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ROYAL SOCIETY, THE

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 794 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ROYAL SOCIETY, THE , the See also:

oldest scientific society in See also:Great See also:Britain, and one of the oldest in See also:Europe. The Royal Society (more fully, The Royal Society of See also:London for Improving Natural Knowledge) is usually considered to have been founded in the See also:year 166o, but a See also:nucleus had in fact been in existence for some years before that date. As See also:early as the year 1645 weekly meetings were held in 'London of " See also:divers worthy persons, inquisitive into natural See also:philosophy and other parts of human learning, and particularly of what hath been called the New Philosophy or Experimental Philosophy," and there can be little doubt that this gathering of philosophers is identical with the " Invisible See also:College " of which See also:Boyle speaks in sundry letters written in 1646 and 1647. These weekly meetings, according to See also:Wallis, were first suggested by See also:Theodore Haak, " a See also:German of the See also:Palatinate then See also:resident in London," and they were held sometimes in Dr Goddard's lodgings in See also:Wood See also:Street, sometimes at the See also:Bull-See also:Head See also:Tavern in Cheapside. Some of these " Philosophers," resident in See also:Oxford about 1648, formed an association there under the See also:title of the Philosophical Society of Oxford, and used to meet, most usually in the rooms of Dr See also:Wilkins, See also:warden of Wadham College. A See also:close inter-communication was maintained between the Oxford and London Philosophers; but ultimately the activity of the society was concentrated in the London meetings, which were held principally at See also:Gresham College. On See also:November 28, 166o, the first See also:journal See also:book of the society was opened with a " memorandum," from which the following is an See also:extract: " Memorandum that Novemb. 28. 1660, These per-sons following, according to the usuall See also:custom of most of them, mett together at Gresham Colledge to heare Mr See also:Wren's lecture, viz. The See also:Lord Brouncker, Mr Boyle, Mr See also:Bruce, See also:Sir See also:Robert See also:Moray, Sir See also:Paul See also:Neile, Dr Wilkins, Dr Goddard, Dr See also:Petty, Mr See also:Ball, Mr See also:Rooke, Mr Wren, Mr See also:Hill. And after the lecture was ended, they did, according to the usuall manner, withdrawe for mutuall converse. Where amongst other matters that were discoursed of, something was offered about a designe of See also:founding a Colledge for the promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning." It was agreed at this See also:meeting that the See also:company should continue to assemble on Wednesdays at three o'See also:clock; an See also:admission See also:fee of ten shillings with a subscription of one See also:shilling a See also:week was instituted; Dr Wilkins was appointed chairman; and a See also:list of See also:forty-one persons judged likely and See also:fit to join the See also:design was See also:drawn up.

On the following Wednesday Sir Robert Moray brought word that the See also:

king (See also:Charles II.) approved the design of the meetings; a See also:form of See also:obligation was framed, and was signed by all the persons enumerated in the memorandum of the 28th of November and by seventy-three others. On the 12th of See also:December another meeting was held at which fifty-five was fixed as the number of the society,—persons of the degree of See also:baron, See also:Fellows of the College of Physicians, and public professors of See also:mathematics, physics and natural philosophy of both See also:universities being supernumeraries. Gresham College was now appointed to be the See also:regular meeting-See also:place of the society. Sir Robert Moray (or See also:Murray) was chosen See also:president (See also:March 6, 1661), and continued from See also:time to time to occupy the See also:chair until the See also:incorporation of the society, when Lord Brouncker was appointed the first president under the See also:charter. In See also:October 1661 the king offered to be entered one of the society, and next year the society was incorporated under its See also:present title. The name " Royal Society " appears to have been first applied to the Philosophers by See also:John See also:Evelyn, in the See also:dedication of his See also:translation of a book by See also:Gabriel See also:Naude, published in 1661. Evelyn received in that year the thanks of the " philosophic See also:assembly " for the See also:honourable mention he had made of them by the name of The Royal . Society." The charter of incorporation passed the Great See also:Seal on the 15th of See also:July 1662, to be modified, however, by a second charter in the following year, repeating the incorporating clauses of the first charter, but conferring further privileges on the society. The second charter passed the Great Seal on the 22nd of See also:April 1663, and was followed in 1669 by a third, confirming the See also:powers granted by the second charter, with some modifications of detail, and granting certain lands in See also:Chelsea to the society. The See also:council of the Royal Society met for the first time on the 13th of May 1663, when resolutions were passed that debate concerning those to be admitted should be See also:secret, and that Fellows should pay 1s. a week to defray expenses. At this early See also:stage of its See also:history the " See also:correspondence " which was actively maintained with., See also:continental philosophers formed an important See also:part of the society's labours, and selections from this correspondence furnished the beginnings of the Philosophical Transactions (a publication now of See also:world-wide celebrity). At first the publication of the Transactions was entirely " the See also:act of the respective secretaries." The first number, consisting of 16 See also:quarto pages, appeared on See also:Monday, March 6, 1664-65, under the title of Philosophical Trans-actions: giving some ,Accompt of the present undertakings, studies and labours of the Ingenious in many considerable parts of the world, with a dedication to the Royal Society signed by See also:Henry See also:Oldenburg, the first secretary of the society.

