ABSTRACT
The learned societies all met according to their own temporal rhythms. The Chemical Society met fortnightly, and its Proceedings approximated this periodicity in order to fill the space between a paper being read and its eventual publication in the Journal. This chapter explores the connection between the different rhythms that structure scientific practice. There are a number of obvious rhythms that shape the calendars for 1890 and 1891. The societies themselves meet either weekly, fortnightly or monthly. The weeklies were all published on different days. As the leading scientific weekly, Nature was the authoritative space for an overview of the proceedings of scientific societies. The investment of scientific judgement in an exclusive elite is compensated by privileged access to their deliberations. However, this shift from laboratory event to meeting of society changes the conditions of what Stengers calls the possibilities of representing.
