The Royal Society

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Collections

We have extensive collections open to researchers and members of the public. Access is free of charge.

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Blog: the Repository

Photography in the Fine Rooms

10 July 2018

Graham Harrison

Lady Mary’s will

03 July 2018

Keith Moore

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Objectivity videos

Brady returns to the AP Archive to look at the oldest and newest films from their Movietone collection.

The Death of Emily Davison - Objectivity #172

26 June 2018

Brady Haran

Head Librarian Keith Moore takes a lucky dip into the card catalogue.

Keith Wears the White Gloves of Destiny - Objectivity #173

03 July 2018

Brady Haran

Print shop

Explore science through its visual history with our collection of rare, intriguing and beautiful paintings, drawings and prints.

Purchase high quality prints of your favourite images from our library and archive collections.

Picture library

You can licence high resolution images for editorial and commercial uses.

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Visitors and researchers

The Library and Archives are open to researchers and members of the public free of charge.

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Opening times

10am - 5pm, Monday to Friday
Closed: Friday 29 June – Friday 6 July inclusive; Friday 13 July

The Wolfson Foundation at 60

Discover a selection of stories and documents.

Explore the Wolfson archives

Turning the pages

Explore a gallery of high-quality scans of some of the important and beautiful manuscripts in our collection.

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Down

The Davy lamp

Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was a chemist, but perhaps is best known for inventing the miners’ safety-lamp, a lamp that would not cause explosions when gas was present in mines.
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A Nobel laureate

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin OM FRS (1910-1994) was a leading biochemist and a pioneer in the field of protein crystallography. She received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964, the first British woman to be so honoured.
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Hooke’s micrographia

This is the world’s first illustrated book of microscopic observations. Robert Hooke investigated many everyday objects through the microscope, including a feather, mould, a razor’s edge, finely woven cloth, and even a full stop printed in a book.
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Principia mathematica

The manuscript of Sir Isaac Newton’s work, philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687, mathematical principles of natural philosophy), is the Royal Society’s greatest treasure and a cornerstone of scientific thought.
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The art and science of Richard Waller

The paintings of Richard Waller FRS (c. 1660-1715) are technically brilliant and years ahead of their time. His groundbreaking set of botanical watercolours was intended to illustrate a catalogue of plants.
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A view of Vesuvius

Sir William Hamilton FRS (1731-1803) arrived in Naples in 1764, intent on a systematic study of modern volcanic eruptions. He employed a monk, Antonio Piaggi, to keep daily written observations and pencil sketches of activity at Vesuvius.
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