The Royal Society: And the Invention of Modern Science

by Adrian Tinniswood

An engaging new history of the Royal Society of London, the club that created modern scientific thoughtFounded 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 Nullius in Verba-Take no one's word for it.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, History Of Science, Research, British Literature

220 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2019

About the author

Adrian John Tinniswood OBE FSA (born 11 October 1954) is an English writer and historian. He is currently Professor of English Social History at the University of Buckingham.

Tinniswood studied English and Philosophy at Southampton University and was awarded an MPhil at Leicester University.

Tinniswood has often acted as a consultant to the National Trust, and has lectured at several universities including the University of Oxford and the University of California, Berkeley.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Reviews

[Alexis Hall]

Wanted to read a book about the formation and history of The Royal Society.

This is a book about the formation and history of The Royal Society. A+

Err, seriously though, it's fine? It's accessibly written, lively and engaging. Not a million pages long. Keeps the human side of things to the fore. Manages to balance the Society's accomplishments with its failings.

It feels slightly weighted towards the formation of the society, and the 17th century in particular, but that could have just been reading bias because I found those bits more interesting than the later sections. I was mainly interested in the role women played in the organisation - and while this was covered, it wasn't super detailed. Mainly because it took the organisation forever to, y'know, let them in. So I guess that's a problem slightly beyond the scope of the text.

[Paige Costinescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good for people with a limited or no knowledge of the society. Whilst it doesn't go into any deep analysis about the impact of the Society's work, it does give a good grounding in the key members of the society. This book would be useful to anyone looking to delve into the work of the society but doesn't know where to start.

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an Anglophile and so loved this short intro to Royal society. Introduces the key actors who created RS, including Wren and other important actors such as Hooke , Babbage, Newton, Evelyn etc. The author discusses how RS was lampooned by literary figures; anti-science prejudices couched under a facade of supposed legitimate aesthetic judgment/critic, was always a good cover for ignorance!

[Jake Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short book (130 small airy pages) of names and dates, but rarely explaining why or to what effect on society. A history without context is just a chronology.

[Debbiebandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read and good overview of how the Royal Society came to be. The story mirrors how any organization comes into being and continues: some don't pay their dues, some just want notoriety, who you know if important--but there is science and discovery and Newton in this group!

[Fred Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read introducing the Royal Society and its trials and tribulations since its inception.

Lots of Appendix's and footnotes at the end.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to write a story about a secret society now.

[Keith Livesey]

Nullius in Verba. On no man's word.

The motto of the Royal Society

In science, it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds, and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should because scientists are human, and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) -- Carl Sagan

August 29, 1662. The council and fellows of the Royal Society went in a body to Whitehall to acknowledge his Majesty's royal grace to granting our charter and vouchsafing to be himself our founder; then the President gave an eloquent speech, to which his Majesty gave a gracious reply, and we all kissed his hand. The next day, we went in like manner with our address to my Lord Chancellor, who had much prompted our patent.

— John Evelyn

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

Isaac Newton 1675



Adrian Tinniswood’s new book is a superb introduction to the origins of the Royal Society. His book part of the Landmark Library series is well written and finely researched. Tinniswood is a historian with no previous track record in science history, so this is a remarkably good book. It is compact and highly accessible.

The Society resulted from the huge intellectual and political ferment that was created by the English bourgeois revolution. Tinniswood shows that before the Royal Society became a recognised body, it comprised a collection of discussion groups.

Many of these groups were inspired by Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Bacon was part of the massive growth of intellectual ideas that proceeded in the seventeenth century. Bacon is an important figure because he was the first to reject traditional Aristotelian thinking and proposed an experimental investigation to find truths about nature.

As Karl Marx wrote, "The real progenitor of English materialism is Francis Bacon. Natural science is to him the true science, and sensuous physics the foremost part of science. Anaxagoras with his 'homoimeries' and Democritus with his atoms are often his authorities. According to Bacon, the senses arc unerring and the source of all knowledge. Science is experimental and consists in the application of a rational method to sensuous data. Observation, experiment, induction, analysis are the main conditions of a rational method. Of the qualities inherent in matter, the foremost is motion, not only as mechanical and mathematical motion, but more as impulse, vital force, tension, or as Jacob Boehme said, pain of matter. The primitive forms of the latter are living, individualising, inherent, and essential forces, which produce specific variations".[1]

