From pp. 352-353 of Richard Holmes’ immensely enjoyable history of science in the early Romantic period, The Age of Wonder:
On 2 November [the British chemist and forefather of anesthesia Humphry] Davy received the Prix Napoléon (worth 6,000 livres) from the Institut de France in Paris. He knew that accepting the award might be unpopular in wartime England, but followed [British scientist and explorer Joseph] Banks’ line at the Royal Society that science should be above national conflicts. He told [tanner and essayist] Tom Poole: ‘Some people say I ought not to accept this prize; and there have been foolish paragraphs in the papers to that effect; but if the two countries or governments are at war, the men of science are not. That would, indeed, be a civil war of the worst description: we should rather, through the instrumentality of men of science, soften the asperities of national hostility.’
Montesquieu’s doux commerce thesis is that trade promotes peace and prevents war. Here, Humphry Davy, who is not as famous as he should be in the history of science, makes the same argument for science. When ideas and discoveries cross borders, it is less likely that soldiers will. This is an important point in today’s political climate of growing nationalism.
Inertia Wins! 