THE CHEMICAL-SOCIETY - A GLIMPSE AT THE FOUNDATIONS

The Royal Society of Chemistry, as the successor of the Chemical Society, is the world's oldest surviving chemical society at 150 years. There were older societies-such as the Linnean-and there were also earlier small chemical clubs in London, but the founding of the Chemical Society inaugurated a fundamental change in science that none of these others influenced to the same extent. The Society brought together diverse groups from all corners of Britain for the purpose of professional self-enhancement; its strength lay in the way that it could pool their efforts and unite their voices.