However, not everyone saw as clear and precise as Bacon according to the Marxist writer David North " until the seventeenth century, even educated people still generally accepted that the ultimate answers to all the mysteries of the universe and the problems of life were found in the Old Testament. But its unchallengeable authority had been slowly eroding, especially since the publication of Copernicus's De Revolutionibus in the year of his death in 1543, which dealt a death blow to the Ptolemaic conception of the universe and provided the essential point of departure for the future conquests of Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), Johann Kepler (1571-1630) and, of course, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Intellectually, if not yet socially, the liberation of man from the fetters of Medieval superstition and the political structures that rested upon it was well underway".[2]

Historians have largely accepted that the English bourgeois revolution created the conditions for establishing the Royal Society. Many of the practices adopted by the Society, according to Tinniswood, were "far ahead of its time". Probably one of the most important activities was the publishing of Philosophical Transactions, launched in 1665. It is the world longest-running scientific journal.

One of the more gruesome facts uncovered by Tinniswood was that live experiments were done on the premises at Gresham College. In 1664, Robert Hooke inserted a pipe into the trachea of a dog and pumped in the air with bellows saying, "I was able to preserve it alive as long as I could desire after I had wholly opened the thorax and cut off all the ribs, and opened the belly,".

Tinniswood convincingly argues that the Royal Societies methodology, scholarship and activities laid the foundations for developing modern science. Tinniswood book does not examine the class background of the founders of the Society, but it is clear that many of its founding members were from sections of the lower middle class and gentry class.

As Neil Humphrey writes, "The nature of the Society's membership evolved over the following centuries, but from its beginning, it was a multifarious organisation. Members of the British gentry that used the Society as a means for social advancement (while injecting it with much-needed capital) were plentiful alongside studious researchers. This diversity created a tension between science and privilege that finally exploded in 1830 when fellow Charles Babbage lambasted the glut of unproductive members. In 1847 the Duke of Sussex took the Society's reins, and scientific fellows seized control and amended its constitution in 1847 to stymie further influence from the gentry. This power-grab forever transformed the nature of the Society from that of a scientific, social club into a scholarly society".[3]

It is not easy to cover over three centuries of scientific developments in such a short book, but Tinniswood does well. One mild criticism is his lack of interest in what is happening recently in the Royal Society. It would appear that the Society's recent history is not as glorious as its past. In 2008 the Royal Society's education director, Professor Michael Reiss, was forced to resign for advocating the teaching of creationism in schools and evolution studies. He said, "Creationism is best seen by science teachers not as a misconception but as a world view."[4]

His comments provoke and anger and opposition from many members. Nobel Prize winners Richard Roberts, John Sulston and Harry Kroto, sent a letter demanding Reiss step down.

Conclusion

Tinniswood's history of The Royal Society is an accessible account of the formation of modern science. His writing style and explaining complex historical matters in a simple manner means the book is accessible to the general reader without losing its academic rigour. I would highly recommend it.






About the Author:

Adrian Tinniswood many books include Behind the Throne and The Long Weekend. He writes for many publications such as The New York Times and BBC History Magazine. He is a senior research fellow in history at The University of Buckingham, and he lives in Bath, England.








[1] England and Materialist Philosophy- www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1....

[2] Equality, the Rights of Man and the Birth of Socialism

David North- https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1996...

[3] https://origins.osu.edu/review/societ...

[4] https://www.theguardian.com/science/b...

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted more. This book was tiny and full of eleven billion people’s names. I wanted more than just names and high level history.

Also, it’s mentioned that only 5% of current fellows are female. FIVE PERCENT. I wanted that explored more. I wanted the author to dedicate at least more than a few pages on the blocking of women and how barriers are still in place now.

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the prelude of this book, Tinniswood shows that during the early 1600's "classical authority underpinned scholarship". The writings of the Greeks, particularly Aristotle, formed a great bastion of authority. Medical men still believed in the humors of Galen - blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile. Lectures and dinner conversation at Oxford were carried out in Latin. Early independent thinking was appearing, examples being Galileo on astronomy and William Harvey on the circulation of the blood in the body. Frances Bacon argued for the rejection of traditional Aristotelian learning - learning should be advanced by experiment rather than by interpreting established authorities.

In 1660, Christopher Wren and Lawrence Rooke along with ten other men started meeting regularly at Gresham College to share ideas and theories and discuss experimental philosophy. Work was done to formalize the meetings with membership, an executive and fees. In July 1662, a charter was obtained from the king, Charles II. A royal charter brought a measure of protection; it also brought recognition, legitimacy and validation. The society's motto was established: "Nullius in verba" - take no one's word for it.

