Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London". The Society was initially an extension of the "Invisible College", with the founders intending it to be a place of research and discussion. The Society today acts as a scientific advisor to the British government, receiving a parliamentary grant-in-aid. The Society acts as the UK's Academy of Sciences, and funds research fellowships and scientific start-up companies.
The Society is governed by its Council, which is chaired by the Society's President, according to a set of Statutes and Standing Orders. The members of Council and the President are elected from and by its Fellows, the basic members of the Society, who are themselves elected by existing Fellows. There are currently 1,314 Fellows, allowed to use the postnominal title FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society), with 44 new Fellows appointed each year. There are also Royal Fellows, Honorary Fellows and Foreign Fellows, the last of which are allowed to use their postnomial title ForMemRS (Foreign Member of the Royal Society). The current President is Lord Rees of Ludlow. Since 1967, the Society has been based at 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, a Grade I listed building in central London that underwent a substantial renovation between 1999 and November 2003.
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History
Founding and early years
The Royal Society started as a group of approximately 12 scientists, known as the Invisible College, which met at a variety of locations, including the houses of their members and Gresham College. Members at particular times were John Wilkins, Jonathan Goddard, Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, William Petty, and Robert Boyle. The group discussed the "new science", as promoted by Francis Bacon in his New Atlantis, from approximately 1645 onwards. It initially had no rules or methods, and the primary goals were to organise and view experiments and communicate their discoveries to each other. The group varied over time, eventually splitting into two distinct factions in 1638 due to travel distances; the London Society and the Oxford Society. The Oxford Society was more active owing to the fact that many members of the overall College lived there, and was established as The Philosophical Society of Oxford, run under a set of rules still retained by the Bodleian Library.
The London group continued to meet at Gresham College, primarily after lectures hosted by Christopher Wren. The membership expanded at this time, growing to include Lord Brouncker and Timothy Clarke. It was forced to disband in 1658 during the English Protectorate following soldiers invading their rooms; after the English Restoration, they returned to meeting at Gresham College. It is widely held that these groups were the inspiration for the foundation of the Royal Society.
An alternate view of the founding, held at the time, was that it was due to the influence of French scientists and the Montmor Academy in 1657, reports of which were sent back to England by English scientists attending. This view was held by Jean-Baptiste du Hamel, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle and Melchisédech Thévenot at the time, and has some grounding in that Henry Oldenburg, the Society's first Secretary, had attended the Montmor Academy meeting. Robert Hooke, however, disputed this, writing that:
[Cassini] makes, then, Mr Oldenburg to have been the instrument, who inspired the English with a desire to imitate the French, in having Philosophical Clubs, or Meetings; and that this was the occasion of founding the Royal Society, and making the French the first. I will not say, that Mr Oldenburg did rather inspire the French to follow the English, or, at least, did help them, and hinder us. But 'tis well known who were the principal men that began and promoted that design, both in this city and in Oxford; and that a long while before Mr Oldenburg came into England. And not only these Philosophic Meetings were before Mr Oldenburg came from Paris; but the Society itself was begun before he came hither; and those who then knew Mr Oldenburg, understood well enough how little he himself knew of philosophic matter.
On 28 November 1660, a group of scientists from and influenced by the Invisible College met at Gresham College and announced the formation of a "College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning", which would meet weekly to discuss science and run experiments. At the second meeting, Sir Robert Moray announced that the King approved of the gatherings, and a Royal Charter was signed on 15 July 1662 which created the "Royal Society of London", with Lord Brouncker serving as the first President. A second Royal Charter was signed on 23 April 1663, with the King noted as the Founder and with the name of "The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge"; Robert Hooke was appointed as Curator of Experiments in November. This initial royal favour has continued, and since then every monarch has been the patron of the Society.
