The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) 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 ...
. 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 its
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 ...
and took its current name. Founded as a society of amateurs, its membership consists of individuals of all skill levels in numerous related fields from throughout the world.
Every year since 1841, the Society has published its own
scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...
, the ''
Journal of Microscopy'', which contains
peer-reviewed
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
papers and book reviews. The Society is a registered charity that is dedicated to advancing science, developing careers and supporting wider understanding of science and microscopy through its Outreach activities.
Probably the Society's greatest contribution is its standardised 3x1 inches microscope glass slides in 1840, which are still the most widely used size today and known as the "RMS standard".
The Royal Microscopical Society is a member of the
Foundation for Science and Technology
The Foundation for Science and Technology is a British charity, providing a neutral platform for debate of policy issues that have a science, technology or innovation element.
Established in 1977, the Foundation brings together Parliamentar ...
, the
European Microscopy Society and the
International Federation of Societies for Microscopy.
History
On 3 September 1839, a meeting of 17 gentlemen including physicist
Joseph Jackson Lister, photography pioneer
Joseph Bancroft Reade, the botanists
Edwin John Quekett and
Richard Kippist,
and artist and inventor
Cornelius Varley,
was held at Quekett's residence at 50
Wellclose Square "to take into consideration the propriety of forming a society for the promotion of microscopical investigation, and for the introduction and improvement of the microscope as a scientific instrument",
following a decade of great advances in the field of microscopy. At this gathering it was agreed that a society should be founded and a committee appointed. It was named the Microscopical Society of London and a constitution was drawn up. On 20 December 1839, a public meeting was held at the Horticultural Society's rooms at 21 Regent Street
Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...
in London. At the convention, Professor Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...
was elected president, along with Nathaniel Ward
Nathaniel Ward (1578 – October 1652) was a Puritan clergyman and pamphleteer in England and Massachusetts.
Biography
A son of John Ward, a noted Puritan minister, he was born in Haverhill, Suffolk, England. He studied law and graduated fr ...
as Treasurer, and Farre as Secretary. A Council was also appointed, consisting of J.S. Bowerbank, Thomas Edwards, Dr F. Farre, George Gwilt, George Jackson, Dr John Lindley
John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...
, George Loddiges, the Rev. C. Pritchard, Edwin John Quekett, M.J. Rippingham, Richard Horsman Solly and Robert Warington. With them, forty-five men were enrolled as members.
At its foundation, the Society acquired the best microscope
A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...
s then obtainable from the three leading makers, Powell & Lealand, Ross, and Smith. The first president of the Society was palaeontologist Sir Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...
, who is best known for coining the word "dinosaur" and for his role in the creation of London's 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 ...
. It was renamed the Royal Microscopical Society in 1866, when the Society received its 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 ...
under the Presidency of James Glaisher
James Glaisher Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (7 April 1809 – 7 February 1903) was an English meteorologist, aeronaut and astronomer.
Biography
Born in Rotherhithe, the son of a London watchmaker, Glaisher was a junior assistant at the C ...
. Its governing documents are its Charter and By-laws.
In 1870, the President, Rev. Joseph Bancroft Reade, in his maiden speech revealed that he had suggested adding the suffix "-al" to the name of the fledgling society to prevent "the possibility of ourselves being mistaken for microscopic objects".
John Thomas Quekett (brother of co-founder Edwin John Quekett) served as the Society's secretary from 1841 to 1860. Distinguished botanist Dukinfield Henry Scott served as president of the Society between 1904 and 1906
In 1885, botanist and women's rights campaigner Marian Farquharson, became the first female Fellow of the Society. Although not permitted to attend meetings, her greatest contribution to the scientific community was of her campaign in gaining women rights to full fellowship of learned societies
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 ...
. In 1900 she sent a letter addressed to the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
and the Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...
petitioning that "duly qualified women should be eligible for ordinary Fellowship and, if elected, there should be no restriction forbidding their attendance at meetings". Both societies refused her requests to join, eventually the Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...
elected her as a fellow in 1908.
In September 1989, Royal Mail
Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...
released a set of four stamps to mark the celebration of the Society's 150th anniversary entitled "Microscopes", one of which being the snowflake, its own logo.
In 2017, the Society appointed two patrons, Baroness Brown of Cambridge and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, both of whom are members of the House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
.
Membership
RMS members come from a wide range of backgrounds within the biological and physical sciences, covering all areas of microscopy and cytometry.
After three years of continuous Ordinary Membership, members are invited to become a Fellow of the Society after a set number of criteria have been met, which allows for individuals to benefit from voting and election rights as well as the use of the post-nominal letters FRMS after their names.
Honorary Fellows
The Society's by-laws previously limited the number of Honorary Fellowships to a maximum of 65 at any one time. However, a proposal to enable new Fellowships to be awarded beyond this figure was approved at the 2019 AGM, and subsequently by the Privy Council.
Trustees
The Society has 23 Trustees including: Professor Maddy Parsons, a Professor of Cell Biology in the Randall Centre for Cell & Molecular Biophysics at King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
, Professor Michelle Peckham, President of the Society from 2016-2019 and Peter J. O'Toole, current President of the Society (from 2023).
Presidents
The current President is Peter J. O'Toole.
The Society had a number of eminent scientists as President since its founding in 1839. Notable former Presidents include:.
