Strange tales from the Royal Society (now online)

BBC ^ | October 25, 2011

[decimon]

The world's oldest scientific academy, the Royal Society, has made its historical journal, which includes about 60,000 scientific papers, permanently free to access online.

The plague, the Great Fire of London and even the imprisonment of its editor - just a few of the early setbacks that hit the Royal Society's early editions of the Philosophical Transactions. But against the odds the publication, which first appeared in 1665, survived. Its archives offer a fascinating window on the history of scientific progress over the last few centuries.

Nestling amongst illustrious papers by Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin are some undiscovered gems from the dawn of the scientific revolution, including gruesome tales of students being struck by lightning and experimental blood transfusions.

Here are some of the more curious items from the early archive.

[decimon]

Roil society ping.

[SunkenCiv]

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Thanks decimon. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[katana]

Quicksilver and the whole Baroque Cycle trilogy by Neal Stephenson is an excellent semi-fictional portrayal of those early days of the study of "Natural Philosophy" (lots of Alchemy going on), which later became "Science".

[Liberty Valance]

bttt

[decimon]

Quicksilver and the whole Baroque Cycle trilogy by Neal Stephenson is an excellent semi-fictional portrayal of those early days of the study of "Natural Philosophy" (lots of Alchemy going on), which later became "Science".

One of the best names ever - Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, aka, Paracelsus.

[mnehring]

bfltr

[Ciexyz]

Very cool.

[ottbmare]

I love the Baroque Cycle. Stephenson is brilliant. Some of the stuff at the end was silly and made it seem the author was exhausted, of course, but most of it was quite good.

[struwwelpeter]

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim? Hmmm... Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim... Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim... Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim! He owes me money!

[Ken H]

THAT'S the guy! I couldn't remember his name. I was thinking it was something like 'Bill Smith'.

[wildbill]

This is going to be a really good resource for browsing on a rainy day.

[katana]

I think the old fashioned description would be a “Ripping Yarn”. I’ve read the the books through three times. How Stephenson was able to weave together so much history, philosophy, politics, religion, bawdy comedy, and character studies of both historic and fictional characters is completely amazing. Somebody should give copies to Peter Jackson. He could turn it into a LTR like series of films.

[Cold Heart]

Since the article did not link the Royal Society; Royalesociety.org

[Cold Heart]

I have no idea hoe that e got in there:)
Royalsociety.org

[denydenydeny]

No love for Arthur C. Clarke’s Tales From The White Hart? My favorite “Explorer’s Club” series ever.