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History
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, at that time Gresham Professor of Astronomy. At a second meeting a week later, Sir Robert Moray, an influential Freemason who had helped organize 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". The motto of the Royal Society, "Nullius in Verba" (Latin: "On the words of no one"), 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. Historical philosophy and significance
Current activities and significance
PublicationsThe Royal Society publishes seven, high quality peer-reviewed journals covering: biological and physical sciences; history and philosophy of science; and cross-disciplinary research at the interface between the physical and life sciences. The list includes the world's longest running scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
GovernanceThe Society is governed by its Council of Trustees, which is chaired by its President. The members of Council and the President are elected from its Fellowship. FellowshipAs with many learned societies, the Society's governance structure is based on its Fellowship. Fellows are elected annually by the existing Fellowship for their "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge including mathematics, engineering science and medical science". Fellows must be citizens or ordinarily resident of the Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland, otherwise they may be elected as a Foreign Member. Fellows are entitled to put the letters FRS after their name. Up to 44 new fellows are elected each year by ballot of the existing fellows of the Society based on a shortlist drawn up by Council and its 10 Sectional Committees. Candidates must be nationals or residents of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland or Commonwealth countries. The Society's statutes state that candidates for election must have made "a substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science". There are two additional categories: Royal Fellow, for a member of the Royal family to be admitted, and Honorary Fellow, for someone who has "rendered signal service to the cause of science, or whose election would significantly benefit the Society by their great experience in other walks of life". A maximum of forty-four Fellows, six Foreign Members and one Honorary Fellow may be elected each year. [6] Foreign Member of the Royal Society is an honorary position within the Royal Society. It is a position at the same rank as a Fellow of the Royal Society to which scientists from outside the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland may be elected. Someone elected a Foreign Member may use the post-nominal letters ForMemRS. Prior to the creation of the position of Honorary Fellow in 2000, people distinguished in other walks of life would sometimes be elected as Fellows; examples of this are the British Prime Ministers Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, and Margaret Thatcher. Council and OfficersThe Fellowship elects twenty-one members of Council, the governing body and trustees of the society. The chair of the council is the President of the Royal Society, currently Martin Rees. There are four other titled posts, variously referred to as Vice-Presidents, Secretaries and Officers: the Treasurer, the Foreign Secretary, the Physical Secretary and the Biological Secretary. The current holders of these posts are respectively David Wallace, Lorna Casselton, Martin J. Taylor and David Read. [7] [8] A selected list of PresidentsImage:RoyalSocMace20040420CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg Mace of the Royal Society, granted by Charles II
Permanent StaffThe 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:
AwardsThe Society awards 10 medals, 7 prizes (which it terms awards) and 9 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. Medals and Prize lectures are awarded to scientists in honour of the excellence of their science. Only Fellows can make nominations, which are assessed by committees of Fellows which recommends to the Society's Council who should receive them. Nominees do not have to be Fellows. Recipients of Medals and Prize Lectures receive a struck medal, a scroll, and an honorarium from the Society's private funds. Prize lecturers are required to give a public lecture. [9]. The Prizes often have the word Award in their title, and are open to nomination from all. They have a variety of assessment criteria and selection process. Some, such as the Michael Faraday Prize, require the recipient to give a public lecture, whereas others, such as the Kohn Award, provide funds for the recipient to undertake a project. A full list of recipients is on the Awards section of the Society's website. Awards
Medals
Prize lectures
Selected bibliography
Image:RoyalSocCOA20040420CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg The coat-of-arms of the Royal Society as a stained-glass window. The motto is 'Nullius in verba'. Timeline
See also
In fictionThe early Royal Society is satirised in Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels when the eponymous protagonist visits the flying island of Laputa. The early days of the Royal Society also form the backdrop for the events of Neal Stephenson's Baroque cycle of novels — Quicksilver, The Confusion and The System of the World. The founding members of the Royal Society (such as Robert Boyle) are used as secondary characters in the historical mystery novel An Instance of the Fingerpost, published in 1997 by English writer and art historian Iain Pears. Purposes of the organization and membership are discussed in parts of the novel, and a days proceedings forms an integral part of the story. References
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