The Royal Society
And the Invention of Modern Science
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
An engaging new history of the Royal Society of London, the club that created modern scientific thought
Founded in 1660 to advance knowledge through experimentally verified facts, The Royal Society of London is now one of the preeminent scientific institutions of the world. It published the world's first science journal, and has counted scientific luminaries from Isaac Newton to Stephen Hawking among its members. However, the road to truth was often bumpy. In its early years-while bickering, hounding its members for dues, and failing to create its own museum-members also performed sheep to human blood transfusions, and experimented with unicorn horns. In his characteristically accessible and lively style, Adrian Tinniswood charts the Society's evolution from poisoning puppies to the discovery of DNA, and reminds us of the increasing relevance of its motto for the modern world: Nullius in Verba-Take no one's word for it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tinniswood (The Long Weekend), a University of Buckingham history research fellow, devotes this modest, accessible chronicle to the Royal Society of London and its role in developing modern scientific study. Writing in a conversational tone, he follows the Society's successes and struggles since its 1660 formation, revisiting famous early members including, in addition to Isaac Newton, natural philosopher Robert Boyle; Robert Hooke, discoverer of the cell; and architect Christopher Wren and early experiments in which, he admits to squeamish modern readers, puppies and kittens routinely lost their lives. Tinniswood discusses, perhaps in excessive detail, the Society's governance, including such missteps as its reluctance, up to the 1940s, to allow women admission. However, he takes care to note the Society's many accomplishments, among them the 1665 publication of the first (and still publishing) scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions, and the Society's sponsorship of Captain James Cook's 1768 expedition, which resulted in the mapping of New Zealand and Australia's coastlines. Tinniswood also touches on the Society's involvement in contemporary issues; for example, climate change, cybersecurity, and genetically modified organisms. Science buffs will find Tinniswood's account professionally written if nothing extraordinary, but it does present a credible case for the Royal Society's historic and continuing importance.