The Society's early meetings consisted almost entirely of experiments, demonstrated first by Hooke and then by Denis Papin, who was appointed in 1684. The Society also published an English translation of Essays of Natural Experiments Made in the Accademia del Cimento, under the Protection of the Most Serene Prince Leopold of Tuscany in 1884, an Italian book documenting experiments at the Accademia del Cimento. The early experiments varied in their subject area, and were both important in some cases and trivial in others. Although meeting at Gresham College, the Society temporarily relocated to Arundel House in 1666 after the Great Fire of London, which did not harm Gresham but did lead to its appropriation by the Lord Mayor. The Society returned to Gresham in 1673.
There had been an attempt in 1667 to establish a permanent "College" for the society. Michael Hunter argues that this was influenced by "Solomon's House" in Bacon's New Atlantis, and to a lesser extent by J.V. Andreae's Christianopolis, dedicated research institutes, rather than the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, since the founders only intended for the Society to act as a location for research and discussion. The first proposal was given by John Evelyn to Robert Boyle in a letter dated 3 September 1659; he suggested a far grander scheme, with apartments for members and a central research institute. Similar schemes were expounded by Bengt Skytte and later Abraham Cowley, who wrote in his Proposition for the Advancement of Experimental Philosophy in 1661 of a "'Philosophical College", with houses, a library and a chapel. The Society's ideas contained none of this complexity, and only included residences for a handful of staff, but Hunter maintains that they probably drew inspiration from Cowley and Sktyye's ideas. Henry Oldenburg and Thomas Sprat put forward ideas in 1667, and Oldenburg's co-Secretary John Wilkins moved in a Council meeting on 30 September 1667 to appoint a Committee "for raising contributions among the members of the society, in order to build a college". These plans were progressing by November 1667, but never reached fruition due to the lack of contributions from members and the "unrealised – perhaps unrealistic -" aspirations of the Society.
During the 18th century, the gusto, which had characterised the early years of the Society, faded; with a small number of scientific "greats" compared to other periods, little of note was done. In the second half, it became customary for Her Majesty's Government to refer highly important scientific questions to the Council of the Society for advice, something that, despite the non-partisan nature of the Society, spilled into politics in 1777 over lightning conductors. The pointed lightning conductor had been invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1749, while Benjamin Wilson invented blunted ones. During the argument that occurred when deciding which to use, opponents of Franklin's invention accused supporters of being American allies rather than being British, and the debate eventually led to the resignation of the Society's President, Sir John Pringle. During the same time period, it became customary to appoint society Fellows to serve on government committees where science was concerned, something that still continues.
The 18th century did, however, feature remedies to many of the Society's early problems. The number of Fellows had increased from 110 to approximately 300 by 1739, the reputation of the Society had increased under the Presidency of Sir Isaac Newton from 1703 until his death in 1727, and editions of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society were appearing regularly. During his time as President, Newton arguably abused his authority; in a dispute between himself and Gottfried Leibniz over the invention of Infinitesimal calculus, he used his position to appoint an "impartial" committee to decide it, eventually publishing a report written by himself in the committee's name. In 1705, the Society was informed that it could no longer rent Gresham College, and began a search for new premises. After unsuccessfully applying to Queen Anne for new premises, and asking the trustees of Cotton House if they could meet there, the Council bought two houses in Crane Court, Fleet Street, on 26 October 1710. This included offices, accommodation and a Collection of Curiosities. Although the overall Fellowship contained few noted scientists, most of the Council were highly regarded, and included at various times John Hadley, William Jones and Hans Sloane. Because of the laxness of Fellows in paying their subscriptions, the Society ran into financial difficulty during this time; by 1740, the Society had a deficit of £240. This continued into 1741, at which point the Treasurer began dealing harshly with Fellows who had not paid. The business of the Society at this time continued to include the demonstration of experiments and the reading of formal and important scientific papers, along with the demonstration of new scientific devices and queries about scientific matters from both Britain and Europe.
Some modern research has asserted that the claims of the Society's degradation during the 18th century are false. Richard Sorrenson writes that "far from having 'fared ingloriously,' the Society experienced a period of significant productivity and growth throughout the eighteenth century", pointing out that many of the sources critical accounts are based on are in fact written by those with an agenda. While Charles Babbage wrote that the practice of pure mathematics in Britain was weak, laying the blame at the doorstep of the Society, the practice of mixed mathematics was strong, and although there were not many eminent members of the Society, some did contribute vast amounts – James Bradley, for example, established the nutation of the Earth's axis with 20 years of detailed, meticulous astronomy.
