Origins
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge emerged from informal gatherings of natural philosophers in mid-seventeenth-century England. During the 1640s and 1650s, amid civil war and interregnum, learned men met in London and Oxford to discuss the “new philosophy”—the experimental approach to understanding nature associated with Francis Bacon and Galileo. These meetings, sometimes called the “Invisible College,” brought together figures who would become founding Fellows: Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Christopher Wren, William Petty, and others.
The formal founding came on November 28, 1660, when twelve men meeting at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren decided to establish a “Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning.” The timing was propitious: the restoration of Charles II two months earlier ended the political uncertainty of the interregnum, and the new king—himself interested in science—granted the society a royal charter in 1662, making it the “Royal Society.” The charter authorized the society to correspond, meet, conduct experiments, and publish findings, while exempting it from censorship.
The Society’s early years saw remarkable activity. Robert Hooke served as Curator of Experiments, obliged to demonstrate three or four experiments at each weekly meeting. Isaac Newton presented his theory of light and later his Principia Mathematica to the Society. Robert Boyle conducted his famous air-pump experiments. The Philosophical Transactions, established in 1665, became the first English-language scientific journal, pioneering what would become the system of peer-reviewed publication central to modern science.
Structure & Function
The Royal Society organized itself as a voluntary association of gentlemen interested in natural philosophy, governed by an elected council and president. Fellows were elected by existing members, initially through a process that valued social standing alongside intellectual contribution—a tension between aristocratic patronage and meritocratic science that would persist for centuries. By the nineteenth century, election to fellowship (FRS) had become primarily a recognition of scientific achievement, making “FRS” after one’s name a mark of distinction.
The Society’s core activities were meetings, correspondence, and publication. Weekly meetings featured experiments, papers, and discussions; the President (who included Newton from 1703-1727) presided. The Philosophical Transactions published research reports, reviews, and correspondence, establishing the model of the scientific journal. The Society’s extensive correspondence network connected British natural philosophers with colleagues across Europe, facilitating the international exchange essential to scientific progress.
The Society’s motto, Nullius in verba (“on no one’s word”), expressed its commitment to experimental verification over authority and tradition. This epistemological stance—knowledge must be demonstrated through reproducible experiment and observation, not accepted on the say-so of ancient or contemporary authorities—became foundational to the scientific method. The Society embodied institutional structures for organized skepticism: papers were read before critical audiences, claims could be challenged, experiments could be replicated or refuted.
Historical Significance
The Royal Society was a central institution of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. It provided a venue and publication outlet for work that transformed human understanding of the natural world: Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation, Hooke’s observations of cells, Boyle’s gas laws, and countless other discoveries. By legitimizing experimental natural philosophy as a gentlemanly pursuit worthy of royal patronage, the Society helped establish science as a respected endeavor rather than a marginal curiosity.
The Society also pioneered institutional forms that shaped modern science globally. The scientific academy—a voluntary association of researchers meeting regularly to share findings—became the model for similar bodies worldwide: the French Academy of Sciences (1666), the American Philosophical Society (1743), and dozens of national academies. The peer-reviewed journal, though initially an informal compilation of correspondence, evolved into the primary mechanism for validating and disseminating scientific knowledge. Election to fellowship became a form of credentialing that still confers prestige today.
The Society’s influence extended beyond natural science. Its empirical ethos informed Enlightenment thought more broadly: the idea that claims should be tested against evidence rather than accepted on authority shaped political philosophy, economics, and social thought. Fellows included not just scientists but also philosophers, architects, physicians, and statesmen. The Society represented the emergence of a new kind of knowledge community—international, methodologically rigorous, institutionally organized—that would increasingly define how modern societies understand and engage with the natural world.
Key Developments
- 1640s-1650s: Informal meetings of natural philosophers in London and Oxford
- 1660 November: Formal founding meeting at Gresham College
- 1662: Royal charter granted by Charles II
- 1665: Philosophical Transactions begins publication
- 1672: Newton presents optical research to Society
- 1687: Newton’s Principia published under Society auspices
- 1703-1727: Newton serves as President
- 1752: Society adopts Gregorian calendar reform for Britain
- 1768: Captain Cook’s first voyage supported by Society
- 1820: Society moves to Somerset House
- 1831: British Association for the Advancement of Science founded
- 1847: Fellowship reformed; election based on scientific merit
- 1857: Society moves to Burlington House
- 1902: First female fellow elected (technically, 1945 for full admission)
- 1945: Women admitted to full fellowship
- 1967: Society moves to Carlton House Terrace
- 2015: 350th anniversary of Philosophical Transactions