Saturday, September 2, 2017

Jacob on the Royal Society



An 1862 engraving of the Royal Society Fellowship of Eminent Scientists in the 18th century

The Royal Society  (Jacob Alberding)

Founded in November of 1660, the Royal Society is the oldest national scientific society in the world. It was created by a group of 12 scholars (such as Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, and Bishop John Wilkins) and, shortly after, funded through charters made by King Charles II. Its purpose was to allow fellow scholars to “recognize, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity”. The organizations motto: “Nullius in verba” or “take nobody's word for it” has been kept true as the Royal Society has discovered or emphasize various pieces of scientific evidence to help establish the world we live in. This dates back to some of the most iconic publications such as Robert Hooke’s Micrographia, which brings Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovery of microbiology to life through the use of illustrating fleas. Other examples include the publications of Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica and Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment which demonstrated the nature of lightning. Still running today, “Fellows” such as Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking and Tim Berners-Lee are part of the 1,300 members of the Society.

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