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Overview

History of science workshop led by Dr Felicity Henderson.

Soon after its foundation the Royal Society became an active publisher and promoter of scientific works in a range of fields. Books published under the imprimatur of the Society include everything from a tiny duodecimo edition of a lecture delivered at an early meeting, to a lavishly illustrated folio encyclopedia of fish. Many of the Society’s early publications, such as the Philosophical Transactions and Newton’s Principia Mathematica, have had a lasting impact on the history of science. Others have been less influential, but all have interesting stories to tell about the early Fellows and their research.

Join Dr Felicity Henderson (Royal Society Centre for History of Science) for an introduction to the Royal Society’s early publishing programme and an opportunity to turn the pages of some of the books it helped to produce.

Books on display will include:

Kenelme Digby, A Discourse Concerning the Vegetation of Plants (1661)

John Evelyn, Sylva; or a Discourse of Forest Trees (1664)

Robert Hooke, Micrographia (1665)

Thomas Sprat, The History of the Royal Society of London (1667)

Isaac Newton, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687)

Numbers at this workshop are limited to 15 people and places must be booked in advance. Please contact Felicity Henderson (felicity.henderson@royalsociety.org) with any queries about this event.