It was ordered (1st of March 1664-65) " that the See also:

tract be licensed by the Council of the Society, being first reviewed by some of the members of the same." In 1750, 496 See also:numbers, or 46 volumes, had been published. After this date the See also:work was issued under the superintendence of a See also:committee, and the See also:division into numbers disappeared. The society also from its earliest years published, or directed the publication of, See also:separate See also:treatises and books on matters of philosophy; most notable among these being the Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica Autore Is. See also:Newton. Imprimatur: S. See also:Pepys, Reg. See also:Soc. Praeses. Julii 5, 1686, ¢to Londini 1687. In 1887 the Philosophical Transactions was divided into two See also:series, labelled A and B respectively, the former containing papers of a mathematical or See also:physical See also:character, and the latter papers of a biological character. More than 225 quarto volumes have been published. In 1832 appeared the first See also:volume of Abstracts of papers printed in the Philosophical Transactions from the year 1800.

This publication See also:

developed in the course of a few years into the Proceedings of the Royal Society, which has been continued up to the present time. It is published now in two series, corresponding to the two series of the Philosophical Transactions, and is issued in 8vo form at the See also:rate of about three volumes a year. It is, however, certain that one of the most important functions of the society from the beginning was the performance of experiments before the members. In the royal See also:warrant of 1663 ordering the See also:mace which the king presented to the society, it is described as " The Royal Society for the improving of Natural Knowledge by experiments "; and during its earlier years thetime of the meetings was principally occupied by the performance and discussion of experiments. The society early exercised the See also:power granted by charter to appoint two " curators of experiments;" the first holder of that See also:office being Robert See also:Hooke, who was afterwards elected a secretary of the society. Another See also:matter to which the society gave See also:attention was the formation of a museum, the nucleus being " the collection of rarities formerly belonging to Mr Hubbard," which, by a See also:resolution of council passed on the 21st of See also:February 1666, was See also:purchased for the sum of boo. This museum, at one time the most famous in London, was presented to the trustees of the See also:British Museum in 1781, upon the removal of the society to See also:Somerset See also:House. A certain number, however, of See also:instruments and See also:models of See also:historical See also:interest have remained in the See also:possession of the society, and some of them, more peculiarly associated with its earlier years, are still preserved at See also:Burlington House. The See also:remainder have been deposited in the See also:Victoria and See also:Albert Museum, See also:South See also:Kensington. After the Great See also:Fire of London in See also:September 1666 the apartments of the Royal Society in Gresham College were required for the use of the See also:city authorities, and the society were therefore invited by Henry See also:Howard of See also:Norfolk to meet in See also:Arundel House. At the same time he presented them with the library purchased by his 'grandfather, See also:Thomas See also:earl of Arundel, and thus the See also:foundation was laid of the important collection of scientific See also:works, now exceeding 6o,000 volumes, which the society possesses. Of the Arundel See also:MSS. the . bulk was sold to the trustees of the British Museum in 183o for the sum of £3559, the proceeds being devoted to the See also:purchase of scientific books.

