Alternative name: The Royal Society
The Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK and the Commonwealth dedicated to promoting excellence in science.
The Society plays an influential role in national and international science policy and supports developments in science engineering and technology in a wide range of ways.
The library and archival collections of The Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence, are an important source for early modern and modern history of science. The library holds thousands of rare and unique items, including handwritten drafts, correspondence, illustrations, and original data on everything from rainfall to astronomical observations. Their archive hold records of the work of the Society since 1660, documenting the history of inventions, discovery, and scholarly discourse. Some of their historical datasets, such as those on climate, contribute to current scientific investigation and they are all important for historical research.
The digital collections include over 30,000 manuscripts connected with the journals published by the Royal Society since 1665.
