Catalogue of nebulae of Sir John Herschel: A bundle of working sheets with the title 'Sir J F W Herschel's Catalogue of Nebulae'.
Sans titreLetters and papers of Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe including scientific letters to T E Thorpe from colleagues, with documents relating to the Chemical Warfare Committee of the International Law Association. Containing also Thorpe's own letters to family members, his testimonials for work appointments and obituary notices.
Sans titreLists of Visitors introduced at Meetings of the Royal Society in 9 volumes as follows: Volume 1 1783-1788; Volume 2 1812-1820; Volume 3 1822-1832; Volume 4 1847-1855; Volume 5 1856-1866; Volume 6 1867-1877; Volume 7 1878-1888; Volume 8 1889-1898; Volume 9 1899-1906.
Sans titreAlphabetical Index to the Printed Minutes of the Council of the Royal Society, 1845, in the hand of Dr Roget.
Sans titreLetters and papers of the Royal Society Sylvester Medal Fund including correspondence regarding the setting-up of a Sylvester Memorial by international committee.
Sans titreNational Physical Laboratory Executive Committee Minutes, 1924-1925.
Sans titreLetters and papers about the early years of the National Physical Laboratory.
Sans titreCopies of the outgoing letters written by the Foreign Secretaries of the Royal Society.
Sans titrePapers of John Canton.
Sans titreDiagrams and manuscript of paper on colour blindness prepared by Sir William Pole, prepared for his paper published in 'Philosophical Transactions' in 1859.
Sans titrePapers of and relating to Joseph Priestley, inclusing volume of items relating to Priestley's life, three letters from Priestley, his spectacles, and Diploma and seal awarded in 1780 by Catherine II, Empress of Russia.
Sans titreThe Croonean Lectures on Muscular Motion by Browne Langrish MD, read before the Royal Society in 1747, being a Supplement to the 'Philosophical Transactions' for that year.
Sans titreCorrespondence of Sir Arthur Schuster and letters and papers concerning the International Association of Academies, 1899-1913.
Sans titreThree volumes of photographs taken by Charles Piazzi Smyth, at Clova, Ripon, North Yorkshire, where he had retired from his post of Astronomer Royal of Scotland. Printed title page in first volume; 'Cloud -Forms that have been; to the glory of God their Creator, and the wonderment of learned men. Recorded by Instant Photographs, taken at Clova, Ripon, in 1892, 1893 and 1894', prefaced by an introduction and compendious name, number and date list; but followed up, after the photographs, by a special, and continuous, day to day, meteorological journal, in manuscript. Concluded in the last volume by some discussion on a few of the results hoped to have been obtained.
Sans titreA binary-square table giving the component roots of al l numbers which are the sums of two squares up to two hundred and fifty five thousand by Solomon Moses Drach.
Sans titreTypescript of article 'The Administration of the Royal Society' by Edwin Herbert Samuel, 2nd Viscount Samuel, presented by Dr Anthony R Michaelis, Editor of 'Interdisciplinary Science Review'.
Sans titreSchool and university notebooks of David Hardy Whiffen.
Sans titreCorrespondence and documents relating to the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of X-rays, 1945 with the British Institute of Radiology.
Sans titreManuscript of 'The plan and heads of an essay for the improvement of clock and watch works' London, February 18th 1765 by Alexander Cumming.
Sans titreMethodo Inverso dos Limites ou Desenvoluimento geral das Funcoens algorithmicas em Series par Francisco de Borja Garcao Stockler.
Sans titreThe Royal Society Library and Museum; 'Libri desiderate' library request book with minutes of the Library Committee from undated to 1932.
Sans titrePapers relating to the Meteorological Council's relations with the Royal Society, containing extracts, copy and original letters with manuscript notes, and printed material from the Meteorological Council, including some minutes, 1872-1900; with a summary of relations between the two bodies arranged chronologically, 1854-1901.
Sans titreOriginal plates by George Lindsay Johnson from the paper 'Opthalmoscopic Studies on the eyes of mammals', published in 'Philosophical Transactions' B Volume 254, 1968.
Sans titreMathematical and scientific papers of George Boole.
Sans titreRoyal Society Visitors Book containing the signatures of distinguished visitors to the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Royal Society.
Sans titreA system of mathematical tables inscribed on title page ' James Elgar May 8th 1756'. Originally entitled 'A system of mathematical tables by James Elgar and John Newton' and bound with 'Tabulae Mathematicae' by John Newton.
Sans titreThesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ion the University of London, 1940, 'The glacial deposits west of the Taff, South Wales' by John Cedric Griffiths.