These MSS. are still kept in the British Museum as a separate collection. The society, however, still possesses a valuable collection of scientific correspondence, See also:

official records, and other See also:manuscripts, including the See also:original See also:manuscript, with Newton's autograph corrections, from which the first edition of the Principia was printed, and many other original documents of great interest. Under date December 21, 1671, the journal-book records that " the lord See also:bishop of Sarum proposed for See also:candidate Mr See also:Isaac Newton, See also:professor of the mathematicks at See also:Cambridge." Newton was elected a See also:Fellow See also:January 11, 1671-72, and in 1703 he was appointed president, a See also:post which he held till his See also:death in 1727. During his See also:presidency the society moved to See also:Crane See also:Court, their first meeting in the new quarters being held November 8, 1710. In the same year they were appointed visitors and See also:directors of the Royal See also:Observatory at See also:Greenwich, a See also:function which they continued to perform until the See also:accession of See also:William IV., when by the new warrant then issued the president and six of the Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society were added to the list of visitors. In 1780, under the presidency of Sir See also:Joseph See also:Banks, the Royal Society removed from Crane Court to the apartments assigned to them by the See also:government in the new Somerset House, where they remained until they removed to Burlington House in 1857. The policy of Sir Joseph Banks was to render the Fellow-See also:ship more difficult of attainment than it had been; and the See also:measures which he took for this purpose, combined with other circumstances, led to the rise of a See also:faction headed by Dr See also:Horsley. Throughout the years 1783 and 1784 feeling ran exceedingly high, but in the end the president was supported by the See also:majority of the society. An See also:account of the controversy will be found in a tract entitled An See also:Authentic Narrative of the Dissensions and Debates in the Royal Society. An important step in pursuance of the same policy was taken in the year 1847, when the number of candidates recommended for See also:election by the council was limited to fifteen, and the election was made See also:annual. This See also:limitation has remained in force up to the present time. Concurrent with the See also:gradual restriction of the Fellowship was the successive See also:establishment of other scientific bodies.

The founding of the Linnean Society in 1788 under the auspices of several Fellows of the Royal Society was the first instance of the establishment of a distinct scientific association under royal charter; and this has been followed by the formation of the large number of See also:

