A History of the Royal Society
With Memoirs of the Presidents

A history of the Royal Society originally published in 1848, including biographies of famous presidents including Pepys, Newton and Banks.

Charles Richard Weld (Author)

9781108028172, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 May 2011

556 pages, 9 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3.1 cm, 0.7 kg

The Royal Society has been dedicated to scientific inquiry since the seventeenth century and has seen a long line of illustrious scientists and thinkers among its fellowship. The society's Assistant Secretary and Librarian, Charles Richard Weld (1813–1869), spent four years writing this two-volume History of the Royal Society, published in 1848, which also includes illustrations by his wife, Anne. Weld's aim was to document the 'rise, progress, and constitution' of the society. He charts how the informal meetings of like-minded men engaged in scientific pursuits in the mid-1600s developed into a prestigious society that by 1830 counted as one of the world's most influential scientific institutions. Volume 1 covers the period to 1755, describing the society's origins and key moments in its growth, with a focus on its governance, benefactors and organisation. It also contains biographies of presidents including Samuel Pepys and Isaac Newton.

Preface
1. State of literature and science in Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
2. Origin of Royal Society involved in some obscurity
3. The Restoration favourable to the establishment of a philosophical society
4. Large proportion of physicians amongst the early members of the Society
5. Early labours of the Society
6. Memoir of Lord Brouncker
7. Evelyn's designs for the Society's armorial bearings
8. Sorbière's account of his visit to the Society
9. Committee concerning Chelsea College
10. Memoir of Sir J. Williamson
11. Memoir of Samuel Pepys
12. Memoir of Lord Pembroke
13. Memoir of Lord Somers
14. Memoir of Sir Isaac Newton
15. House occupied by the Society in Crane Court
16. Impetus given to the study of meteorology
17. Memoir of Martin Folkes.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]