Sans titreKnight Frank and Rutley Sales Catalogue of the sale of the contents of the late German Embassy at 9 Carlton House Terrace in November and December 1945, with some annotations of prices fetched.
Sans titre'Correlations' a quaternary game which can be played. Game devised by Professor D Walker, Professor R G West and Dr S L Duigan. Box of hand-drawn cards and four pages of instructions.
Sans titre'An Account of my Doings 1924-1966' by George Salt, including accounts of his scientific work, calligraphic work and his mountaineering.
Sans titreLetters to Sir Arthur Rucker, his wife and daughter, during the late 19th and early 20th century; many of them from scientists, including J J Thompson, William Huggins, Aston Webb, David Gill, N S Maskelyne, A Geikie. Together with assorted notes and ephemera.
Sans titreDrawings of the customs and manners of Tonkin [Hanoi], Vietnam, to accompany the written description of Samuel Baron (fl.1670s-1690s) of Fort St George, Madras. Engraved versions of these illustrations were later published as part of 'A collection of voyages and travels, some now first printed from original manuscripts', ed. Awsham and John Churchill (London, 1732). Manuscript amendments and inscriptions indicate some pre-publication correction, probably by the printer.
Sans titreRecord of grants paid to, for what, and amounts. Electronic system of grant tracking takes over in 2003.
Sans titreRadar Calculation by Maurice Henry Lecorney Pryce. Introduction to the calculation states 'The problem is to find the electromagnetic field due to a source of elctromagnetic oscillations placed near to a very large sphere. By large is meant that the ratio of the wavelength to its radius, and also the ratio of the distance of the source from the surface of the sphere to its radius, are very small. The source is supposed to be in vacuo. The material of the sphere is such that waves are attenuated in a distance small compared with the radius."
Sans titrePapers of Thomas George Cowling including correspondence with Neil Oscar Weiss, 1964-1989 and P A Gilman, 1980-1982.
Sans titreLeaflet accompanied by 52 original photographs (portraits) taken during the visit to the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory on 29 October 1971 as part of the Royal Society celebrations of the Rutherford centenary, 29 October 1971.
Sans titreDraft and copy minutes of Royal Society meetings taken by Robert Hooke, the first 120 pages consist of notes taken by Robert Hooke after going through the draft notes of his predecessor, Henry Oldenburg, as Secretary. Remaining pages are notes taken by Hooke as Secretary attending the Society meetings. Includes a folder of loose material which was removed from the folio without noting where they came from before it was acquired by the Society.
Sans titreBiographical Memoirs notes and papers accumulated by Professor Bryan C Clarke in the process of compiling two Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society: Edmund Brisco Ford FRS (1901-1988); and Arthur James Cain FRS (1921-1999).
Sans titrePapers of John Hugh Westcott relating to radar and adaptive control including report on CA [coastal artillery] no.1 and Mark IV radar equipment ('James'), with supplementary papers on control engineering at Imperial College, London, and some photographs.
Sans titreCopies of outgoing letters from the President, Officers and Assistant Secretaries. Each page may contain up to four copied documents. Volumes are numbered 1-73 with an additional volume for the period January 1901-November 1904.
Sans titreThe collection is particularly noteworthy for its full documentation of all aspects of Pirie's research, development and promotion of leaf protein for human comsumption. It is divided into the following sections:
Section A, Biographical. It includes obituaries, a copy of the Royal Society Biographical Memoir, a little documentation of undergraduate work, and historical material assembled by Pirie relating to J Brachel, J B S Haldane, F G Hopklins, and H H Mann. Miscellaneous material includes Pirie's philosophical notes on the nature of life the scientific method and other topics.
Section B, Research notebooks. These complete the sequence of numbered notebooks listed in the 'Catalogue of the Papers of Sir Frederick Charles Bawden including the papers of Alfred Alexander, Peter Kleczkowski and Norman Wingate Pirie' and also deposited in the Archives of the Royal Society. The sequence presented here runs from 1929-1996, with the missing notebooks to be found in the Bawden collection. The work documented includes Pirie's earliest research with A A Miles on 'Brucella abortus' and 'Brucella mellitensis', his research with F C Bawden on viruses, and the many facets of his work on leaf protein to the end of his life. There are also two numbered notebooks not included in the sequence which date from the 1940s.