societies now active in the promotion of See also:special branches of See also:science. From the time of its royal founder onwards the Royal Society has constantly been appealed to by the government for See also:advice in connexion with scientific undertakings of See also:national importance. The following are some of the See also:principal matters of this character upon which the society has been consulted by, or which it has successfully urged upon the attention of, the government: the improvement and equipment of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in 1710, when it was placed in the See also:sole See also:charge of the society; the See also:change of the See also:calendar in 1752; See also:ventilation of prisons; See also:protection of buildings and See also:ships from See also:lightning; measurement of a degree of See also:latitude; determination of the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds; comparison of the British and See also:French See also:standards of length; the See also:Geodetic Survey in 1784, and the See also:General Trigonometrical Survey begun in 1791; expeditions to observe the transits of See also:Venus in 1761, 1769 (commanded by See also:Captain See also:Cook), 1877 and 1882; the See also:Antarctic expeditions of 1772 (under Captain Cook, whose voyage extended to the circumnavigation of the globe), of 1839 (under See also:Ross), and 1900; observations for determining the See also:density of the See also:earth; See also:Arctic expeditions of 1817 (in See also:search of the See also:North-See also:West Passage), of 1819 (under See also:Parry), of 1827 (Parry and Ross), of 1845 (See also:Franklin), of 1874 (under See also:Nares) ; numerous expeditions for observing eclipses of the See also:sun; 1822, use of See also:coal-See also:tar in vessels of See also:war; best manner of measuring See also:tonnage of ships; 1823, corrosion of See also:copper sheathing by See also:sea-See also:water; See also:Babbage's calculating See also:machine; lightning-conductors for vessels of war; 1825, supervision of See also:gas-works; 1832, tidal observations; 1835, instruments and tables for testing the strength of See also:spirits; magnetic observatories in the colonies; 1862, the great See also:Melbourne See also:telegraph; 1865, pendulum observations in See also:India; 1866, reorganization of the meteorological See also:department; 1868, deep-sea See also:research; 1872, " Challenger " expedition; 1879, prevention of accidents in mines; 1881, pendulum observations; cruise of the " See also:Triton " in Faroe Channel; 1883, borings in See also:delta of See also:Nile; 1884, See also:Bureau See also:des Poids et Mesures; See also:international See also:conference on a See also:prime See also:meridian; 1888, inquiry into lighthouse illuminants; 189o, the investigation of See also:colour-See also:blindness; 1895, examination of the structure of a See also:coral See also:reef by See also:boring; 1896, inquiry into cylinders for compressed gases; the establishment of an International Geodetic Bureau; 1897, determination of the relations between the metric and imperial See also:units of weights and measures; and, more recently, an inquiry into the volcanic eruptions in the West Indies; international seismological investigation ; international exploration of the upper See also:atmosphere; measurement of an arc of the meridian across See also:Africa. In See also:recent years also the society, acting at the See also:request of the government, has taken the leading part in investigations, in the course of which important discoveries have been made, in relation to various tropical diseases, beginning with the tsetse-See also:fly disease of See also:cattle in Africa, followed by investigations into See also:malaria, Mediterranean See also:fever and sleeping sickness. The society has See also:standing committees which advise the See also:Indian government on matters connected with scientific inquiry in India and on the observatories of India. The society has taken a leading part in the promotion of the International See also:Catalogue of Scientific Literature from 1900, and of the International Association of See also:Academies, which is composed of all the principal scientific academies of the world, meeting regularly to promote international See also:action in questions of scientific interest. In addition to the occasional services enumerated above, the Royal Society has exercised, and still exercises, a variety of important public functions of a more permanent nature. It still provides seven of the See also:board of visitors of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. From 1877 until the reconstitution of the Meteorological Office in 1906 the society nominated the meteorological council, which had the See also:control of that office. The society has the custody of See also:standard copies of the imperial standard yard and See also:pound. The president and council have the control of the National Physical Laboratory, an institution established in 1899 in pursuance of the recommendations of a See also:treasury committee appointed by H.M. government in response to representations from the Royal Society. The society had previously for many years had control of the See also:Kew Observatory, now incorporated with the National Physical Laboratory, and still remains trustee of the Gassiot Fund, a fund established for the See also:maintenance of the observatory.

The society elects four of the nine members of the managing committee of the See also:

Lawes Agricultural See also:Trust, and is officially represented on the governing bodies of a number of important scientific and educational institutions and of the principal public See also:schools. One of the most important duties which the Royal Society performs on behalf of the government is the See also:administration of the annual See also:grant of £4000 for the promotion of scientific research. This grant originated in a proposal by Lord John See also:Russell in 1849 that at the close of the year the president and council should point out to the first lord of the treasury a limited number of persons to whom the grant of a See also:reward or of a sum to defray the cost of experiments might be of essential service. This grant of £loon afterwards became annual, and was continued until 1876. In that year an additional sum of £4000 for similar purposes was granted, and the two funds of £See also:I000 and £4000 were administered concurrently until1881, in which year the two were combined in a single annual grant of £4000 under new regulations. Since 1896 See also:parliament has also voted annually a grant of £1000 to be administered by the Royal Society in aid of scientific publications, not only those issued by itself, but also scientific matter published through other channels. One of the most useful of the society's publications is the great catalogue of scientific papers—an See also:index now in twelve quarto volumes, under authors' names, of all the See also:memoirs of importance in the See also:chief See also:English and See also:foreign scientific serials from the year 1800 to the year 1883. The work was prepared under the direction of the Royal Society. A continuation carrying the catalogue up to the end of the 19th See also:century, and a subject index to the whole catalogue, have also been compiled. A statement of the trust funds administered by the Royal Society will be found in the Year Book published annually, and the origin and history of these funds will be found in the See also:Record of the Royal Society (2nd ed. 1901). The income of the society is derived from the annual contributions and See also:composition fees of the Fellows, from rents and from interest on various investments.

