Visits

1961 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-91
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
University Of Oxford ◽  
University Of Cambridge ◽  
Special Collection ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Buildings ◽  
The University

The visit to the University of Oxford took place of Thursday 21 July. The visitors arrived in Oxford by coach where they were met by student guides who took them on short tours of some of the Colleges and University buildings and later to the Colleges where they were entertained to lunch. In the afternoon they went sight-seeing again, some to the Museum of the History of Science to see a special exhibition illustrating the work of the early Fellows of the Royal Society, and some to Blackwells where a display of scientific books had been arranged. At 3.30 the visitors assembled in the Sheldonian Theatre where Honorary Degrees were conferred on five of the distinguished guests (see p. 86). After the Degree Ceremony there was a garden party at Wadham where the visitors were the guests of the Warden, Sir Maurice Bowra, and the Fellows. In the evening the President and Council were entertained to dinner at Wadham together with the Council of the British Academy as guests of Sir Maurice Bowra, President of the British Academy. On Monday 25 July a visit was made to the University of Cambridge. Twelve coaches left Burlington House and arrived at the University of Cambridge Library where the visitors were able to inspect the Library, and in particular, the special collection of exhibits with Royal Society associations.

Johann Gaspar Scheuchzer, F. R. S. 1702-1729

1948 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-66
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Kind Permission ◽  
University Of Oxford ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

Under the heading of Foreign Secretaries, the Record of the Royal Society shows in the second place on the list the names of Dr Dillenius and Dr Scheuchzer, elected on 18 April 1728, as joint successors to Philip Henry Zollman. Johann Jakob Dill, or Dillenius, is well known to students of the history of science, as a celebrated botanist, born at Darmstadt in 1648, educated at Giessen, elected into the Fellowship of the Royal Society on 25 June 1724, and appointed Sherardian Professor of Botany in the University of Oxford in 1734. He died in 1747. Of his colleague Johann Gaspar Scheuchzer, however, little is known. Born at Zurich in 1702, the son of Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, F.R.S., Johann Gaspar came to England when he was twenty years old, under circumstances on which a little light is now thrown, thanks to the publication of some letters written to his father by John Woodward and Sir Hans Sloane.1 By the kind permission of the editor of Atlanis, Dr Martin Hiirlimann, they are reprinted below.

Welcome and introduction

1989 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-96
Keyword(s):  
Advisory Committee ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Imperial College ◽  
Joint Meeting ◽  
Emeritus Professor ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

It is my pleasant duty to welcome you all most warmly to this meeting, which is one of the many events stimulated by the advisory committee of the William and Mary Trust on Science and Technology and Medicine, under the Chairmanship of Sir Arnold Burgen, the immediate past Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society. This is a joint meeting of the Royal Society and the British Academy, whose President, Sir Randolph Quirk, will be Chairman this afternoon, and it covers Science and Civilization under William and Mary, presumably with the intention that the Society would cover Science if the Academy would cover Civilization. The meeting has been organized by Professor Rupert Hall, a Fellow of the Academy and also well known to the Society, who is now Emeritus Professor of the History of Science and Technology at Imperial College in the University of London; and Mr Norman Robinson, who retired in 1988 as Librarian to the Royal Society after 40 years service to the Society.

The Preferments and ‘Adiutores’ of Robert Grosseteste

1933 ◽  
Vol 26 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 161-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Russell
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
University Of Oxford ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
Scientific Achievements

In many fields of activity Robert Grosseteste was an important figure in thirteenth-century England. Bishop of Lincoln for nearly two decades (1235–1253), he pursued a vigorous policy as statesman and churchman. He was already a distinguished teacher and chancellor of the University of Oxford. His voluminous writings were more acceptable to his contemporaries than those of any other author. His scientific achievements were such that Professor Sarton has styled a volume of his monumental History of Science, From Robert Grosseteste to Roger Bacon. In death his memory was revered as that of a saint.

Richard Bradley's Relationship With Sir Hans Sloane

1970 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Prolific Author ◽  
Good Picture ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
University Of Cambridge ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University

Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) is remembered more for his activities in the spheres of science and medicine than for his original contributions to these fields. His large treatise on the natural history of Jamaica (2 vols., 1707- 1725) and other writings were useful additions to the scientific literature, but they were overshadowed by his activities as President of both the Royal Society (1727-1741) and the Royal College of Physicians (1719-1735) and by his having provided the collections which became the foundation of the British Museum. There is no definitive study on him, but the two recent biographies by De Beer and Brooks provide a good picture of his life and work (1). Sloane carried on a voluminous correspondence, and most of the letters written to him are preserved in the British Museum—largely unpublished (2). Among them are a dozen letters from Richard Bradley (1688?—5 November 1732), which throw somewhat more light on Bradley than on Sloane. They also illustrate the adverse conditions under which men without wealth have sometimes worked when pursuing scientific activities. Bradley was a prolific author of books on agriculture, horticulture, biology, and medicine. As will appear from his letters, he was often the pawn of booksellers, and John Martyn (1699-1768), his malicious rival, commented shortly after his death that ‘The booksellers have lost a good easy pad’ (3). Bradley was at times only a popularizer or a hack, but he also produced writings having scientific merit (4). Furthermore, he was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the first Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge. His correspondence with Sloane is therefore of interest for adding to our knowledge of both men and the scientific activities of their time.

The Reverend John Wallis, F. R. S. (1616-1703)

1960 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-67 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
John Wallis ◽  
The University ◽  
Time And Energy ◽  
Country Town

John Wallis (1616-1703), one of the original Fellows of the Royal Society, was a scholar of amazing versatility. Though born into an age of intellectual giants he rapidly acquired a commanding place even among that brilliant group which has made the seventeenth century illustrious in the history of science. More than once he blazed the trail which led to some epoch-making discovery. When Newton modestly declared ‘If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants’, he no doubt had the name of John WalHs well before his mind. Walks was born on 23 November 1616, at Ashford in East Kent, a country town of which his father was rector. On the death of his father, Wallis was sent to school at Ashford. Later he was moved to Tenter den, where he came under the care of Mr James Movat, and even in his earliest years he distinguished himself by that singular aptitude for learning which was to remain with him till the closing years of his life. At the age of fourteen he went to Felsted, and here he acquired a marked proficiency not only in Latin and Greek, but also in Hebrew. From Felsted he entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and although his interest in mathematics dates from this period, he gave no evidence of unusual talent for the subject; this, he complains was because there was no one in the University to direct his studies. Divinity was his dominant interest. In 1640 he was ordained, and four years later he was appointed, together with Adoniram Byfield, Secretary to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. Possibly on account of his ecclesiastical duties, which absorbed much of his time and energy, his early promise as a mathematician still remained unfulfilled.

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