Royal Society
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The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence. It was founded in 1660. The Royal Irish Academy, founded in 1782, is closely affiliated. The Royal Society of Edinburgh (founded 1783) is a separate Scottish body.
Although a voluntary body, it serves as the national academy of the sciences in the United Kingdom. It is a member organisation of the Science Council.
It's possible that the Royal Society was one of the first documented aspirations toward Open Content; they imagined a network across the globe as a public enterprise, an "Empire of Learning". They also were one of the first documented cases of attempting to deal with having content available to address language and languages within the Sciences, and strove to remove language barriers. Dedicated to the free flow of information, the Royal Society despised secrecy and encouraged communication.
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Famous members
Several famous scientists were either the founding members or involved during its history. The early group included Robert Boyle, John Evelyn, Robert Hooke, William Petty, John Wallis, John Wilkins, Thomas Willis and Sir Christopher Wren. Isaac Newton demonstrated his theory of optics to them, and later became president of the society. The motto "Nullius in Verba" means literally "On the words of no one" signifying 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.
Thomas Bayes first presented his theorem at the society.
A selected list of presidents
- Sir Christopher Wren (1680-1682)
- Samuel Pepys (1684-1686)
- Charles Montagu (1695-1698)
- Lord Somers (1698-1703)
- Sir Isaac Newton (1703-1727)
- Joseph Banks (1778-1820)
- Sir Humphry Davy (1820-1827)
- The Duke of Sussex (1830-1838)
- Lord Rosse (1848-1854)
- Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1873-1878)
- Thomas Henry Huxley (1883-1885)
- George Gabriel Stokes (1885-1890)
- Lord Kelvin (1890-1895)
- Joseph Lister (1895-1900)
- Sir William Huggins (1900-1905)
- Lord Rayleigh (1905-1908)
- Sir Joseph John Thomson (1915-1920)
- Lord Rutherford of Nelson (1925-1930)
- Sir William Henry Bragg (1935-1940)
- Lord May of Oxford (2000-2005)
- New President (2005+, currently waiting until voting in July)
See also: The complete list of Presidents of the Royal Society
Selected bibliography
- Sylva by John Evelyn
- Micrographia by Robert Hooke.
- Philosophical Transactions oldest scientific journal continually published
Timeline (incomplete)
- 1640s informal meetings
- 1660 foundation on November 28
- 1661 name first appears in print, and library presented with its first book
- 1662 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
- 1710 acquires its own home in Crane Court
See also
- List of Royal Societies
- Presidents of the Royal Society
- History of science
- List of British professional bodies
- Learned societies
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- British Association for the Advancement of Science
- Royal Institution
Medals
References
- Gleick, James, Isaac Newton, Vintage Books, ISBN 1-4000-3295-4
- Spratt,Thomas, History of Royal Society, Kessinger Publishing; (February 1, 2003), ISBN 0766128679
External links
- The Royal Society - Excellence in Science (http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/)de:Royal Society
fr:Royal Society ja:王立協会 nl:Royal Society pl:Royal Society pt:Royal Society sl:Kraljeva družba sv:Royal Society zh:英国皇家学会