UK's national academy of science
The Royal Society
The Society rewards excellence in science by electing to its Fellowship the most distinguished scientists in the UK and the Commonwealth and by awarding medals and prizes to scientists throughout the world for work of distinction.
A society on the move
A lecture by Christopher Wren in 1660 led to the formation Royal Society which began to hold regular meetings in Gresham College where Wren was professor of astronomy.
After two other moves, the Society transferred to Somerset House in 1780, then to Burlington House in 1857, finally reaching its present home in 1967.
The fellows
There are about 1250 Fellows and 120 Foreign Members. Each year the Society elects forty two new Fellows and up to six new Foreign Members. Election to the Fellowship is a sign of the highest regard in science. Fellows are drawn from citizens of, and those normally resident in, British Commonwealth countries and the Irish Republic.
The work of the Society
Among its many activities the Society:
(1) Funds nearly four hundred of the brightest science researchers who perform cutting edge research.
(2) Advises the government and the public on key issues in science and technology, covering topics such as stem cell research, genetically modified plants and animals, the consequences of sequencing the human genome, and the origins of AIDS and HIV.
(3) Publishes top class scientific journals.
The library
The library is home to the documents and images which record the history of the Society and the work of leading scientists since 1660.
Submitted by: Ginny Page, 20 January 2007
