Royal Society The Royal Society of London is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence and was founded in 1660. The Royal Irish Academy, founded in 1782, is also closely affiliated with it. The Royal Society of Edinburgh (founded 1783) is a separate Scottish body. The premises of the Royal Society in London. Although a voluntary body, it serves as the national academy of the sciences in the United Kingdom. It is a member organisation of the Science Council. It's possible that the Royal Society was one of the first documented aspirations toward Open Content; they imagined a network across the globe as a public enterprise, an "Empire of Learning". They also were one of the first documented cases of attempting to deal with having content available to address language and languages within the Sciences, and strove to remove language barriers. Dedicated to the free flow of information, the Royal Society despised secrecy and encouraged communication. Famous members Several famous scientists were either the founding members or involved during its history. The early group included Robert Boyle, John Evelyn, Robert Hooke, William Petty, John Wallis, John Wilkins, Thomas Willis and Sir Christopher Wren. Isaac Newton demonstrated his theory of optics to them, and later became president of the society. The motto "Nullius in Verba" means literally "On the words of no one" signifying 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. Thomas Bayes first presented his theorem at the society. A selected list of presidents Mace of the Royal Society, granted by Charles II Sir Christopher Wren (1680-1682) Samuel Pepys (1684-1686) Sir Isaac Newton (1703-1727) Joseph Banks (1778-1820) Lord Rosse (1848-1854) Joseph Dalton Hooker (1873-1878) Thomas Henry Huxley (1883-1885) George Gabriel Stokes (1885-1890) Lord Kelvin (1890-1895) Lord Rutherford of Nelson (1925-1930) Lord May of Oxford (since 2000; five-year term) See also: The complete list of Presidents of the Royal Society Selected bibliography Sylva by John Evelyn Micrographia by Robert Hooke. Philosophical Transactions oldest scientific journal continually published The coat-of-arms of the Royal Society as a stained-glass window. The motto is 'Nullius in verba'. Timeline (incomplete) 1640s informal meetings 1660 foundation in November 28 1661 name first appears in print, and library presented with its first book 1662 Royal Charter gives permission to publish 1663 second Royal Charter 1665 first issue of Philosophical Transactions 1666 Fire of London causes move to Arundel House 1710 acquires its own home in Crane Court See also List of Royal Societies Presidents of the Royal Society History of science List of British professional bodies Learned societies Medals Copley Medal Rumford Medal Royal Medal Davy Medal Darwin Medal Buchanan Medal Hughes Medal References Gleick, James, Isaac Newton, Vintage Books, ISBN 1-4000-3295-4 Spratt,Thomas, History of Royal Society, Kessinger Publishing; (February 1, 2003), ISBN 0766128679 External links Official site Royal Society of Edinburgh web site Royal Irish Academy web site Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society