Politically within the Society, the mid-18th century featured a "Whig supremacy", as the so-called "Hardwicke Circle" of Whig-leaning scientists held the Society's main Offices. Named after Lord Hardwicke, the groups members included Daniel Wray and Thomas Birch, and was most prominent in the 1750s and 60s. The Circle had Birch elected Secretary, and, following the resignation of Martin Folkes, the Circle helped oversee a smooth transition to the Presidency of Earl Macclesfield, who Hardwicke helped elect. Under Macclesfield, the Circle reached its "zenith", with members such as Lord Willoughby and Birch serving as Vice-President and Secretary, respectively. The Circle also influenced goings-on in other learned societies, such as the Society of Antiquaries of London. After Macclesfield's retirement, the Circle had Lord Morton elected in 1764, and Sir John Pringle elected in 1772. By this point, the previous Whig "majority" had been reduced to a "faction", with Birch and Willoughby no longer involved, and the Circle declined in the same time frame as the political party did in British politics under George III, falling apart in the 1780s.
In 1780, the Society moved again, this time to Somerset House. The property was offered to the Society by Her Majesty's Government, and as soon as Sir Joseph Banks became President in November 1778, he began planning the move. Somerset House, while larger than Crane Court, was not satisfying to the Fellows; the room to store the library was too small, the accommodation was insufficient, and there was not enough room to store the museum at all. As a result, the museum was handed to the British Museum in 1781, and the library was extended to two rooms, one of which was used for Council meetings.
19th century to the present
The early 19th century has been seen as a time of decline for the society; of 662 fellows in 1830, only 104 had contributed to the Philosophical Transactions. The same year, Charles Babbage published Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes, which was deeply critical of the Society. The scientific Fellows of the Society were spurred into action by this, and eventually James South established a Charters Committee "with a view to obtaining a supplementary Charter from the Crown", aimed primarily at looking at ways to restrict membership. The Committee recommended that the election of Fellows take place on one day every year, that the Fellows be selected on consideration of their scientific achievements and that the number of fellows elected a year be limited to 15. This limit was increased to 17 in 1930 and 20 in 1937; it is currently 44. This had a number of effects on the Society: first, the Society's membership became almost entirely scientific, with few political Fellows or patrons. Second, the number of Fellows was significantly reduced—between 1700 and 1850, the number of Fellows rose from approximately 100 to approximately 750. From then until 1941, the total number of Fellows was always between 400 and 500.
The period did lead to some reform of internal Society statutes, such as in 1823 and 1831. The most important change there was the requirement that the Treasurer publish an annual report, along with a copy of the total income and expenditure of the Society. These were to be sent to Fellows at least 14 days before the general meeting, with the intent being to ensure the election of competent Officers by making it readily apparent what existing Officers were doing. This was accompanied by a full list of Fellows standing for Council positions, where previously the names had only been announced a couple of days before. As with the other reforms, this helped ensure that Fellows had a chance to vet and properly consider candidates. The Society's financial troubles were finally resolved in 1850, when a government grant-in-aid of £1,000 a year was accepted. This was increased to £4,000 in 1876, with the Society officially acting merely as the trustee for these funds, doling them out to individual scientists.
By 1852, the congestion at Somerset House had increased thanks to the growing number of Fellows. Therefore, the Library Committee asked the Council to petition Her Majesty's Government to find new facilities, with the advice being to bring all the scientific societies, such as the Linnean and Geological societies, under one roof. In August 1866, the government announced their intention to refurbish Burlington House and move the Royal Academy and other societies there. The Academy moved in 1867, while other societies joined when their facilities were built. The Royal Society moved there in 1873, taking up residence in the East Wing. The top floor was used as accommodation for the Assistant Secretary, while the library was scattered over every room and the old caretaker's apartment was converted into offices. One flaw was that there was not enough space for the office staff, which was then approximately eighty. When, for example, the Society organised the British contribution to the International Geophysical Year in 1954, additional facilities had to be found for the staff outside Burlington House.