The men at the core of the society were moved by the conviction that the improvement of natural knowledge would necessarily lead to improvements in trade, commerce and manufacturing. Initially the Fellows did experiments at the meetings, and displayed various curious objects. In 1663, as the Fellows were too busy to arrange the experiments, a curator was employed, the first being Robert Boyle's assistant, Robert Hooke. The author characterizes Hooke as being the most gifted of the early Fellows of the society until Isaac Newton arrived on the scene. While Hooke's output was astonishing, the flow of experiments slowed in 1665, the society moving away from experimentation toward the presentation of papers.

The first publication from the Royal Society was the independent journal "Philosophical Transactions", published by the society's secretary Henry Oldenburg as a private venture. Started in 1665, it was the first scientific journal in the world. The objective was not only to publish current research and new discoveries, but to encourage the improvement of natural knowledge. In 1752, 87 years after the first issue, the Society took over official responsibility for publishing the Transactions. By the later nineteenth century it had become one of the world's leading scientific forums with many leading scientists publishing in it, including Darwin, Huxley, Faraday, Babbage and Benjamin Franklin.

The Royal Society had many outstanding scientists who acted as president, examples being Sir Issac Newton and Sir Joseph Banks. However, the work and goals of the society did not always meet with public approval. The harshest critics were the church as much of the society's work was not compatible with the holy scripture, and the universities which were bastions of Aristotelian authority. Social criticism was continuous, possibly reaching it's peak with the play "The Virtuoso" by Thomas Shadwell were the hero Sir Nicholas Gimcrack carries out numerous outlandish experiments. Gimcrack became a byword for the foolish natural philosopher.

The Royal Society sponsored a number of notable scientific expeditions. A 1761 expedition was sent to Saint Helena to observe the transit of Venus, allowing a better estimate of the distance between the earth and the sun. The next transit was observed by an expedition lead by Captain Cook who then visited New Zealand and Australia. During the 1800's the Society sponsored nine expeditions to the poles and Africa.

The book finishes with a brief look at some of the issues of the twentieth century including membership for women, social responsibility and the appropriate moral role for the Royal Society.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over ten years ago I devoured a history of science series by Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser that played a large part establishing my basic adult understanding of science. While reading it, I was particularly fascinated by the role that the Royal Society played in the scientific revolution, and it has remained an object of interest ever since. The Royal Society is a very brief history of the titular institution, from its beginnings as an informal gathering of ‘natural philosophers’ and continuing to the present day. Its quite readable, but lamentably short: scarcely over a hundred and twenty pages, in fact, because there’s a hefty appendix with biographies of some of the Society’s more notable Fellows. The Society’s early decades are easily the most interesting, given the period of science they capture: this was an era where amateurs could make significant contributions to scientific fields, when polymaths and generalists predominated instead of hyper-specialists. The best minds of Europe were beginning to unravel some of the most fundamental secrets of nature, laying the foundation for the industrial revolution, modernity, and the conquest of humanity by its own devices. The Society was part of this, publishing papers and funding expeditions across the world — or, badgering ship captains to bring them something interesting. Although some women had connections to the society, presenting lectures and even receiving medals, not until after 1945 when corporations and the like were banned from discriminating on the basis of six were women admitted as Fellows of the society. Although I enjoyed this as a light history of the Society, Bill Bryson’s edited collection of essays on the Society’s influence, Seeing Further, is more substantive.

[Luke Eure · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok, very short (129 page) introduction to the history of the Royal Society.

My takeaways:
- It is good for society when scientists to have prestige.
- That means we have to tolerate a degree of hobnobbery, elitism, status display, and politicking from scientists so that they can get the approval of people like The King. In more metaphorical language: "The key that opens treasures is often plain and rusty; but unless it be gilt, the key alone will make no shew at court."
- Profit motives drive discoveries: Many founders of the Society were interested in improvements to trade, commerce, and manufacturing. The first journal - Philosophical Transactions - was started by Henry Oldenburg in order to make a buck.
- The key to the society seems to have been immense curiosity - at times directed towards a profit motive - pursued in a manner that was remarkably well-managed.

Other bits of interest:
- Robert Hooke was employed full-time as a researcher by the societies - an early example of an institutional full-time research scientist.
- Cost of physical printing used to be a real barrier to dissemination of information. No longer.
- Newton's quote "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" was addressed to Hooke, who interpreted it as an insult to Hooke's short stature.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very brief overview of the history of the Royal Society and the influence it had on the development of scientific thought and experimentation. The early focus is on personalities that were instrumental in the Society, including Christopher Wren and Isaac Newton, but also many other lesser-known scientists. The writing is always interesting, even when describing the tedium of some this groups business meetings.

