Visit of Major Yuri Gagarin
On13 July during his five-day visit to this country Major Yuri Gagarin, the first man to be placed in orbit round the earth in a space vehicle, was received by the President and Officers o f the Society in the Society’s apartments. Major Gagarin was accompanied by His Excellency The Soviet Ambassador M r Soldatov, Lieutenant-General N. P. Kamanin, Colonel N. N. Denisov, M r Romanov, Mr Pavlov, other members of his party and representatives of the Soviet Embassy. The President and Officers, having welcomed Major Gargarin, entertained the visitors to lunch at which several other Fellows were present. After a few words o f welcome by the President, Major Gagarin responded in a felicitous speech in which he made reference to the interest of Soviet scientists in the Royal Society and the work of the Fellows and in particular recalled the Tercentenary Celebrations. He referred to Isaac Newton’s laws of motion as an essential step to his journey in space on 12 April 1961.