LEARNED SOCIETIES
See Also: BLUESTOCKINGS; SIR THOMAS GRESHAM Gresham College; LIBRARIES;
MUSEUMS; THE ROYAL INSTITUTION; THE ROYAL SOCIETY; UNIVERSITIES
The British Academy
The
British Academy is the national learned body for the humanities and the social
sciences. The organisation seeks to
promote intellectual advancement in areas such as history, philosophy, and,
philology. The body received its royal
charter in 1902 and at any time has about 750 members.
Location:
10 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH (red, brown)
See
Also: LITERATURE
Website:
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
The
Schools
The
British Academy oversees eight overseas archaeological institutes, or Schools
as they known. The oldest of these are
those in Rome and Athens, which were set up to rival establishments that had
been instituted by France and Germany in a cultural imperialism race; the
representatives of each power sought to unearth the most spectacular
finds. Further, Schools were established
at Amman, Ankara, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Nairobi, and Teheran. In addition, the Academy supports
organisations such as the Egypt Exploration Society and assists in funding
archaeological activities in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
The
British School in Rome is different from the other British Academy Schools in
its having a long-established tradition of granting scholarships to architects,
engravers, painters, and sculptors to study in the city.
See
Also: EGYPTOLOGY The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
Website:
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/international/research-institutes www.bsa.ac.uk https://bsr.ac.uk
Burlington House
In 1854
the 6th Duke of Devonshire sold Burlington House to the government,
which intended to demolish the townhouse and then construct a new building to
be the home of the University of London.
There was a public outcry. As a
result, the House survived. A number of
learned societies were furnished with accommodation in it. In 1867 the principal section of the building
became the home of the Royal Academy of the Arts. The Academy took a 999-year-lease for which
it pays 1 p.a..
Five
other learned societies are housed in Burlington House. They are: the Geological Society, the Linnean
Society of London, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Society of
Chemistry, and the Society of Antiquaries.
In 2014
the government took a decision that, for accounting purposes, Burlington House
should be treated as an investment property.
Subsequently, property values in the West End surged. In 2020 the Linnaean Society's rent was
130,000 for the year. In 2012 it had
been 4000. As a result, the Society and
the other learned bodies were reported to be giving consideration to moving
out. In 2020 the Society of Antiquaries
started a campaign that queried the government was choosing to treat the
Burlington House learned societies. This
was supported by over 100 M.P.s. The
Linnean Society and the Geological Society backed it.
Location:
Burlington House, 50 Piccadilly, W1J 0BD (orange, brown)
See
Also: ARTISTS ORGANISATIONS The Royal Academy of the Arts; GEOLOGY The
Geological Society; PLANTS The Linnean Society of London; ROYAL RESIDENCES
Somerset House; TOWNHOUSES Burlington House
Websites:
https://burlingtonhouse.org www.geolsoc.org.uk www.linnean.org www.royalacademy.org.uk https://ras.ac.uk www.rsc.org www.sal.org.uk
Dual Fellows
A
handful of individuals have been Fellows both of The British Academy and The
Royal Society.
Joseph
Needham
Joseph
Needham was a native of South London. He
started his academic career as a biochemist.
His principal research field was embryology. In 1931 his Chemical Embryology was
published. Two years later he was
appointed as a University of Cambridge Reader in biochemistry. However, his interests extended beyond the
purely scientific as was indicated by his also producing A History of
Embryology (1934). In the 1930s
there were a number of Chinese people present in Cambridge's biochemistry
department. Through them Needham became
interested in Chinese culture and technology.
In 1941 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. During the 1940s he spent four years as a
scientific counsellor attached to the British Embassy in China. From 1948 on - while retaining his Readership
- he devoted his intellectual life to writing the Science & Civilisation
In China, a work that was planned in seven volumes and 25 parts. For his work on this opus magnum, in
1971 Needham became one of the few scientists to merit election as a Fellow of
the British Academy.
See
Also: THE BRITISH MUSEUM The Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art
Sir
Karl Popper
In 1945
the Austrian-born philosopher Karl Popper moved from New Zealand to Britain in
order to take up a position at the London School of Economics. His most famous work is The Open Society
and Its Enemies was published the same year.
The
following year Popper addressed University of Cambridge's Moral Sciences
Club. His fellow Austrian, Ludwig
Wittgenstein attended the seminar. While
the former delivered his paper, the latter paced up and down in front of the
room's fireplace. He found himself
unable to agree with the visitor on the existence of moral views and, becoming
somewhat overwrought, demanded that the guest speaker should provide him with
an example of one, brandishing a handy poker while he did so. Popper's example of a moral view was that
Hosts should not threaten visiting lecturers with pokers. Wittgenstein stormed out of the room.
For an
academic philosopher, Popper had a very large influence outside of his own
discipline. His standing was recognised
by his having the rare distinction of being made both a Fellow of the British
Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
He spent his final years living in the unexceptional south London suburb
of Purley.1
Location:
The London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE (blue, brown)
See
Also: UNIVERSITIES The London School of Economics
1. The Hungarian migr and future international financier
George Soros studied under Popper at the L.S.E. and wrote an unpublished study
that was entitled The Burden of Consciousness. Soros was deeply influenced by Popper s
concept of the open society . The
billionaire is most unlikely to spend his final years as a resident of a suburb
such as Purley.
The London Mathematical Society
The
London Mathematical Society was founded in 1865. Its inaugural President was Augustus de
Morgan (1806-1871). It was furnished
with premises in Burlington House. In
1965 the organisation was granted a royal charter. In 1998 it moved to premises in Russell
Square.
There
is a saying that some mathematicians enjoy using: All that a mathematician
requires in order to be able to work is a paper, a pencil, and a waste paper
basket - a philosopher does n t need the basket.
Location:
De Morgan House, 57-58 Russell Square, WC1B 4HS (purple, brown)
Website:
www.lms.ac.uk
The Society of Antiquaries of London
The
roots of the Society of Antiquaries of London go back to the late 16thC. The organisation's royal charter dates from
1751.
There
is a story that in 1776 a Fellow of the Society died. He left a will that provided for the material
well-being of his kinfolk. However, the
document stated that should family die out then his estate should be made over
to the Society. In 1976 the last of his
relatives died. The Society then
received the bequest.
The
Society of Antiquaries of London possesses three copies of the Magna Carta.
Location:
Burlington House, 50 Piccadilly, W1J 0BD (orange, brown)
See
Also: LONDON John Stow
Website:
www.sal.org.uk
Hardecanute
Charles
Jennens (1700-1773) is best-known for having written the libretto for
Handel's Messiah. Politically,
the former was a non-juror, a person who believed that the Stuarts should be
the rightful monarchs of Britain and who therefore refused to swear any oaths
of loyalty to the Hanoverian dynasty.
For two
centuries Jennens's reputation was that of a fop. This derived from his having produced some
critical editions of Shakespeare's works.
The scholar George Steevens felt that his own work was being challenged
and therefore engaged in a systematic character assassination of Jennens. That there was scope for such derived from
the facts that the latter was given to practical jokes and had a spiteful
streak in his nature.
Following
an argument with the historian Richard Gough Jennens arranged for the creation
of a fake Anglo-Saxon gravestone to be carved.
This bore the name Hardecanute.
Jennens then arranged for it to be displayed in a shop window in
Southwark with a note that stated it had recently been excavated in Kennington
Lane. Gough fell for the ploy. When the reality was revealed he and the
Society of Antiquaries became a laughing stock.
Location:
Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JB. Jennens s
townhouse. (orange, pink)
See
Also: OPERA Handel's Opera, Charles Jennens
David
Backhouse 2024