*2019-23 Grace Burke
*2016-19 Michelle Peckham
*2013-16 Peter Nellist
*1984-5 Archibald Howie, MA, PhD, FRS
*1966 HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
*1930-1 R. Ruggles Gates, MA, PhD, LLD, FLS, FRS (first husband of Marie Stopes
Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for Eugenic feminism, eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and co ...
)
*1926-7 James A. Murray, MD, BSc, FRS
*1916-17 Edward Heron-Allen, FLS, FGS, FRS
*1913-15 Sir German Sims Woodhead, MA, MD, LLD, FRSE
*1911-12 Henry George Plimmer, FLS, FZS, FRS
*1910-11 Sir J. Arthur Thomson, MA, FRSE
*1909 Sir Edwin Ray Lankester, KCB, MA, LLD, FLS, FRS
*1907-8 The Rt Hon. Lord Avebury, PC, DCL, LLD, FRS
*1904-6 Dukinfield Henry Scott, MA, PhD, LLD, FLS, FRS
*1902-3 Henry Woodward, LLD, FGS, FZS, FRS
*1900-1 William Carruthers, FLS, FGS, FRS
*1891-2 Robert Braithwaite, MD, MRCS
*1888-90 Charles Thomas Hudson, MA, LLD, FRS
*1884-7 Rev. William Henry Dallinger, MA, LLD, FRS
*1881-3 Peter Martin Duncan, MB, FRS
*1879-80 Lionel Smith Beale, MB, FRCP, FRS
*1878 Henry James Slack, FGS
*1875-7 Henry Clifton Sorby, LLD, FRS
*1873-4 Charles Brooke, MA, FRS
*1871-2 William Kitchen Parker, FRS
*1869-70 Rev. Joseph Bancroft Reade, MA, FRS
*1865-8 James Glaisher
James Glaisher Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (7 April 1809 – 7 February 1903) was an English meteorologist, aeronaut and astronomer.
Biography
Born in Rotherhithe, the son of a London watchmaker, Glaisher was a junior assistant at the C ...
, FRS
*1860 John Thomas Quekett, FRS
*1858-9 Edwin Lankester, MD, LLD, FRS
*1856-7 George Shadbolt
*1854-5 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 ...
, CB, MD, LLD, FRS
*1850-1 Arthur Farre, MD, FRS
*1848-9 George Busk, FRS
*1846-7 James Scott Bowerbank, LLD, FRS
*1840-1 Sir Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils.
...
, KCB, DCL, MD, LLD, FRS
Publications
''Journal of Microscopy''
The '' Journal of Microscopy'' provides a forum for publication, discussion, and education for scientists and technologists who use any form of microscopy or image analysis. This includes technology and applications in physics, chemistry, material and biological sciences. The journal publishes review articles, original research papers, short communications, and letters to the editor, covering all aspects of microscopy. It is published on behalf of the Society by Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...
.
''infocus Magazine''
''infocus Magazine'' is the Society's magazine for members. It provides a common forum for scientists and technologists from all disciplines which use any form of microscope, including all branches of microscopy and microbeam analysis. ''infocus'' features articles on microscopy related topics, techniques and developments, reports on RMS events, book reviews, news and much more. Published four times a year, ''infocus'' is free to members.
Outreach activities
The Society is heavily involved with outreach activities, particularly those aimed at children, where the aim is to interest them in science as a whole as opposed to simply lab work. In late 2015, the Society was one of many "subject experts" consulted by awarding organisations as a part of a consultation by the Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...
regarding reforms to the course content of the subject of Geology
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
at GCE Advanced Level (A-level) in the national curriculum. Other advising parties included the British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...
, 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 the Royal School of Mines
The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...
.
Microscope Activity Kit Scheme
One such method is through the use of the Microscope Activity Kit Scheme starting in March 2011, a free scheme sending fully equipped Kits of microscopes and ready-to-go activities to Primary Schools throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland for a term at a time. By December 2014, the Kits had gone from 2 to 50 and had been used by over 20,000 children in the UK.
RMS Diploma
The RMS Diploma, launched in 2012 to replace the former RMS DipTech qualification, aims to help microscopists advance in their careers by improving and refining their skills to gain a distinguished qualification. The Diploma from the Royal Microscopical Society is attained via a flexible portfolio-based course of study that is designed by the candidate with the assistance of their line-manager, and with input from existing Fellows of the Society. This approach ensures that the study is both challenging and rewarding whilst fitting with, and complementing, the candidate's existing employment.[
]
Courses and conferences
Each year the RMS hosts a programme of meetings, courses and conferences, including virtual (online) meetings. The Society's flagship event is the Microscience Microscopy Congress (mmc) Series, which usually takes place every two years. These events provide opportunities for keeping abreast of the latest developments and attract speakers and delegates active in all areas of science from forensics to flow cytometry, live cell imaging to SPM.
Gender equality
Since 2017 the RMS website has hosted a database of women working in microscopy to aid conference and meeting organisers in creating more diverse speaker line-ups for events. Scientists can either add themselves to the database or be nominated for inclusion.
References
External links
*
Publications of the Royal Microscopical Society at the Internet Archive
Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society
(1879–1922) a
Biodiversity Heritage Library
{{Authority control
1839 establishments in England
International Federation of Societies for Microscopy
Organisations based in Oxford with royal patronage
Microscopical
Scientific organizations established in 1839