The Royal Society was established after a group of scientists met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren on the 28 November 1660, and decided to found a college for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning. The group was given its first Royal Charter in 1662 by King Charles II and by the second Royal Charter it would be known as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'.
The early years of the Society saw revolutionary advancements in the conduct and communication of science. Hooke’s Micrographia and the first issue of Philosophical Transactions were published in 1665. Following the Great Fire of London, in 1666, the society moved to Arundel House. Under the Presidency of Isaac Newton, the Society acquired its own home, two houses in Crane Court, off the Strand. In 1731 a new rule was established which said that each candidate for election had to be proposed in writing and had that written certificate signed by those who supported his candidature.
The society moved premises to Somerset House in 1780, Burlington House in Piccadilly in 1857, Carlton House Terrace, London in 1967 and the Society acquired Chicheley Hall, Buckinghamshire in 2010. Chicheley Hall was transformed into Kavli Royal Society International Centre which will provide a prestigious residential centre for holding internationally significant scientific conferences and offering opportunities for concentrated academic reflection.
Over time, the criteria for, and transparency of election to the Fellowship became stricter, and Fellows were elected solely on the merit of their scientific work from 1847. The government granted the Society £1,000 to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment in 1850. The Society now allocates nearly £42 million each year from government grants and donations and legacies from organisations and individuals.
The Society has 8,000 Fellows elected to the Society to date.
Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was born at Pinner, Middlesex on 4 Mar 1923. When war came, he turned down a place at Cambridge and lied about his age to join the RAF, serving as a navigator with Bomber Command and rising to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. War brought personal tragedy as his fiancee, Lorna, was killed when an ambulance she was driving was hit by a bomb. He never married. After the war he momentarily taught at a prep school, but he pursued his interest in astronomy by building his own telescope in the garden of his Sussex home.
He produced detailed maps of the moon's surface which were used by Nasa as part of the preparations for the moon landing. A growing interest in extra-terrestrial matters persuaded the BBC to launch a new programme explaining the mysteries of space; Moore was chosen to present it. The first edition of The Sky at Night was broadcast on 24th April 1957; Moore presented the programme for more than four decades.
In 1965, for three years, he became the director of a new planetarium at Armagh, Northern Ireland. In 1969 he was part of the BBC commentary team to describe the moon landings. Despite his expertise on the solar system, Moore described himself as an amateur astronomer as he never had any formal training.
Moore was awarded an OBE in 1968 and was knighted and appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001. In 2009, after saving Airdrie Public Observatory from closure in 2002, Moore accepted the position of Honorary President of Airdrie Astronomical Association, a position which he held until his death. He wrote more than 70 books during his lifetime, most of the manuscripts banged out on a 1908 manual typewriter.
Moore died at his home in Selsey, West Sussex on the 9th December 2012, aged 89.
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