Royal Society

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The premises of The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London (first four properties only).
For other uses, see Royal Society (disambiguation).

The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known also as The Royal Society, is a learned society for science that was founded in 1660 and is the oldest society of its kind still in existence.

Contents

[change] History

The Royal Society was founded in 1660, only few months after the Restoration of King Charles II, by members of one or two either secretive or informal societies already in existence. The Royal Society enjoyed the confidence and official support of the restored monarchy. The "New" or "Experimental" form of philosophy was generally ill-regarded by the Aristotelian (and religious) academies, but had been promoted by Sir Francis Bacon in his book The New Atlantis.

Robert Boyle refers to the "Invisible College" as early as 1646. A founding meeting was held at the premises of Gresham College in Bishopsgate on 28 November 1660, immediately after a lecture by Sir Christopher Wren, who was at that time Gresham Professor of Astronomy. At a second meeting a week later, Sir Robert Moray, an influential Freemason who had helped organise the public emergence of the group, reported that the King approved of the meetings. The Royal Society continued to meet at the premises of Gresham College and at Arundel House, the London home of the Dukes of Norfolk, until it moved to its own premises in Crane Court in 1710.[1]

A formal Royal Charter of incorporation passed the Great Seal on 15 July 1662, creating "The Royal Society of London", with Lord Brouncker as the first President, and Robert Hooke was appointed as Curator of Experiments in November 1662. A second Royal Charter was sealed on 23 April 1663, naming the King as Founder and changing the name to "The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge". Her Majesty The Queen is the current patron, and the reigning monarch has always been the patron of the Royal Society since its foundation.[2]

The motto of the Royal Society, "Nullius in Verba" (Latin: "On the words of no one", the full quote from Horace -- Nullius addictus judicare in verba magistri -- expands into the gold standard of objectivity: "Not compelled to swear to any master's words." although the Royal Society itself now prefers the translation "Nothing in words",[3]and its erstwhile president Robert May favours "Respect the facts"[4]), signifies the Society's commitment to establishing the truth of scientific matters through experiment rather than through citation of authority. Although this seems obvious today, the philosophical basis of the Royal Society differed from previous philosophies such as Scholasticism, which established scientific truth based on deductive logic, concordance with divine providence and the citation of such ancient authorities as Aristotle.

[change] A selected list of Presidents

Mace of the Royal Society, granted by Charles II.

[change] Permanent staff

The Society's 15 Sections are administered by the permanent staff, led by the Executive Secretary, Stephen Cox CVO. The Executive Secretary is supported by the Senior Managers of the Society, including:

  • Mr Ian Cooper, Director of Finance and Operations
  • Dr Peter Collins, Director of Science Policy
  • Dr Peter Cotgreave, Director of Communications

[change] Society honours

The Society bestows ten medals, seven awards (prizes) and nine prize lectureships variously annually, biennially or triennially, according to the terms of reference for each award. The Society also runs The Aventis Prizes for Science Books.

[change] Awards

[change] Medals

  • Buchanan Medal (for achievements in medicine)
  • Copley Medal (for work in any field of science)
  • Darwin Medal (for work in the broad area of biology in which Charles Darwin worked)
  • Davy Medal (for work in any branch of chemistry)
  • Gabor Medal (for work in biology, especially in genetic engineering and molecular biology)
  • Hughes Medal (for work in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism)
  • Leverhulme Medal (for work in pure or applied chemistry or engineering)
  • Royal Medal (for the two most important contributions to the advancement of Natural Knowledge)
  • Rumford Medal (for work in the fields of heat or light)
  • Sylvester Medal (for the encouragement of mathematical research)

[change] Prize lectures

The coat-of-arms of the Royal Society as a stained-glass window. The motto is 'Nullius in verba'.

[change] Timeline

  • 1640s — informal meetings
  • November 28, 1660 — Royal Society founded at Gresham College
  • 1661 — name first appears in print, and library presented with its first book
  • 1662 — first Royal Charter gives permission to publish
  • 1663 — second Royal Charter
  • 1665 — first issue of Philosophical Transactions
  • 1666 — Fire of London causes move to Arundel House until 1673, then returns to Gresham College[5]
  • 1669 — third Royal Charter; original proposal would have made Chelsea College the permanent home of the Society, but the site became Chelsea Hospital instead
  • 1710 — acquires its own home in Crane Court
  • 1780 — moves to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown[6]
  • 1847 — changed election criteria so that future Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work
  • 1850 — Parliamentary Grant-in-aid commences, of £1,000, to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment.
  • 1857 — moved to Burlington House in Piccadilly
  • 1967 — moved to present location on Carlton House Terrace

[change] Bibliography

[change] References

  1. ↑ Homes of the Royal Society. The Royal Society. Retrieved on 10 July 2008.
  2. ↑ Prince of Wales opens Royal Society’s refurbished building. The Royal Society (2004-07-07). Retrieved on 10 July 2008. “Her Majesty The Queen is the current patron, and the reigning monarch has always been the patron of the Royal Society since its foundation.”
  3. ↑ ’Nullius in verba’. The Royal Society. Retrieved on 10 July 2008.
  4. ↑ The world's problem. Times Online (2007-04-04). Retrieved on 10 July 2008.
  5. ↑ Homes of the Society - Gresham College and Arundel House (1660-1710). The Royal Society. Retrieved on 10 July 2008.
  6. ↑ Brief history of the Society. The Royal Society. Retrieved on 10 July 2008.

[change] Other websites

Retrieved from "http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society"