The Rise Of The Royal Society As A Corporation In Early Modern England (1660-1669)

Royal Society is the first scientific cooperation in England. Since the rising course during the English society transition from middle age to modern time, it reflects some characters of English society, especially English knowledge society. Royal Society originated form a meeting held by citizens in which natural philosophy and natural science were discussed. Eventually by obtained the charters from the king, Royal Society became a corporation. After obtained the autonomy by king's charters, Royal Society constituted a democratic management system, became a vital social supporter of scientific spirit, then initiated a profound production reform, and finally triggered a scientific revolution and played a very important role in it.Chapter I mainly describe the course from the rise of Royal Society to obtaining of the corporation qualification. The rise of Royal Society ensued from the English Renaissance, influenced by humanity and naturalism. The origins of the Royal Society lie in an "invisible college" of natural philosophers who began academic meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon at Gresham College in London. Supported by merchant, the meeting gradually turned regular. In English Civil War, the academic meeting attracted many intellectual. Their first purpose was no more than only the satisfaction of breathing a freer air, and of conversing in quiet one with another, without being engaged in the passions and madness of that dismal age. In the restoration of Charles II, Invisible College had been an influence academic organization. Charles II who had a profound interest in science granted to Royal Society the first charter in 1662, which incorporated it.Chapter II mainly describes the basic rights and the privileges in scientific academic activities of Royal Society as a corporation, then analyses their significance to the development of Royal Society. Royal Society obtained the charters in succession in 1662, 1663, 1669. By three charters, Royal Society finally established its qualification and corresponding rights. It was capable in law to sue, to receive grant purchase lands and tenements. With these rights, Royal Society began to management by law; besides these rights Royal Society had some privileges for print and corresponds with aliens in scientific academic activities; it also had a property right of some exoneration lands. These rights and privileges became the foundation of advancing in Royal Society's scientific activities.Chapter III mainly discusses a series of democratic management system formed during initial stage of Royal Society, and expounds the significance of institutionalization to the advance of Royal Society. According to king's charters, Royal Society had rights to organize and management themselves without any intervention, as long as the society obey the English acts statutes customs. Those rights were the basis of the autonomous management system. Based on early tenets and customs, the fellows of Royal Society instituted a representative society management and an overt financial system. All these systems served only for natural science advancing.Chapter IV mainly describes the influences of Royal Society towards knowledge production and scientific revolution in England. As the rising of Royal Society, the intentional scientific knowledge production by corporation took place individual activities. Collecting documents and sources by organized fellows, providing large general laboratory for fellows by corporation, journals as a new instrument for knowledge spreading all made the knowledge production transited and developed. Empiricism, inductive logic and experimental method were wildly used and spread by fellows. Then their all became the important epistemology and methodology in English scientific revolution. Royal Society accelerated English scientific revolution, and became an intermedium to spread the productions of English scientific revolution to the whole society. The conceptions, such as reason, scientific method, mechanical philosophy, deism, sparkplug in scientific revolution, all became the original ideas of the Enlightenment. So Royal Society was a very link between English scientific revolution and the Enlightenment.