through our collection of 30,000 manuscripts and 2,800 Fellows.
about this project and the Royal Society scientific archives.
Discover the historical context of our collections in our .
Welcome to
Science in the Making
In 1665, the first issue of the Royal Society trailblazing scientific journal, the Philosophical Transactions appears. Publishing research across the sciences as reported by and to the Fellows of the Royal Society, the Philosophical Transactions has showcased the work of preeminent scientific minds of the past 370 years.
Today, Science in the Making takes the Philosophical Transactions as its starting point and dives back into the archives to go beyond the printed page and allows users to discover how science was made, discussed, and shared since the very beginnings of its history.
Explore the collections
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Herschel Letters
Dates: 1807-1875
This collection of nearly 10,900 letters, drafts, copies and notes is the largest repository of scientific correspondence from and to Sir John Herschel, leading figure of Victorian science.View collection -
Early Letters
Dates: 1613-1740
The archival collection known as 'Early Letters' is composed of original manuscript letters sent to, or collected by, the Royal Society from English and foreign correspondents.View collection -
Classified Papers
Dates: 1592-1741
The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.View collection -
Register Books
Dates: 1661-1739
The 'Register Books Originals' contain copies of scientific papers submitted to the Society and considered for publication. The papers were transcribed to establish their precedence for a particular discovery or idea.View collection -
Letters and Papers
Dates: 1741-1806
'Letters and Papers' contains the scientific correspondence sent to the Royal Society through the 18th century, many of which were published in its journal.View collection -
Archived Papers
Dates: 1768-1989
The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.View collection -
Philosophical Transactions
Dates: 1802-1865
The 'Philosophical Transactions' collection comprises manuscript versions of papers published in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the world’s first and longest continuously running journal dedicated to science.View collection -
Referee Reports
Date: 1832-1949
This collection contains reports on scientific papers submitted for publication to the Royal Society. Started in 1832 when the system was formalised, it is a record of the origins of peer review publishing in practice.View collection -
Manuscripts General
Dates: 1551 - 1951
Science in the Making presents selected items from the 'Manuscripts General' series, notably astronomical observations, investigations of discrete topics, and indices and registers of papers read before the Royal Society.View collection -
Proceedings Papers
Dates: 1882 - 1894
The archival collection known as 'Proceedings Papers' is comprised of manuscripts and occasional proofs of scientific papers sent to the Royal Society which were read before meetings of Fellows and printed in full in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.View collection