As a librarian, I appreciated the care that was given to discussion of the periodical publications put out by the Society, and found myself thinking how marvelous it would have been to be the Society's librarian in the early days -- or even today. As a book, this is a tidy little artifact with it's small format, footnotes on the bottom of the pages, and indexes with biographies of the founders, the text of the first charter from 1662, and a few early descriptions of experiments.

For experimentation is what the society was founded upon -- the idea that direct observation and clear description are the pillars of solid scientific knowledge. As their motto states, Nullius in verba, or, take no one's word for it. Which is a weird statement to end a book review on...

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text of this popular history runs to 129 pages; the book is fleshed out with three appendices: 1.) brief bios of the founders; 2.) the 1662 Royal Charter (Charles II); 3.) descriptions of three experiments (Transfusion, Robert Boyle on "shining flesh," a letter from Leewenhoek on the gestation of worms), [pp. 131-86], and the notes and bibliography [pp. 187-94]. There is an index.

I come to this, perhaps unfairly, as a long-time student of Swift whose attitude toward the works emanating from Gresham College and the Royal Society found their way into Book III of Gulliver's Travels. The historical value of the Society as a first in publication, Philosophical Transactions, development of international, i.e., European and US, scientific exchange, and the like points toward today's global interchange.

The read was easy--Tinniswood's style is clear and the writing generally succinct. This might serve as a reference work in a course on Restoration-Eighteenth-Century English literature.

[Bill Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little production and introduction to the Royal Society and its history from foundation in 1660 to the present day. Introduces the men, and it is very much men, behind the creation under King Charles II; the politics of successive chairs; the criticisms of the Society; and the 20th Century slow and meagre acceptance of women fellows. However, it is slight. Nearly half is appendices, notes and index. The appendices include potted biographies of the founders and the original charter that runs for 20 pages. The result is a history that is 120 pages of text. Tinniswood is a historian and I kept wondering how different if a scientist had written it - maybe less readable or possibly more interesting. There are many great science writers. One benefit of reading, it has revived my interest in reading about science and scientists.

[Sully Augustine · Rating 2 out of 5]

library hardcover. The first chapter is interesting in "A World Lit Only By Fire" sense for its deft evocation of the state of "settled science" in the world of 1660 when the first more or less lasting organization of what became The Royal Society occurred. There are a few interesting morsels after that initial chapter - shades of the lack of political correctness on the part of Robert Hooke - but on the whole it's a dry recitation of a not very interesting history of political infighting, graft, and petty scandal.

[Rick Elinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

What there was, was interesting. The problem is that the text is well-spaced print on only 132 small-sized pages. It is hardly a book. I found the idea important that the humorous attacks on the early Society were the most biting and destructive. I was also intrigued by the very late acceptance of women into the Society. If only there had been more.

[LillyBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.

I've read other works by Tinniswood before and enjoyed them. But this one just seemed like an endless list of names and dates. I have no doubt it's a thoroughly researched history of the formation of the The Royal Society, but it reads like the minutes from all the early meetings. It's lacking in actual science and the excitement of discovery.

[Lance McNeill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent intro to the Royal Society

I learned a lot about the Royal Society, but found this a superficial overview in some areas. I was looking for more information on structure and financing of the Society.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a decent walk through of the Society's history through various lenses. A little dry for me, as I was expecting more of a straight narrative and Tinniswood junlmps around - both through time and tangentially. Still a decent and quick read and seemingly very well researched.

[Peter Schoch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful early history of the Royal Society. However, it seems spotty at points leaving the reader to want just a bit more depth and content. It also seems very truncated somewhere in the 1800's, with that being highly spotty, and nothing of note from the 1900's onward.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lively, brisk, and entertaining intro to a British institution. A group of intellectuals sitting around in a room at Gresham College decide to create a formal setting for serious discussions of scientific experiments; four centuries later the RS is going strong.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review coming for Shelf Awareness.

[Graham Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lively account of the history of the Royal Society. It was easy to read and contains a multitude of scientists and natural philosophers most of whom are geniuses .I would recommend this book.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, succinct history of the Royal Society and the founders.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted it to be more a history of their many discoveries than just mostly its political history.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable history of the Royal Society, for history and science geeks.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed. This could have been so much better. I expected more details about the Royal Society, especially as it’s mission seems to have changed from time to time.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty straightforward writeup of the history of the Royal Society, divided into its beginnings, operations, publications, membership, etc.

A quick, interesting read.

[Brittany]

DNF. Too many lists of the names of old white men... felt like I was reading genesis. It was written in a fairly interesting way, but not interesting enough to bother finishing.