia area, snacks, drinks, and good company. https://www.amphilsoc.org/events/publishing-salon-local-poet-speed-dating #authors #books

Science and Society in the Age of Revolutions! Catch up on this past conference with the videos on the APS YouTube! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoKwLGnyZL4C3gI0L1uu7Vk1hnJTnQ-sw&si=_PSYBmIwCQiGAZZB

Apply for a History of Biology internship at the APS! Interns will conduct research using the rich archival collections at both the APS and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. https://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/apscshl-undergraduate-summer-internship-history-biology #internship #history #undergraduates

"Each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity.” Marie Curie (APS 1910) Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom. #usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom

Livestream the APS Meeting on Nov 13-15th! These Meetings appeal to the diverse interests and expertise of attendees and provide a unique opportunity to indulge the audience’s breadth of intellectual curiosity. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoKwLGnyZL4DRayn5P6tcvNXRapJdJLK2&si=5Zn0qF3olQo0zALH

The numbers are in: Our APS Transcribathon participants completed 231 entire pages! Thank you to everyone who participated! https://therevolutionarycity.org/ Our 2026 events are live on our website! https://www.amphilsoc.org/event-type/museum-program #earlyamerica #digitalhumanities #archives

Congratulations to Andrew Gottscho on a new publication that was partly funded by an APS Lewis & Clark Grant in 2013! The paper is available here! https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.70075 #lewisandclark #grants #research #deserts #Biogeography

Voices of Spirit, Voices of Madness! This week’s Meeting Monday from Tanya Marie Luhrmann discusses the experience of hearing voices! #meetingmonday #conferences #spirit #madness https://youtu.be/RFjb96H22BQ?si=SJf4g5q-2zuyG9BM

The APS is home to the Benjamin Rush Commonplace Book, 1792-1813! Want to learn more about Rush? Tune in for episode 1 of Joseph Loconte's exploration of the life of Benjamin Rush, one of America's "Forgotten Founders" and a Member of the APS. https://youtu.be/7hzvWN1mf24?si=SJuEkS6qADtrimp4

Congratulations to Margaret Pearce (2020 APS Daythal Kendall Short-Term Fellow) who was recently named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow! www.macfound.org/fellows/clas... The APS is currently accepting DKS Fellowship Applications! www.amphilsoc.org/grants/mello...

Join the American Philosophical Society and Scripps Research Institute for a public conversation with atmospheric chemist Dr. Kimberly A. Prather! www.amphilsoc.org/events/exper...

"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge…is the only guardian of true liberty." James Madison (APS 1785) Check back weekly for APS Members' words of wisdom. https://www.amphilsoc.org/tags/words-wisdom #usefulknowledge #wordsofwisdom #learning #education

Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant received a Franklin Grant in 2025 for her project “Finding a Pearl in the Jewel of the Delta: Uncovering a Woman Co-Founder of Mound Bayou, Mississippi" Learn more in her recent blog! https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/marbl/2025/10/09/beauboeuf-lafontant/

Episode 1 of Useful Knowledge, A Podcast: “Seeing Ourselves Through Ancient Eyes: Mary Beard on the Utility of History” is now live! https://www.amphilsoc.org/useful-knowledge-podcast#paragraph-3463 #usefulknowledge #rome #history

It's Native American Heritage Month! Today’s Meeting Monday comes from Robert. J. Miller (APS 2014) who is the first Native American elected to the APS! Here he discusses the Indian Law Bombshell case: McGirt v. Oklahoma! https://youtu.be/nrvXE7Pu5w8?si=bN8z5P7zy8lpllE2 #nativeamerica #scotus

Lucy Shapiro (APS 2003) receives the 2025 Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science! https://laskerfoundation.org/winners/pioneering-approach-to-bacterial-cell-biology-national-leadership/ #biology #apsmembers #science #bacteria