Shadow of great britain

When it comes to the Royal Society, many people will first think of Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, Adam Smith, William Petty and Robert Boyle, who are famous researchers in various academic fields.

But in fact, few people have a deep understanding of the background of the establishment of the Royal Society.

The predecessor of the Royal Society was actually a small club-like group of 12 scientists who spontaneously formed a club. They called themselves the "Invisible College". At the beginning of its establishment, there were no rigid rules for this club. The purpose of regular meetings was just to gather everyone to study experiments and exchange and discuss their discoveries.

However, during the reign of Cromwell, the Protector of the Realm, the organization was forced to disband. It was not until Charles II was restored in 1660 that this group of scientists was able to continue to operate in Gresham College.

As more and more dignitaries were interested in science at this time, the number of members of the Invisible College also increased day by day. So, not long after, Sir Christopher Wren, who built the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, proposed that a formal organization should be established to promote physical and mathematical experimental knowledge.

In order to win the support of these science-loving dignitaries, the newly restored King Charles II readily issued a royal charter to them, approving the establishment of the "Royal Society for the Promotion of Natural Knowledge".

After the establishment of the Royal Society, the number of their members soon exceeded 200. However, the increase in the number of members does not mean an increase in academic reputation.

Although the original purpose and purpose of the establishment of the Royal Society was to promote the advancement of natural knowledge and science, and to establish itself as an academic institution, in actual operation, the situation is not entirely the case.

Due to its reliance on scientific research funds and policy support, the Royal Society often needs to recruit many members with affluent families or prominent social status, and obtain sponsorship income from them to tide over the difficulties.

Over time, the number of non-scientists in the Royal Society has been steadily increasing. Several presidents from the 17th to the 18th century were not even members of the scientific community. Their existence also made the Royal Society gradually move towards the category of a talk club.

As for the royal family, although the kings since Charles II publicly regarded themselves as sponsors of the Royal Society, they only wanted to control the noble members within the Royal Society through the Royal Society to establish their own prestige, rather than using scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.

Therefore, the royal family was happy to see more and more unlearned noble members in the Royal Society, and never thought it was a problem.

Fortunately, although less than half of the members in the Royal Society were engaged in scientific research, this half of the members produced geniuses such as Isaac Newton and Henry Cavendish, so the academic reputation and social image of the Royal Society continued to improve during the evolution of more than 100 years.

The biggest reason why Babbage and others fiercely criticized the management system of the Royal Society in their articles was still attributed to Sir Joseph Banks, who was elected president of the Royal Society in 1778 and held the position of president for 42 years.

Although Banks was completely incomparable with Newton in terms of academic reputation, he played a crucial role in the development of the Royal Society.

It was during Banks' tenure that the Royal Society began to deepen its close informal cooperation with the British government, making the Royal Society move closer to the French Academy of Sciences and the Berlin Academy of Sciences in terms of functions. It was also from Banks that the Royal Society's research goals changed from the initial free play of scholars to the priority of serving Britain's overseas expansion and commercial interests.

However, to complete such a transformation, it is naturally not decided by words. Especially in the UK, a country with a strong tradition of local autonomy, the scientists of the Royal Society naturally regarded it as an offense to academic freedom by Banks.

In order to achieve his goal, Banks began to strengthen his personal control within the Royal Society and engage in his academic centralization.

The means used by Banks are not new. It is nothing more than using the power in his hands to place his own people in key positions and gradually control the administrative affairs of the Royal Society through nepotism.

In addition, he will exclude dissidents by cutting scientific research funds and controlling the publication of academic papers, and use this to declare that his power in the Royal Society and the British scientific community is unlimited.

If we summarize historical experience, those who dare to do this in the UK usually have a bad ending. Sir Joseph Banks, the "Cromwell of the Royal Society", is no exception.

Although he claimed that the Royal Society was united, in fact, scientists did not stop attacking him for a single day during his tenure as president of the Royal Society.

