Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences

The Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences (Spanish name: Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales) was founded in 1847. It is dedicated to the study and research of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and related sciences.

The forerunner of the modern Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Mathematics, was created in Madrid in 1582, during the reign of Philip II. It evolved from the environment of cooperation among the cosmographers, architects and civil engineers that served the monarch, and also involved prominent artillery experts and military engineers.

The initiative was motivated by an interest that existed in the Spain of the late sixteenth century in promoting the teaching of mathematics with an eye to its practical applications in areas as diverse as mercantile calculation, cosmography, astrology on one hand, and the art of navigation and specific problems relating to military skills and construction techniques on the other.

The idea of founding the Academy of Mathematics originated with Juan de Herrera, who was also its first director (1583–1597). It was founded in Lisbon in accordance with documents issued on December 25, 1582, and began functioning in October of the following year in offices of the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, and shortly afterwards in its own building nearby "at the entrance to Baldanú, in la calle del Tesoro". The same space is occupied today by the opera house, the Teatro Real. Due to extensive changes in the royal offices, in 1612 the institution moved to the home of the Marquis of Leganes, with its facade on the "wide calle of San Bernardo" where it carried out its activities until about 1630, when all the property, income and instruments of the Academy were transferred to the Imperial College.

...
Wikipedia