The Civil War caused a need for a national academy and the Act of Incorporation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1863, created the National Academy of Sciences and named 50 charter members. The Act states that "the Academy shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art, the actual expense of such investigations, examinations, experiments, and reports to be paid from appropriations which may be made for the purpose, but the Academy shall receive no compensation whatever for any services to the Government of the United States."
== Summary == James Craig Watson Medal National Academy of Sciences http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_watson The Civil War caused a need for a national academy and the Act of Incorporation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Ma