Section C, Leaf Protein work. This is the largest section in the collection and documents the work for which Pirie became widely known. The material comers Pirie's own research work on leaf protein, his interest in leaf protein work worldwide, the promotion of leaf protein and the development of equipment, especially suitable for use in less developed countries, which could be used to extract it. There is documentation of Pirie's struggles within the Agricultural Research Council to find support for his work, his reports on progress and later fund raising for his reasearch. There is material relating to design and construction of leaf protein apparatus of various types. Pirie believed strongly that leaf protein could make a positive contribution to nutrition in poorer countries and trials were undertaken in India, Jamaica and other countries. Latterly he found backing for his work from the 'Find Your Feet' charity and this relationship is documented. Also of interest is Pirie's interest in promoting leaf protein, including sample recipes using the foodstuff.
Section D, Other Research interests. This focuses on Pirie's earlier research, including the work for which he was elected to the Royal Society and was awarded the Copley Medal. It is not extensive and should be consulted alongside the notebooks in Section B. It is presented by topic and includes research on tobacco mosaic and tomato bushy stunt viruses by Pirie and F C Bawden in the 1930's, work on 'Brucella abortus' in the 1930's and 1940's and bracken extraction in the 1950's. There is also material relating to various alternative sources of protein, including seafood, which relates to this interest in nutrition. Miscellaneous material includes documentation of Pirie's lobbying on behalf of 'biochemical engineering' research in the 1950's.
Section E, Drafts and Publications. This presents drafts and related material including publication on food resources and his 1987 book 'Leaf Protein and its by-products in human and animal nutrition', a small number of book reviews and a little editorial correspondence. The bulk of the section, however, comprises a sequence of Pirie's volumes of bound offprints, from 1929 to 1991 (with material for 1992-1996 unbound). This sequence is more than just a full record of Pirie's published work output, as intercalated or pasted to pages of the volumes are typescripts of unpublished work or work not published in full, reports on research, visits abroad etc, correspondence, and letters to the press on a wide variety of topics including nuclear weapons, the Communist Party, space exploration, scientific writing and world nutrition. The offprints themselves may bear later manuscript annotations and typescript notes by Pirtie, giving improved methods, corrections and later bibliographical references.
Section F, Visits and Conferences. These document a few of Pirie's visits 1946-1989. There is material relating to extended visits to the USA in 1946, to Czechoslovakia, the USSR and China in 1952, and later visits in connection with leaf protein work. The lack of coverage is partially compensated for by the quality of some of the documentation of the visits, including Pirie's manuscript and typescript notes and his official reports.
Section G, Correspondence. This is again partial in its coverage. The bulk relates to Pirie's work on leaf protein. There are also individual letters from significant correspondents, from the 1930's on, including A Szent-George, J B S Haldane, G C de Hervey, Sir Peter Medawar, T Svendberg, R L M Synge etc, which Piries appears to have kept for historical reasons. The correspondence is presented in alphabetical order by correspondent.
Sans titreA series of (generally) printed material relating to, and commenting on, the Society's activities. The press cuttings and scrap books contain cuttings from newspapers interspersed with other printed matter, and occasionally items of manuscripts. The remaining volumes are concerned with particular events or subjects, such as 'HMS Challenger 1872-1895' or 'National Antarctic Expedition 1899-1904'. There are three types of volumes; the first volume is for the years 1846-1876, but therafter two types of book were kept;
a) biographical - 12 volumes, 1872-1910
b) general, 10 volumes 1885-1910.
These were discontinued for a short period, then merged: 36 volumes, 1918-1976. Thereafter newscuttings were photocopied and kept in monthly bundles.
Sans titreManuscripts and occasionally proofs of papers published in the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' 1882-94, covering volumes 33-56 of the printed series. The printed Proceedings may contain 3 types of papers read to the Fellowship:
1) papers abstracted in the 'Proceedings', but not printed in 'Philosophical Transactions'.
2) papers abstracted in the 'Proceedings', and then printed in 'Philosophical Transactions'.
3) papers printed in full in the 'Proceedings'.
The published 'Proceedings' were issued from 1832 initially as retrospective abstracts of the 'Philosophical Transactions', but from volume 3 as a record of the Society's meetings including abstracts of papers read but not published. Volume 7 initiated the procedure of publishing full papers in addition to abstracts. The papers are in separate locations within the archives. Manuscript papers of typ 1 (see description above) may be found in the series Archived Papers; those of type 2 in the 'Philosophical Transactions' series; and type 3 in this series of 'Proceedings Papers'. ther are a number of missing papers from the series, but it remains relatively complete with the dates specified. 87 papers are unaccounted for, together with some illustrative material.
Sans titreThe accounts, menus, correspondence and minutes of the Royal Society Club, from 1743 to the present, and its associated organization the Philosophical Club (founded in 1847). Early records of the Club are limited to administrative matters, notably membership, attendance of Fellows and guests, menus and accounts. Summary descriptions of speeches and discussions at weekly meetings are not available until 1847, and then only in the rival Philosophical Club volumes. The eventual merger of the two bodies in 1900 resulted in this practice being retained to date.
