The Quekett Microscopical Club is a

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 ...

for the promotion of

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view subjects too small to be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical mic ...

. Its members come from all over the world, and include both amateur and professional microscopists. It is a registered charity and not-for-profit publisher, with the stated aims of promoting the understanding and use of all aspects of the microscope.

History

The Club was founded in 1865 as a result of a letter from W. Gibson published in '' Science Gossip'' in May 1865 suggesting that "some association among the amateur microscopists of London is desirable". The suggestion was taken up by

Mordecai Cubitt Cooke Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (12 July 1825, in Horning, Norfolk – 12 November 1914, in Southsea, Hampshire) was an English botanist and mycologist who was, at various points, a London schoolteacher, a Kew mycologist, curator at the India Museum, jour ...

, Thomas Ketteringham and Witham Bywater, and they met on 14 June 1865 and agreed a provisional committee. About sixty people attended the first meeting of the Club on Friday 7 July 1865 for the purpose of establishing the Club to "give amateurs the opportunity of assisting each other, holding monthly meetings in a central locality, at an annual charge to cover incidental expenses". The name agreed was "The Quekett Microscopical Club", 'club' was chosen instead of 'society' to reflect the aims of the association. The first President was

Edwin Lankester Edwin Lankester FRS, FRMS, MRCS (23 April 1814 – 30 October 1874) was an English surgeon and naturalist who made a major contribution to the control of cholera in London: he was the first public analyst in England. Life Edwin Lankester ...

. The Club is named after the famous Victorian microscopist Professor John Thomas Quekett, and is the second oldest organisation in the world dedicated to microscopy; the oldest is the

Royal Microscopical Society The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a learned society for the promotion of microscopy. It was founded in 1839 as the Microscopical Society of London making it the oldest organisation of its kind in the world. In 1866, the Society gained it ...

. Some of the traditions of the Club’s Victorian founders are continued, but the Quekett is now very much a friendly club for today’s microscopists and covers all aspects of the subject ranging from the history of the microscope and slide collecting to the latest advances in digital imaging with the microscope.

Past Presidents

Several eminent scientists have been presidents of the Club, including

(1865–66), Peter le Neve Foster (1869),

Lionel Smith Beale Lionel Smith Beale (5 February 1828 – 28 March 1906) was a British physician, microscopist, and professor at King's College London. He graduated in medicine from King's College in 1851. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Lif ...

(1870–71), Robert Braithwaite (bryologist) (1872–1873), Henry Lee (1875–77),

Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

(1877–1879),

Thomas Spencer Cobbold Thomas Spencer Cobbold Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 May 182810 March 1886) was an English biologist. Life He was born at Ipswich, the third son of Rev. Richard Cobbold, author of the ''History of Margaret Catchpole''. After graduating ...

(1879–80),

(1881–1883),

William Benjamin Carpenter William Benjamin Carpenter CB FRS (29 October 1813 – 19 November 1885) was an English physician, invertebrate zoologist, and physiologist. He was instrumental in the early stages of the unified University of London. Life Carpenter was bor ...

(1883–1885),

William Dallinger William Henry Dallinger FRS (5 July 1839 – 7 November 1909) was a British minister in the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain), Wesleyan Methodist Church. He was also an accomplished scientist, being the first to study the complete lifecyc ...

(1889–1892),

George Edward Massee George Edward Massee (20 December 1845 – 16 February 1917) was an English mycologist, plant pathologist, and botanist. Background and education George Massee was born in Scampston, East Riding of Yorkshire, the son of a farmer. He was educ ...

(1899–1903), Edward Alfred Minchin (1908–1912)

Arthur Dendy Arthur Dendy (20 January 1865, in Manchester – 24 March 1925, in London) was an English zoologist known for his work on Sponge, marine sponges and the terrestrial invertebrates of Victoria, Australia, notably including the "living fossil" ''Per ...

(1912–1916),

Alfred Barton Rendle Alfred Barton Rendle FRS (19 January 1865 – 11 January 1938) was an English botanist. Rendle was born in Lewisham to John Samuel and Jane Wilson Rendle. He was educated in Lewisham where he first became interested in plants, St Olave's G ...

(1916–1921), Sir

David Prain Sir David Prain (11 July 1857 – 16 March 1944) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist who worked in India at the Calcutta Botanical Garden and went on to become Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Life Born to David Prain, a saddler, and ...

(1924–1926),

William Thomas Calman William Thomas Calman (29 December 1871 – 29 September 1952) was a Scottish zoologist, specialising in the Crustacea. From 1927 to 1936 he was Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum (Natural History) (now the Natural History Museum). Life ...

(1926–1928), John Ramsbottom (1928–1931) and

Hamilton Hartridge Hamilton Hartridge (7 May 1886 – 13 January 1976) was a British eye physiologist and medical writer.'Obituary: H. Hartridge', ''British Medical Journal'', 20 March 1976, p.716 Known for his ingenious experimentation and instrument construction ...

(1951–1954).

Other notable members

* David Lawrence Bryce

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1856–1934)

Membership

Members include amateurs, professionals, beginners and experts with an interest in microscopes, microscopy or microscope slides. Members receive two issues of the scholarly ''Quekett Journal of Microscopy'' and two issues of the informal ''Bulletin of the Quekett Microscopical Club'' each year. Members have access to a private area of the Club’s website that includes meeting reports, videos of lectures, and galleries of entries from slide and photograph competitions.

Meetings

The Club holds monthly meetings in London for its members, normally in the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

, and a few meetings in other parts of the United Kingdom. During the warmer months, the Club arranges excursions where members can collect specimens and examine them using their own microscopes. The Club holds an annual exhibition in the Natural History Museum each autumn. Reports of meetings are published in the Club’s ''Bulletin'' and on its website.

Publications

The Club’s publications include the amateur-friendly ''Bulletin of the Quekett Microscopical Club'' (available only to members), the peer-reviewed ''Quekett Journal of Microscopy'' which has been published in an unbroken run since 1868, and a range of books.

References

{{authority control Microscopy organizations Scientific societies based in the United Kingdom 1865 establishments in England Charities based in London Publishing companies based in London Non-profit academic publishers