The Fleet Street media, which believed everything they heard, would naturally not miss such topical news. When Banks was awarded the Order of the Bath in 1795, a gossiper drew a cartoon called "The Great South Pacific Caterpillar Metamorphoses into a Butterfly" to satirize Banks.

Because Banks had followed the legendary explorer Captain James Cook to complete his first circumnavigation of Australia in his early years. After the voyage, he also published a travelogue of the voyage and became famous for it.

Although Banks has been trying hard to repair his public image since then, in fact, the ridicule and fooling of him did not stop for a single day until he stepped down as president of the Royal Society in 1820.

After Banks's rule over the Royal Society ended, the Royal Society ushered in a brief period of peace. Sir Humphry Davy, the renowned chemist and inventor, and Faraday's mentor, was sworn in as the new president in 1820. 1st President of the Royal Society.

However, although David can convince others academically, he is jealous by nature and does not want others to surpass him. Even Faraday, who he cultivated with his own hands, could not escape David's deliberate suppression. Therefore, although the atmosphere of the Royal Society has improved during this period, it is only a little stronger than before.

After the death of Humphrey Davy in 1827, Davis Gilbert, treasurer of the Royal Society, took over as president.

But Mr. Gilbert is obviously a smart man. He knows that he neither has strong academic experience like David nor is like Banksy who can go around in circles to solicit sponsorship, so the position of President of the Royal Society is really difficult. Can't sit still.

So as soon as he was elected, Gilbert immediately began looking for a replacement.

Of course, in the process of finding a new president, Gilbert still had some thoughts.

For people like him, the position of president of the Royal Society is useless and has neither oil, water nor hard work. However, for those upper-class people who are not short of fame and fortune, the title of president is a rare treasure.

Therefore, Gilbert was inclined to look for a political figure to succeed him and see if he could gain some benefits from the process.

Sure enough, as soon as he spread the news, many people immediately took the initiative to show their kindness. Among the candidates, Gilbert's favorite was Sir Robert Peel, then Home Secretary, Tory Party boss, and Arthur's old boss.

The news that Robert Peel might take over as President of the Royal Society spread like wildfire in Fleet Street and sparked an immediate backlash from the scientific community.

Geologist Adam Sedgwick wrote: "If the Board of Governors of the Society is prepared to become a purely political body, then the status of science will inevitably decline; by then, we will inevitably crawl under the leadership of political patrons. Down!"

After seeing this situation, Sir Peel quickly issued a statement declaring that he had no intention of running for the chairmanship. After all, he wanted to obtain this title for the sake of gold-plating, not to make a fool of himself.

Scientists were morale-boosted after knocking off Robert Peel, and took advantage of the situation to introduce their own candidate, astronomer John Herschel.

But Gilbert, who wanted to change the position of president to a more lucrative position, would certainly not agree to this approach. Moreover, since he had been the treasurer of the society for a long time, Gilbert also knew very well how bad the financial situation of the Royal Society was.

He believes that if the Royal Society cannot be closely integrated with politics, it will be difficult for the Society to continue to obtain sufficient policy support and generous financial sponsorship in the future. Therefore, choosing a politician to be the president is also a promotion of scientific research.

In this regard, Gilbert is not all talk and no action. Because during his period as acting president, the financial situation of the Royal Society improved greatly. Under Gilbert's leadership, the Royal Society not only established an "endowment fund" to collect sponsorship, but also received a bequest of up to 8,000 pounds from the deceased Earl of Bridgewater to develop scientific undertakings.

After a three-year tug-of-war, Gilbert finally decided to honorably give way. He selected a candidate he thought was suitable - the King's younger brother, the Duke of Sussex, and claimed that he would fully support His Royal Highness the Prince. elected.

It must be said that the candidates Gilbert recommended this time are very clever. As a member of the House of Lords, the Duke of Sussex can not only secure resources for the Royal Society politically, but also bring a truly royal aura to the Royal Society. The most important thing is that among many members of the royal family, the Duke of Sussex, who is a liberal and advocates the abolition of slavery and the abolition of the "Bloody Code", has an excellent reputation among the people.

