The Royal Society celebrates its 350th anniversary this year. And it is inviting the whole of society – not just its elite scientists – to celebrate too. Here are just a few ways the RS is celebrating with the wider community….
Local heroes
No need to chase all the way down to London to hear a lecture about Newton! The RS is organising over 70 events across the UK celebrating local scientific heroes. For example, already running in Northern England
No flies on him: the multi talented Professor Newstead, zoologist, taxidermist and excavator of Roman Chester
Grosvenor Museum, Chester
Seeker in the Universe
Exhibition about local astronomer, Arthur Eddington
Kendal Museum, Cumbria
Poetry
The RS is celebrating its anniversary by publishing 6 poems on the subject of science through “poetry on the underground”, where poems are printed on posters on the London underground trains.
Read them all at http://seefurther.org/assets/13/poems_on_the_underground.pdf
Access for all
The RS is putting 60 of its research papers on line for everyone to read, enjoy and study. Through its wonderful “trailblazing” page, you are guided through the last 350 years of scientific discovery with the original papers online for you to browse as well as more up to date explanations of some major events and milestones. There is for example a description of a 17th century blood transfusion, Newton’s showing white light is a mixture of other colours, and a 1970 paper on Black Holes by Stephen Hawking.
http://trailblazing.royalsociety.org/
Seeing further
They have published a book called ”Seeing Further”, edited and introduced not by a top scientist but by Bill Bryson. About the RS and its history it feature contributions from a range of well-known authors and scientists such as Margaret Atwood and Richard Dawkins. I have ordered a copy so will be able to give my verdict in a week or two…
Read more about the RS at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/
