Royal Society of Edinburgh

Royal Society of Edinburgh

Arms of the Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society building, at the junction of George Street and Hanover Street in the New Town
Motto	Societas Regalis Edinburgi
Founder(s)	Colin Maclaurin and Alexander Monro, primus (instrumental in founding the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh) William Cullen, Alexander Monro, secundus and William Robertson (instrumental in obtaining the royal charter)
Established	1737 – diverged from the Royal Medical Society 1783 – received royal charter
Mission	Scotland's National Academy
Focus	science and technology arts humanities social science business public service
President	Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Chief Executive	Dr William Duncan
Staff	34
Key people	Prof Alan Alexander, General Secretary
Budget	£5.9 million
Members	1563 Fellows, including 66 Honorary Fellows and 65 Corresponding Fellows
Subsidiaries	RSE Scotland Foundation RSE Young Academy of Scotland
Owner	Registered charity No. SC000470
Formerly called	Philosophical Society of Edinburgh
Location	New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland
Address	22–26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ
Website	www.royalsoced.org.uk
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The cover of a 1788 volume of the journal Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. This is the issue where James Hutton published his Theory of the Earth.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland. Established in 1783, it has since then drawn upon the strengths and expertise of its Fellows, of which there are currently more than 1500.

The Society covers a broader selection of fields than the Royal Society of London including literature and history. Unlike similar organisations in the rest of the UK, the Fellowship includes people from a wide range of disciplines – science & technology, arts, humanities, medicine, social science, business and public service. This breadth of expertise makes the Society unique in the UK.

History

At the start of the 18th century, Edinburgh's intellectual climate fostered many clubs and societies (see Scottish Enlightenment). Though there were several that treated the arts, sciences and medicine, the most prestigious was the Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge, commonly referred to as the Medical Society of Edinburgh, co-founded by the mathematician Colin Maclaurin in 1731.

Maclaurin was unhappy with the specialist nature of the Medical Society, and in 1737 a new, broader society, the Edinburgh Society for Improving Arts and Sciences and particularly Natural Knowledge was split from the specialist medical organisation, which then went on to become the Royal Medical Society.

The cumbersome name was changed the following year to the Edinburgh Philosophical Society. With the help of University of Edinburgh professors like Joseph Black, William Cullen and John Walker, this society transformed itself into the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783 and in 1788 it issued the first volume of its new journal Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

As the end of the century drew near, the younger members such as Sir James Hall embraced Lavoisier's new nomenclature and the members split over the practical and theoretical objectives of the society. This resulted in the founding of the Wernerian Society (1808–58), a parallel organisation that focused more upon natural history and scientific research that could be used to improve Scotland's weak agricultural and industrial base. Under the leadership of Prof. Robert Jameson, the Wernerians first founded Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society (1808–21) and then the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal (1822), thereby diverting the output of the Royal Society's Transactions. Thus, for the first four decades of the 19th century, the RSE's members published brilliant articles in two different journals. By the 1850s, Jameson and his partner Sir David Brewster lost their influence and the society once again could unify its membership under one journal.

During the 19th century the society produced many scientists whose ideas laid the foundation of the modern sciences. From the 20th century onward, the society functioned not only as a focal point for Scotland's eminent scientists, but also the arts and humanities. It still exists today and continues to promote original research in Scotland.

The current president is Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.

Accommodation

The Royal Society has been housed in a succession of locations:

• 1783–1807 – College Library, University of Edinburgh
• 1807–1810 – Physicians' Hall, George Street; the home of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
• 1810–1826 – 40–42 George Street; shared with the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland from 1813
• 1826–1908 – the Royal Institution (now called the Royal Scottish Academy Building) on the Mound; shared, at first, with the Board of Manufactures (the owners), the Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Scotland and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
• 1908–09 – University premises at High School Yards
• 1909–present – 22–24 George Street, purchased from the Edinburgh Life Assurance Company with the assistance of a grant of £25,000 from the Scottish Office

List of Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

2

Notable Fellows

Main article: Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, are denoted by the use of the initialism or post-nominal FRSE in official titles.

Medals and Awards

Royal Medals

The Royal Medals are awarded annually, preferably to people with a Scottish connection, who have achieved distinction and international repute in either Life Sciences, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences or Business and Commerce. The Medals were instituted in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II, whose permission is required to make a presentation.

Past winners: Source: Royal Society of Edinburgh

• 2014: Professor W.B. Kibble and Professor Richard G.M. Morris
• 2013: Sir John Cadogan, Professor Michael Ferguson and Sir Ian Wood
• 2012: Professor David Milne and Sir Edwin Southern
• 2011: Baroness Helena Kennedy, Noreen Murray and Professor Desmond Smith
• 2010: Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart and Dr James MacMillan
• 2009: Sir James Mirrlees, Professor Wilson Sibbett and Professor Karen Vousden
• 2008: Professor Roger Fletcher, Right Reverend Richard Holloway and Professor Sir David Lane
• 2007: Professor Sir David Carter, Professor John David M H Laver and Sir Thomas F W McKillop
• 2006: Sir John M. Ball and Sir David Jack
• 2005: Sir David Edward and Professor William G. Hill
• 2004: Sir Philip Cohen, Sir Neil MacCormick and Professor Robin Milner
• 2003: Sir Paul Nurse, Lord Mackay of Clashfern and Sir Michael Atiyah
• 2002: Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri, Professor Sir Alan Peacock and Professor John R Mallard
• 2001: Professor Sir James Black, Professor Tom Devine and Professor A Ian Scott
• 2000: Professor Sir Kenneth Murray, Professor Peter Higgs and The Rt. Hon The Lord Perry of Walton

Lord Kelvin Medal

The Lord Kelvin Medal is the Senior Prize for Physical, Engineering and Informatics Sciences. It is awarded annually to a person who has achieved distinction nationally and internationally, and who has contributed to wider society by the accessible dissemination of research and scholarship. Winners receive a silver medal and are required to deliver a public lecture in Scotland. The award is named after William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), who was a famous mathematical physicist and engineer, and Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. Senior Prize-winners are required to have a Scottish connection but can be based anywhere in the world.

Keith Medal

Main article: Keith Medal

The Keith medal has been historically awarded every four years for a scientific paper published in the society's scientific journals, preference being given to a paper containing a discovery. It is awarded alternately for papers on Mathematics or Earth and Environmental Sciences. The medal was founded in 1827 as a result of a bequest by Alexander Keith of Dunottar, the first Treasurer of the Society.

Makdougall Brisbane Prize

The Makdougall Brisbane Prize has been awarded biennially, preferably to people working in Scotland with no more than fifteen years postdoctoral experience, for particular distinction in the promotion of scientific research and is awarded sequentially to research workers in the Physical Sciences, Engineering Sciences and Biological Sciences. The prize was founded in 1855 by Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, the long-serving fourth President of the Society.

See also

• List of recipients of the W. S. Bruce Medal

External links

• Royal Society of Edinburgh Website
• List of RSE material held at the National Library of Scotland
• MacTutor: Royal Society of Edinburgh
• MacTutor: fellows
• Notes on the Royal Society of Edinburgh from the Scholarly Societies project, University of Waterloo Library (includes information on the journals of the society)