Science & society at the Royal Institution since 1799

This illustrated talk, held in its historic lecture theatre, will discuss the origins of the Royal Institution at a time of revolutionary politics and global conflict as a site for communicating scientific knowledge to an aristocratic and upper class audience. Through the work of Humphry Davy, both as communicator and researcher, the evolution of the Royal Institution into an organisation with a major commitment to scientific research will be traced using especially Davy’s invention of a miners’ safety lamp in late 1815, a device central to expanding coal production. Michael Faraday’s crucial work on electricity, especially his inventions of the motor, transformer and generator, will be covered and its technological impact illustrated by the massive 1931 celebrations held to mark the centenary of his discovery of electro-magnetic induction. The research of John Tyndall on climate change, James Dewar on cryogenics, William and Lawrence Bragg’s fundamental contributions to X-ray crystallography and George Porter’s work on photochemistry will complete the talk following which the audience will be able to explore the display areas of the Royal Institution and see the originals of all the objects discussed in the lecture theatre.