The natural sciences and their public at the meetings of the Hungarian Association for the Advancement of Science in Budapest and beyond, 1841-1896

This chapter concerns mainly with scientific events taking place in the Hungarian capital from the early 1840s, a period of liberal reform focused on national progress and refinement in Central Europe, to the fin de siècle, when Budapest was a symbol and showcase of metropolitan modernity in Central Europe. It illustrates the interconnectedness of scientific knowledge and the city through the relationships of the scientific societies with urban governance, of the scientific community and the urban public, and of the separate and common spaces of science and the city. The chapter considers not only how scientists aimed to use urban space to promote and circulate science and scientific knowledge, but also ways in which they believed they could contribute to the development of urban space. It also considers not only how these agendas were acknowledged by the host towns, but also how these towns—and urban governance—used the scientific expertise offered to further solidify the position of the city