History of the Royal Society

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the sciences in our international, high impact journals. Find out more about our values as a not-for-profit society publisher, our support for open science and our commitment to research integrity. </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__section dropdown-menu__section--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <h4> <a class="u-colour-font dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/journals/">See all journals</a> </h4> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <h4> <a class="u-colour-font dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_blank" href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/search/advanced">Search the journals</a> </h4> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <h4> <a class="u-colour-font dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/journals/authors/">Authors</a> </h4> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__list 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data-dropdown="Grants" target="_self" href="/grants/">Grants</a> <div class="dropdown-menu js-dropdownMenu" data-content="Grants"> <div class="dropdown-menu__inner dropdown-menu__inner--alt"> <button class="dropdown-menu__back js-navigationDropdownBackTrigger"> <i class="fa-solid fa-arrow-left"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Back trigger</span> </button> <div class="dropdown-sub-menu"> <div class="dropdown-sub-menu__inner"> <div class="dropdown-sub-menu__intro"> <h3>Grants</h3> <p>The Royal Society provides a range of grant schemes to support the UK scientific community and foster collaboration between UK based and overseas scientists. </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__section dropdown-menu__section--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <h4> <a class="u-colour-font dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/grants/applications/">Applying</a> </h4> <a class="dropdown-menu__link 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prizes</a> <div class="dropdown-menu js-dropdownMenu" data-content="Medals and prizes"> <div class="dropdown-menu__inner dropdown-menu__inner--alt"> <button class="dropdown-menu__back js-navigationDropdownBackTrigger"> <i class="fa-solid fa-arrow-left"></i> <span class="visuallyhidden">Back trigger</span> </button> <div class="dropdown-sub-menu"> <div class="dropdown-sub-menu__inner"> <div class="dropdown-sub-menu__intro"> <h3>Medals, awards and prizes</h3> <p>The Society’s medals, awards and prize lectures recognise excellence in science and technology. Our most prestigious award, the Copley Medal, was first awarded in 1731. </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__section dropdown-menu__section--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <h4> <a class="u-colour-font dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/medals-and-prizes/">See all medals and prizes</a> </h4> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <h4> <a class="u-colour-font dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/medals-and-prizes/nomination-guidance/">Nomination guidance</a> </h4> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <h4> <a class="u-colour-font dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/medals-and-prizes/premier-awards/">Premier awards</a> </h4> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__list dropdown-menu__list--alt"> <div 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class="dropdown-menu__collection"> <div class="dropdown-menu__list"> <h4><a class="u-colour-font" target="_self" href="/about-us/who-we-are/">Who we are</a></h4> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/who-we-are/mission-priorities/">Mission</a> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/who-we-are/charity/">Charity</a> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/who-we-are/strategy/">Strategy</a> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/who-we-are/our-staff/">Our staff</a> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/who-we-are/diversity-inclusion/">Diversity and inclusion</a> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/who-we-are/history/">Our history</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__collection"> <div class="dropdown-menu__list"> <h4><a class="u-colour-font" target="_self" href="/about-us/what-we-do/">What we do</a></h4> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/what-we-do/collections/">Collections</a> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/what-we-do/advising-policy-makers/">Advising policy makers</a> </div> <div class="dropdown-menu__item"> <a class="dropdown-menu__link dropdown-menu__link__tracking" target="_self" href="/about-us/what-we-do/public-engagement/">Public engagement</a> </div> <div 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Its name would be The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. </p> <h2> What were the early days of the Royal Society like?   </h2> <p> From its first meeting, on 28 November 1660, following a lecture by the Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College in London, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA7062" target="_blank">Christopher Wren</a>, the new Fellowship would concern itself with natural philosophy – what we would now term science. Wren considered that it should act to transform knowledge, profit, and health and the conveniences of life. The Royal Society would gather information by <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/el/early-letters-letters-from-correspondents-in-natural-philosophy-sent-to-the-royal-society-and-its-fellows" target="_blank">correspondence</a>, but its Fellows would also observe the natural world, conduct experiments, discuss their outcomes, and eventually publish the results. </p> <p> Natural philosophers of this period were products of their society. They were drawn from the professional and aristocratic classes and were exclusively male. They were not professional scientists; but lawyers, merchants, physicians, aristocrats, and landowners, who were brought together by a common interest at the Royal Society’s weekly meetings. By 1662, the Society had appointed a Secretary, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/GetUrlReputation" target="_blank">Henry Oldenburg</a>, to manage its correspondence, and a Curator of Experiments, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8242" target="_blank">Robert Hooke</a>, to oversee demonstrations. They became influential figures in the early years of the Society: Oldenburg by establishing the journal <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/loi/rstl" target="_blank">Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society</a> in 1665, and Hooke by becoming its leading experimentalist, most memorably in the minute observations collected in his book <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://ttp.royalsociety.org/ttp/ttp.html?id=a9c4863d-db77-42d1-b294-fe66c85958b3&type=book" target="_blank">Micrographia</a>, published in the same year. </p> <p> Among the early Fellows were <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8137" target="_blank">Robert Boyle</a>, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8217" target="_blank">John Evelyn</a>, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8232" target="_blank">John Locke</a>, and by 1672, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8414" target="_blank">Isaac Newton</a>, whose <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ROYALSOCIETY-00069/7" target="_blank">Principia Mathematica</a> (1687) was published under the Royal Society’s imprimatur. Fellows from across Europe and the New World were also elected, including <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8253" target="_blank">Johann Hevelius</a>, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8438" target="_blank">Antoni van Leeuwenhoek</a>, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8450" target="_blank">Gottfried Leibniz</a>, and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA4933" target="_blank">John Winthrop</a>.   </p> <h2>What does its motto ‘Nullius in verba’ mean?</h2> <p>The Royal Society's motto 'Nullius in verba' was adopted in its First Charter in 1662. is taken to mean 'take nobody's word for it'. It is an expression of the determination of Fellows to withstand the domination of authority and to verify all statements by an appeal to facts determined by experiment.</p> <h2> When were the first Royal Society medals and lectures created? </h2> <p> By the 18th century, the Society was not only publishing science, but rewarding its practitioners. The <a href="/medals-and-prizes/copley-medal/">Copley Medal</a>, the earliest prize for scientific excellence, was first awarded in 1731, to the electrical researcher <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA7365" target="_blank">Stephen Gray</a>. It was later won by <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA7974" target="_blank">Benjamin Franklin</a>, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA6321" target="_blank">John Smeaton</a>, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8274" target="_blank">Joseph Priestley</a>, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8060" target="_blank">William Herschel</a>, and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA6396" target="_blank">Alessandro Volta</a>. Prize lectures were also established, including the <a href="/medals-and-prizes/croonian-lecture/">Croonian</a> and <a href="/medals-and-prizes/bakerian-lecture/">Bakerian</a>.  </p> <h2> When did the Royal Society start administering grants?  </h2> <p> In 1828, <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8298" target="_blank">William Hyde Wollaston</a> donated money to establish a grant-making fund: the Society was no longer limited to honouring discoverers after the event but could encourage their research in the most practical possible way. The approach was endorsed by a Government Grant of £1,000 in 1851, to be administered by the Royal Society in underwriting the costs of original investigations. </p> <h2> When did science become a profession? </h2> <p> The 19th century saw other changes in how the Royal Society operated, and in the nature of its activities. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/rr/referees-reports-on-scientific-papers-submitted-to-the-royal-society-for-publication" target="_blank">Refereeing of scientific papers</a> commenced from 1832, replacing previous gentlemanly communication of research. The nature of the Fellowship itself was modified towards more professional practitioners, as a result of rule changes enacted in 1847. And by the 1870s, the Society had become responsible for the annual scientific exhibitions known as <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/8gUxFYZiFMOMJQ" target="_blank">conversazioni</a>, formerly managed by its Presidents. The organisation had become a public face for science, even if that public remained a limited one.  </p> <h2> How did the Royal Society advise Parliament through its history?  </h2> <p> Throughout the Victorian period, although independent of government, the Royal Society had been consulted in matters of public interest and had acted in the administration of national institutions: either directly, for example in the management of the Meteorological Office (1865-1905) and Kew Observatory (1871-1899) or by their establishment, including the National Physical Laboratory (1900). In specific instances, the Society reported on a variety of scientific matters to Parliament or to colonial administrations: from progress on Babbage’s calculating engine (1823-1831), to investigations into sleeping sickness (1896-1903) and malaria (1898-1903).   </p> <h2> How did the Royal Society change at the start of the 20th century? </h2> <p> The pace of scientific development in the 20th century encompassed the new physics of relativity and quantum mechanics, the technology of two world wars, and advances in the understanding of genetics and the science of life. Social mores changed too, and with them the Royal Society, which although it had given research grants to women scientists throughout the century, and had intermittently published their work, only relented to their admission to the Fellowship from 1945. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA7993" target="_blank">Kathleen Lonsdale</a> and <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA8092" target="_blank">Marjory Stephenson</a> led the way.   </p> <p> By then, the foundations of the modern Royal Society had been laid. The Fellowship would be drawn from high achieving professional scientists. The organisation would go on to refine its key functions, notably in grant-making, policy reporting, public engagement in science, publishing, and international affairs. The original weekly gatherings of Fellows were transformed into scientific discussion meetings on topics of international importance in the sciences. In these, and in all activities, the Royal Society is guided by its founding principles, its Fellows, and its motto: Nullius in verba.  </p> <p> To discover more on the history of the Royal Society, visit its collections of archives, printed books, portraits and scientific objects.  </p> </div> <div class="grid__item col-start-1 col-end-5 md:col-start-9 md:col-end-11 blog-aside blog-aside--grant"> <div class="blog-aside__content"> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section class="blog__related"> <section class="section"> <div class="blog-listing"> <div class="blog-listing__header blog-listing__header--simple"> <h3>History of science blog posts</h3> <a class="button button--primary blog-listing__button" href="https://royalsociety.org/blog/blogcategorylistings?tab=history-of-science">View all posts</a> </div> <div class="card-container horizontal-scroll" data-component="HorizontalScroll">  <div class="card-list horizontal-scroll__list js-horizontalScrollList"> <article class="card card--blog"> <a class="card__link" href="/blog/2025/02/squid-game-2/"> <div class="card__figure"> <img class="u-image-focal-point card__image js-lazy-image" data-src="-/media/blogs/2025/02/squid-game-2/squid-game-6.jpg"> </div> <div class="card__text"> <div class="card__info"> <div class="information"> <div class="information__person"> <div class="information__avatar"> <img class="u-image-focal-point" src="https://apidyn.royalsociety.org/images/blogs/fb52b354-b5da-ee11-904d-6045bdc208e3.jpg" alt="Kathryn Maxson Jones"> </div> <div> <p class="information__name">Kathryn Maxson Jones</p> <p class="information__position"> In History of science </p> </div> </div> <div class="information__sub"> <time datetime="11 February 2025" class="information__date">11 February 2025</time> <p class="information__time">6 min read</p> </div> </div> </div> <h4 class="card__title">Squid game 2: neuroscience in wartime context</h4> <div class="card__desc"><p>In the second half of a