Sans titreThe papers are extensive but by no means comprehensive. There is no personal or biographical material and very little record of Thompson's research. On the other hand his contributions to international science and football are extensively documented. There is a very full record of Thompson's Foreign Secretaryship of the Royal Society and his organisation of the European chemical conferences (EUCHEM) and substantial documentation of his work for ICSU and IUPAC, including the Commission on Molecular Spectroscopy and the Triple Commission on Spectroscopy. Thompson's contributions to international relations were not limited to science (or football) and he kept detailed records of his Chairmanship from 1972 of the Great Britain - China Committee (later Great Britain - China Centre). The football papers are substantial, particularly for the last decade of Thompson's life, and thus there is full documentation of his Chairmanship of the Football Association and of the many problems facing football at that time, including hooliganism amongst its supporters.
Sans titrePapers of the Gregory family. Volume One includes writings by Sir Isaac Newton, entitled 'Notae in Newtonii Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis' and his 'Theory of the Moon', which was incorporated in the Astronomia Physica published by the Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. Volume Two contains letters and papers of the Gregory family: David Gregory of Kinnairdie; James Gregorie; David Gregorie; and Charles Gregory (Professor of Mathematics at Edinburgh University); also including some papers of Sir Isaac Newton.
Sans titreA small collection of papers of Sir Arthur George Tansley, mainly related to the formation of organisations, in the period 1918-1921, that aimed to promote pure and applied scientific research. The bulk of the collection consists of papers relating to Tansley's involvement in the Scientific Research Association. The Scientific Research Association's papers include rules, promotional leaflets and circulars, financial material and a relatively large amount of correspondence. A smaller amount of material survives for the National Union of Scientific Workers including rule booklets, membership lists, reports from meetings, agenda and promotional leaflets and circulars. Only a few items are preserved in this collection for the Federation of Technical and Scientific Associations and the Cambridge Research Group. The published articles and reports at AT/5 mainly concern issues related to the funding, support and the general state of scientific research. As a whole the collection reveals many problems faced by those who wished to organise research work after the first world war, such as the problem of rival organisations created to promote research whose aims overlapped, and disagreements over how and whether research could be organised. For example a letter from the Royal Society to the Scientific Research Association commented that 'lines of development' were 'discovered not by councils or committees but by the instinct of individuals, and the less this is trammelled by organization the better' (AT/2/6/1/42). The article 'Research and Organisation' at AT/2/3/15 was written in an attempt to answer such criticisms by arguing that research could be organised. Other issues also surface in the correspondence of the Scientific Research Association. For example one letter opposed support for any scheme founded on government funding as 'government endowment will, in the long run, corrupt Science...' (AT/2/6/2/17). There were also disagreements as to whether emphasis should be laid upon 'the promotion of scientific research' or 'the economic interest' of research workers which seems to have contributed to a division between the National Union of Scientific Workers and the Scientific Research Association (AT/2/4/3).
Sans titreAudio-visual recordings by or about Fellows of the Royal Society. The bulk of the collection consists of audio material, in particular cassette recordings of the Society's named lectures, which have been preserved in this manner since 1974. The remainder of the series has been acquired as supplementary material to the Personal Records (q.v.), although there are a few items which predate those autobiographies.
Sans titreThe papers are extensive, relating to almost every aspect of Blackett's career in science and public life. There is biographical and personal material including large numbers of letters of congratulation received on the occasion of the various scientific and public awards and honours with which Blackett's achievements were recognised. There are records of his work on particle disintegration, cosmic rays, astrophysics and magnetism in the form of laboratory notebooks, working papers, correspondence, lectures, publications and broadcasts. There is documentation of his activities on various defence projects and as a member of government committees before, during and after the Second World War. Blackett's political interests are represented by material relating to the Association of Scientific Workers, Labour Party discussion groups on science and technology policy and the Ministry of Technology instituted after the Party's 1964 electoral victory. There are records of a wide range of science-related interests such as the history of science and technology, science, education and government, and nuclear weapons and disarmament, and of his overseas activities including material relating specifically to India and that concerned with matters more generally affecting developing countries.
A few lacunae in the surviving material have been identified. There are no documents relative to Blackett's service with the National Research and Development Corporation or the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and, of his correspondence during the Second World War, only that for 1942 survives.
Sans titreMinutes of the meetings of the Royal Society Council from 1663, concerned with the business and administration of the Society. Entries record discussions of all matters relating to the Society's constitution, activities, awards, funds, bequests, buildings, staff and other administrative matters.
Sans titre