The Physical Society of London,

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, was a

scientific society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to a ...

which was founded in 1874. In 1921, it was renamed the Physical Society, and in 1960 it merged with the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

(IOP), the combined organisation eventually adopting the name of the latter society. The society was founded due to the efforts of Frederick Guthrie, Professor of Physics at the Royal College of Science, South Kensington, and his assistant, William Fletcher Barrett. They canvassed support for a 'Society for physical research' and on 14 February 1874, the Physical Society of London was formed with an initial membership of 29 people. The Society's first president was John Hall Gladstone. Meetings were held every two weeks, mainly at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. From its beginning, the society held open meetings and demonstrations and published '' Proceedings of the Physical Society of London''. The first Guthrie lecture, now known as the Faraday Medal and Prize, was delivered in 1914. In 1921 the society became the Physical Society, and in 1932 absorbed the Optical Society (of London). The Optical Society published ''Transactions of the Optical Society'' from 1899 to 1932. In 1960, the merger with the Institute of Physics took place, creating the Institute of Physics and the Physical Society, which combined the

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

tradition of the Physical Society with the professional body tradition of the Institute of Physics.Institute of Physics History
/ref> Upon being granted a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

in 1970, the organisation renamed itself as the Institute of Physics.

Presidents of the Physical Society

*1874–1876 John H. Gladstone *1876–1878 George C. Foster *1878–1880 William G Adams *1880–1882 The Lord Kelvin of Largs *1882–1884 Robert B. Clifton *1884–1886 Frederick Guthrie *1886–1888 Balfour Stewart *1888–1890 Arnold W. Reinold *1890–1892 William E. Ayrton *1892–1893 George F. FitzGerald *1893–1895 Arthur W. Rucker *1895–1897 William de W. Abney *1897–1899 Shelford Bidwell *1899–1901 Oliver J. Lodge *1901–1903

Silvanus P. Thompson Silvanus Phillips Thompson (19 June 1851 – 12 June 1916) was an English professor of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury, England. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1891 and was known for his work as an electr ...

*1903–1905 Richard T. Glazebrook *1905–1906 John H. Poynting *1906–1908 John Perry *1908–1910 Charles Chree *1910–1912 Hugh Longbourne Callendar *1912–1914

Arthur Schuster Sir Franz Arthur Friedrich Schuster (12 September 1851 – 14 October 1934) was a German-born British physicist known for his work in spectroscopy, electrochemistry, optics, X-radiography and the application of harmonic analysis to physics. S ...

*1914–1916 Sir Joseph Thomson *1916–1918 Charles V Boys *1918–1920 Charles Herbert Lees *1920–1922 Sir William Bragg *1922–1924 Alexander Russell *1924–1926 Frank Edward Smith *1926–1928 Owen W. Richardson *1928–1930 William H. Eccles *1930–1932 Sir Arthur Eddington *1932–1934 Alexander O. Rankine *1934–1936

Lord Rayleigh John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh ( ; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919), was an English physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904 "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery ...

*1936–1938 Thomas Smith *1938–1941 Sir Allan Ferguson *1941–1943 Sir Charles Darwin *1943–1945 Edward N de Costa Andrade *1945–1947 David Brunt *1947–1949 George Ingle Finch *1949–1950 Sydney Chapman *1950–1952 Leslie Fleetwood Bates *1952–1954 Richard Whiddington *1954–1956 Harrie S. W. Massey *1956–1958 Nevill F. Mott *1958–1960 John A. Ratcliffe

Other use of the name

In November 2021, a number of members of the civil disobedience group

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

succeeded in infiltrating and briefly disrupting the Lord Mayor’s Show by appearing in the parade using a float disguised under the name of The Physical Society of London.

References

Information
fro
NAHSTE
(Navigational Aids for the History of Science Technology & the Environment).

Presidents of the Physical Society

Other use of the name

References

See also