French Academy of Sciences
![Colbert Presenting the Members of the Royal Academy of Sciences to Louis XIV in 1667](/Images/godic/202412/19/Colbert_Presenting_the_Members_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Sciences_to_Louis_XIV_in_16674036.PNG")
![A heroic depiction of the activities of the Academy from 1698](/Images/godic/202412/19/Académie_des_Sciences_16984036.jpg")
![The Institut de France in Paris where the Academy is housed](/Images/godic/202412/19/Institut_France4036.jpg")
The French Academy of Sciences (French: Académie des sciences) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the forefront of scientific developments in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and is one of the earliest Academies of Sciences.