A British Sesquicentennial Nineteenhundred and ninety-one is the sesquicentennial year of the founding i n London of The Chemical Society, which eventually evolved into The Royal Chemical Society. Robert Warington convened a meeting on February 23, 1841, where those present unanimously resolved that "it is expedient that a chemical society he formed". The minutes of that first meeting also include the notation that, for the furtheranct, of its c'l'hc! (:hernic:~l Socier!'~~objectlvrs, periudic:ll meetines should be lied "for the comrnunlcation and discussion of ldiscoveries and observations, a n account for which shall be published by The Society i n the form of proceedings or transactions". I t was also agreed that the formation of a library and a museum of chemical preparations and standard instruments, a s well a s the estahlishment of a laboratory of research, were ultimate objectives of the Society. At the March30 meeting ofthat year, to which 77 persons were invited, Thomas Graham was appointed President; Warington was named one of the Secretaries (with E. F. Teschemacker), a position he held for 10 years. Warington i s acknowledged a s one ofthe moving spirits in the formation of The Chemical Society, and his zeal and faithful service in the early years of the Society were instrumental in its success. The creation of The Chemical Society is, in a sense, a manifestation of the idea that chemistry is a product of the human mind. Chemistry is the human attempt to organize a wide spectrum of observations and facts on a molecular basis. Creation of The Chemical Society was, perhaps, also the result of early recognition that the sweep of chemistry is too broad and too detailed for a single person to do everything necessary to understand all ofits ramifications. In a sense, chemistry is like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle for which the shapes of the individual pieces have not yet been established. Completion of a very large puzzle requires a communal effort, and, from this point of view, a focus for communication among the participants would be a natural consequence. The Chemical Society provided the basis for such a focus. The reading of papers was the main feature of the early meetings, but, i n accordance with its declared ohjectives, donations of hooks, pamphlets, specimens, and pure chemicals were welcome by the Society. lnterest in continuing to support a chemical museum diminished
steadily, no doubt because of the practical difficulties of storing and displaying everything from "24 specimens of rare chemical oroducts" donated bv Liebie. -, to "a snecimen of butter, suppbsed to he 300 yearsold, discovered i n a bag near Down~atrick".In 1863. the council d i s ~ o s e dof all the specimens and the chemical museum ceased to exist. The Societv's lihrarv. " .on the other hand, became an incrtr;isirlglyprominent luatureol'itsn~nkes.Trur ro tht. wdl of'thu founders. the ~ a u e r read s befort: thc Society durine the first six ofits existence were puhlished"in three volumes of Memoirs a n d Proceedinzs. The Memoirs a n d /'ron!rdrtr~s spprawrl ill ~rregulnri n t ( v a l s and was nr~ l a c r d1)v thc Ouortrrl~, Jourt~ulin 1847. Thus *,as e d n b iished a route of comm"unication among parties interested in chemistry that is still i n use today. no longer . A person . had to be in attendance at thc Society's mrrringi to leirn about rhr mwest facts and idcud in the disciplint!. The study of chemistry transcends political boundaries, and from thevery beginning the Constitution ofThe Chemical Society provided for the election of "Foreign Members". By 1848-the year of the Society's incorporation by Royal Charter-nine such members had been initiated. The great German chemist, Liebig, was the first foreign member elected; the Proceedings for the first ordinary meeting of the Society (April 1841) began with the communication of a DaDer i ~ read . hv Graham. on "The Formation . . from L i e b... and Preparatiou of the ~l.all&v Pruwa'te of llot:~sh". The Ibrrnatim ofThe Chrmicd Suc~etvin 18.4 I urcdates the establishment of similar bodies of a national Aaracter i n other countries: Soci6t6 Chimique de France (18571, Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft (1867j, The Chemical Society of Japan (1878), and The American Chemical Society (1876). These societies were modeled after The Chemical Society, with some minor changes, but the general objective-the communication of new ideas and facts to all interested parties across national houndaries-was retained. The world's chemists owe much to the founders of The Chemical Society and to those who have expressed the original ohjectives into a reality that has become a natural base on which our science moves forward. Happy 150th Birthday to The Royal Chemical Society. JJL ~~
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Volume 68
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Number 1 January 1991
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