two-part article, Kathryn Maxson Jones highlights further resources on the…</p></div> </div> <span class="card__tag category-tag"> Blog </span> </a> </article> <article class="card card--blog"> <a class="card__link" href="/blog/2025/02/squid-game-1/"> <div class="card__figure"> <img class="u-image-focal-point card__image js-lazy-image" data-src="-/media/blogs/2025/02/squid-game-1/squid-game-1.jpg"> </div> <div class="card__text"> <div class="card__info"> <div class="information"> <div class="information__person"> <div class="information__avatar"> <img class="u-image-focal-point" src="https://apidyn.royalsociety.org/images/blogs/fb52b354-b5da-ee11-904d-6045bdc208e3.jpg" alt="Kathryn Maxson Jones"> </div> <div> <p class="information__name">Kathryn Maxson Jones</p> <p class="information__position"> In History of science </p> </div> </div> <div class="information__sub"> <time datetime="04 February 2025" class="information__date">04 February 2025</time> <p class="information__time">6 min read</p> </div> </div> </div> <h4 class="card__title">Squid game 1: excitation in the archive</h4> <div class="card__desc"><p>In the first half of a two-part article, Royal Society Lisa Jardine Grant recipient Kathryn Maxson…</p></div> </div> <span class="card__tag category-tag"> Blog </span> </a> </article> <article class="card card--blog"> <a class="card__link" href="/blog/2025/01/book-dust/"> <div class="card__figure"> <img class="u-image-focal-point card__image js-lazy-image" data-src="-/media/blogs/2025/01/book-dust/book-dust-1.jpg"> </div> <div class="card__text"> <div class="card__info"> <div class="information"> <div class="information__person"> <div class="information__avatar"> <img class="u-image-focal-point" src="https://apidyn.royalsociety.org/images/blogs/louisiane-ferlier.jpg" alt="Louisiane Ferlier"> </div> <div> <p class="information__name">Louisiane Ferlier</p> <p class="information__position"> In History of science </p> </div> </div> <div class="information__sub"> <time datetime="23 January 2025" class="information__date">23 January 2025</time> <p class="information__time">5 min read</p> </div> </div> </div> <h4 class="card__title">Book dust</h4> <div class="card__desc"><p>Louisiane Ferlier looks at the three books donated to the Royal Society Library by mathematician…</p></div> </div> <span class="card__tag category-tag"> Blog </span> </a> </article> <article class="card card--blog"> <a class="card__link" href="/blog/2024/12/ghostbusters/"> <div class="card__figure"> <img class="u-image-focal-point card__image js-lazy-image" data-src="-/media/blogs/2024/12/ghostbusters/ghostbusters-1.jpg"> </div> <div class="card__text"> <div class="card__info"> <div class="information"> <div class="information__person"> <div class="information__avatar"> <img class="u-image-focal-point" src="https://apidyn.royalsociety.org/images/blogs/keith-moore.jpg" alt="Keith Moore"> </div> <div> <p class="information__name">Keith Moore</p> <p class="information__position"> In History of science </p> </div> </div> <div class="information__sub"> <time datetime="20 December 2024" class="information__date">20 December 2024</time> <p class="information__time">5 min read</p> </div> </div> </div> <h4 class="card__title">Ghostbusters!</h4> <div class="card__desc"><p>A new collection in the archives of the Royal Society shows how the electrical engineer Alan…</p></div> </div> <span class="card__tag category-tag"> Blog </span> </a> </article> <article class="card card--blog"> <a class="card__link" href="/blog/2024/12/not-only-fellows/"> <div class="card__figure"> <img class="u-image-focal-point card__image js-lazy-image" data-src="-/media/blogs/2024/12/not-only-fellows/not-only-fellows-1.jpg"> </div> <div class="card__text"> <div class="card__info"> <div class="information"> <div class="information__person"> <div class="information__avatar"> <img class="u-image-focal-point" src="https://apidyn.royalsociety.org/images/blogs/louisiane-ferlier.jpg" alt="Louisiane Ferlier"> </div> <div> <p class="information__name">Louisiane Ferlier</p> <p class="information__position"> In History of science </p> </div> </div> <div class="information__sub"> <time datetime="10 December 2024" class="information__date">10 December 2024</time> <p class="information__time">3 min read</p> </div> </div> </div> <h4 class="card__title">Not only Fellows</h4> <div class="card__desc"><p>Louisiane Ferlier reports on the discoverability of non-Fellows in the Royal Society's Science in…</p></div> </div> <span class="card__tag category-tag"> Blog </span> </a> </article> </div> </div> </div> </section> </section> </article> <div class="featured-content featured-content__overlay grid grid-cols-3 grid-gap-0"> <section class="js-stickyNavigationSection" data-title="Search the catalogues" data-page-jump="Search the catalogues"> <div class="featured-content__wrapper u-image-focal-point-bg js-lazy-image" data-src="/-/media/collections/history-of-science-resources/ms_928_2_111.jpg" style="background-image: 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