As a result, even scientists who were originally extremely opposed to politicians interfering with the Royal Society have experienced internal divisions.

Some insisted that the nomination of the Duke of Sussex as president was an act of neglect and unworthy of the seat left by Newton.

Another voice shouted: "There is no 'royal shortcut' to knowledge in the world. Why should there be a shortcut to the highest honors that should be awarded by knowledge?"

At the same time, some members have expectations for the Duke.

Thomas Pettigrew, a doctor and antiquarian, publicly stated: "The Duke is a patriot and a long-term supporter and patron of science, so he is extremely suitable to sit in this seat and serve as the first scientific institution in the United Kingdom. the helmsman.”

The voting process for the presidential election was enough to show the divisions within the Royal Society.

According to the vote count, the Duke of Sussex received 119 votes, while second-placed John Herschel lost with 111 votes.

After taking office, the Duke of Sussex also knew that the job at hand was not easy to do. In order to win the trust of the scientific community, he successively passed important reforms.

He first announced the establishment of professional committees in various disciplines in 1830, changed the organizational model of the society, and advocated that scientific research in different fields develop in a more professional and refined direction.

Subsequently, a number of regulations were promulgated to improve the scientific research evaluation and award awarding system. A special academic committee was established to draft and improve the awarding system for Royal Society honors.

In order to avoid suspicion, the Duke of Sussex also specifically requested that the award should not be given to committee members. And the award winner must be alive, and his research results should be presented to the academic committee in a quantifiable and intuitive way such as publications or speeches.

As for John Herschel, who lost to him in the election for president, the Duke of Sussex also praised him. He repeatedly commented on him: "Mr. Herschel is a perfect example of a natural philosopher, like a character from a novel."

The Duke of Sussex's series of measures did stabilize the emotions of the scientists of the Royal Society in the first few years, but with the passage of parliamentary reforms, scientists who always demand progress naturally fell on the stubborn problems of the Royal Society.

For a long time, the Royal Society's membership terms have been following the regulations of 1730, that is, candidates only need to submit a certificate and attach the names of three recommenders to apply for membership. In addition, there is no limit on the number of applications and elections of members in a year.

This point has always been very unpleasant for everyone.

Before Arthur set off for the European continent, he visited the Royal Society to sponsor scientific lectures but was unwilling to become a member of the society. Although he could barely be called a researcher of natural philosophy, his political background was indeed too sensitive.

Joining the Royal Society at this time would not only bring him no benefits, but would make it difficult for the Duke of Sussex, who was the president, and might even turn some of the members of the Royal Society who had a good relationship with him against each other.

The Duke of Sussex came to the University of Göttingen this time. In addition to advocating for the liberal constitutional reform of the Kingdom of Hanover and returning to his alma mater, he also shouldered the important task of discussing scientific cooperation with Alexander von Humboldt, the president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences.

Humboldt, who has been committed to global scientific cooperation, wrote to the Duke not long ago, requesting the British government and the Royal Society to approve the establishment of fixed magnetic detection stations in British overseas territories such as Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Caribbean Islands.

The Duke will have in-depth discussions with Humboldt on the specific matters of this scientific cooperation during his visit to Göttingen. If this cooperation can be negotiated, even if it is impossible to suppress the scientists' calls for reforming the membership access system, at least new headlines can be used to replace old headlines, so that they can shift their attention elsewhere.

Arthur listened to the Duke's story in the reception room and felt that this was a very difficult problem.

The Duke sat on the sofa, holding a red wine glass and smiled bitterly: "Arthur, you have been the academic supervisor of the University of Göttingen for some time. I think you should understand how difficult it is to deal with scientists?"

Arthur was about to speak with a smile, but unexpectedly, a violent quarrel suddenly came from outside the reception room.

"Oh! My God! Look, isn't this our indomitable nationalist fighter Mr. Heinrich Heine?"

"Oh! Mr. Disraeli, I didn't expect that you, the British Judas, are here too."