On 22 March 1945, the first female Fellows were elected to the Royal Society. This followed a statutory amendment in 1944 that read "Nothing herein contained shall render women ineligible as candidates", and was contained in Chapter 1 of Statute 1. Because of the difficulty of coordinating all the Fellows during the Second World War, a ballot on making the change was conducted via the post, with 336 Fellows supporting the change and 37 opposing. Following approval by the Council, Marjory Stephenson and Kathleen Lonsdale were elected as Fellows.
Coat of arms
The helmet of the arms was not specified in the Charter, but the engraver sketched out a peer's helmet on the final design, which is used. This is contrary to the heraldic rules, as a society or corporation normally has an esquire's helmet; it is thought that either the engraver was ignorant of this rule, which was not strictly adhered to until around 1615, or that he used the peer's helmet as a compliment to Vicount Brouncker, a peer and the President of the Royal Society. The motto, "nullius in verba", is Latin for "Take nobody's word for it", and was adopted to signify the Fellows' determination to establish facts via experiments; it comes from Horace's Epistles, where he compares himself to a gladiator who, having retired, is free from control.
Functions and activities
The Society has a variety of functions and activities. It supports modern science; it finances approximately 700 research fellowships both early and late career scientists, along with innovation, mobility and research capacity grants. Its Awards, prize lectures and medals all come with prize money intended to finance research, and it provides subsidised communications and media skills courses for research scientists. In 2008, the Society opened the Royal Society Enterprise Fund, intended to invest in new scientific companies and be self-sustaining, funded (after an initial set of donations on the 350th anniversary of the Society) by the returns from its investments.
Through its Science Policy Centre, the Society acts as an advisor to the European Commission and the United Nations on matters of science. It publishes several reports a year, and serves as the Academy of Sciences of the United Kingdom. Since the middle of the 18th century, government problems involving science were irregularly referred to the Society, and by 1800 it was done regularly. The Society now formally acts as Her Majesty Government's chief scientific advisor, and is the United Kingdom's Academy for Sciences.
Carlton House Terrace
The premises at 6–9 Carlton House Terrace is a Grade I listed building and the current headquarters of the Royal Society, which had moved there from Burlington House in 1967. The ground floor and basement are used for ceremonies, social and publicity events, the first floor hosts facilities for Fellows and Officers of the Society, and the second and third floors are divided between offices and accommodation for the President, Executive Secretary and Fellows. The first Carlton House was named after Baron Carleton, and was sold to Lord Chesterfield in 1732, who held it on trust for Frederick, Prince of Wales. Frederick held his court there until his death in 1751, after which it was occupied by his widow until her death in 1772. In 1783, the then-Prince of Wales George bought the house, instructing his architect Henry Holland to completely remodel it. When George became King, he authorised the demolition of Carlton House, with the request that the replacement be a residential area. John Nash eventually completed a design that saw Carlton House turned into two blocks of houses, with a space in between them. The building is still owned by the Crown Estates and leased by the Society; it underwent a major renovation from 2001 to 2004 at the cost of £9.8 million, and was re-opened by the Prince of Wales on 7 July 2004.
Carlton House Terrace underwent a series of renovations between 1999 and November 2003 to improve and standardise the property. New waiting, exhibition and reception rooms were created in the house at No.7, using the Magna Boschi marble found in No.8, and greenish grey Statuario Venato marble was used in other areas to standardise the design. An effort was also made to make the layout of the buildings easier, consolidating all the offices on one floor, Fellows' Rooms on another and all the accommodation on a third.
External links
- The Royal Society website
- The Royal Society Publishing website
- The Royal Society of London (a brief history)
- Scholarly Societies Project: Royal Society of London
- A visualization of the Royal Society's publications from 1665 to 2005
License
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Royal Society".
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