The See also:

balance-See also:sheet and an account of the estates and See also:property are published in the Year Book. Five medals (the See also:Copley, two Royal, the See also:Davy and the See also:Hughes) are awarded by the society every year; the See also:Rumford and the See also:Darwin medals biennially, the See also:Sylvester triennially and the See also:Buchanan quinquennially. The first of these originated in a See also:bequest by Sir See also:Godfrey Copley (1709), and is awarded " to the living author of such philosophical research, either published or communicated to the society, as may appear to the council to be deserving of that See also:honour "; the author may be an Englishman or a foreigner. The Rumford See also:medal originated in a See also:gift from See also:Count Rumford in 1796 of £1oo0 3% See also:consols, for the most important discoveries in See also:heat or See also:light made during the preceding two years. The Royal medals were instituted by See also:George IV., and are awarded annually for the two most important contributions to science published in the British dominions not more than ten years nor less than one year from the date of the See also:award. The Davy medal was founded by the will of Mr John Davy, F.R.S., the See also:brother of Sir See also:Humphry Davy, and is given annually for the most important See also:discovery in See also:chemistry made in Europe or Anglo-See also:America. An enumeration of the awards of each of the medals and the conditions of the awards are published in the Year Book. The society also has the award of three research studentships, one founded in 1890 in memory of J. P. See also:Joule, and the others created out of a bequest to the society by Sir William Mackinnon in 1897. Under the existing statutes of the Royal Society every candidate for election into the society must be recommended by a certificate in See also:writing signed by six or more Fellows, of whom three at least must sign from See also:personal knowledge. From the candidates so re-commended the council annually select fifteen by See also:ballot, and the names so selected are submitted to the society for election by ballot.

Princes of the See also:

blood, however, and not more than two persons selected by the council on special grounds once in two years, may be elected by a more See also:summary See also:procedure. Foreign members, not exceeding fifty, may be selected by the council from among men of the greatest scientific See also:eminence abroad, and proposed to the society for election. Every Fellow of the society is liable to an admission fee of £10 and an annual See also:payment of £4; but, by aid of a fund established in 1878 for the purpose, the admission fees and £I of the annual contribution of all the Fellows elected since that date have been remitted. The composition for annual payments is £6o. The anniversary meeting for the election of the council and See also:officers is held on St See also:Andrew's See also:Day. The council for the ensuing year, out of which are chosen the president, treasurer, principal secretaries, and foreign secretary, must consist of eleven members of the existing council and ten Fellows who are not members of the existing council. These are nominated by the president and council previously to the anniversary meeting. The session of the society is from November to See also:June; the See also:ordinary meetings are held on Thursdays during the session, at 4.30 p.m. The selection for publication from the papers read before the society is made by the " Committee of Papers," which consists of the members of the council for the time being aided by committees appointed for the purpose. The papers so selected are published either in the Philosophical Transactions (4to) or the Proceedings of the Royal Society (8v6), and one copy of each of these publications is presented gratis to every Fellow of the society and to the chief scientific societies throughout the world. The making and repealing of See also:laws is vested in the council, and in every See also:case the question must be put to the See also:vote on two several days of their meeting. The See also:text of the charters of the Royal Society is given in the Record, and in the same work will be found lists of the presidents, treasurers, secretaries and assistant-secretaries from the foundation to the year 1900.

The same work gives a See also:

chronological list of all the Fellows, with See also:dates of election, and an alphabetical index. Other histories are See also:Thomson's History of the Royal Society (1812) ; Weld's History of the Royal Society; Bishop See also:Sprat's (1667), which consists largely of a See also:defence of the society against the attacks of a priori philosophers; and Dr See also:Birch's (1756), which treats See also:main] ,+ of the society's scientific work. (R. W.

End of Article: ROYAL SOCIETY, THE

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