Institutions and Dissent: Historical Geology in the Early Royal Society

Abstract

Th e paper aims to question the traditional view of the early Royal Society of London, the oldest scientifi c institution in continuous existence. According to that view, the institutional life of the Society in the early decades of activity (1660s and 1670s) was characterized by a strictly Baconian methodology. But the reconstruction of the discussions about fossils and natural history within the Society shows that this monolithic image is far from being correct. Despite the persistent reference to the Baconian Solomon House, the Society did not impose or support a common programme of research in the fi eld of the natural history of the Earth.