The
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (
Phil. Trans.) is a
scientific journalIn academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
published by the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
of London. It was established in 1665, making it the first journal in the world exclusively devoted to science, and it has remained in continuous publication ever since, making it the world's longest-running scientific journal. The slightly earlier
Journal des sçavansThe Journal des sçavans , founded by Denis de Sallo, was the earliest academic journal published in Europe, that from the beginning also carried a proportion of material that would not now be considered scientific, such as obituaries of famous men, church history, and legal reports...
can also lay claim to be the world's first science journal, although it contained a wide variety of non-scientific material as well. The use of the word "philosophical" in the title derives from the phrase "
natural philosophyNatural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
", which was the equivalent of what would now be generically called "
scienceScience is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
".
History
The first issue, dated 6 March 1665, was edited and published by the society's first secretary,
Henry OldenburgHenry Oldenburg was a German theologian known as a diplomat and a natural philosopher. He was one of the foremost intelligencers of Europe of the seventeenth century, with a network of correspondents to rival those of Fabri de Peiresc, Marin Mersenne and Ismaël Boulliau...
, some six years after the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
had been founded. Oldenburg published the journal at his own personal expense and seems to have entered into an agreement with the Council of the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
allowing him to keep any resulting profits. He was to be disappointed, however, since the journal performed poorly from a financial point of view during Oldenburg's lifetime. Over the centuries, many important scientific discoveries have been published in the
Philosophical Transactions. Famous contributing authors include
Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
,
James Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
,
Michael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
, and
Charles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. In 1672, the journal published Newton's first paper
New Theory about Light and Colours, which can be seen as the beginning of his public scientific career. The position of editor was sometimes held jointly and included
William MusgraveWilliam Musgrave , physician and antiquary. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he was a fellow from 1677 to 1692. In 1680 he spent a brief period at the University of Leiden....
(Nos 167 to 178) and
Robert PlotRobert Plot was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum....
(Nos 144 to 178).
Current publication
In 1887 the journal expanded and divided into two separate publications, one serving the Physical Sciences (
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Physical, Mathematical and Engineering SciencesPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Royal Society. It was originally published as Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, but was split into two journals in 1887. Phil....
) and the other focusing on the life sciences (
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological SciencesPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Royal Society. The ISO abbreviation for the journal is Phil. Trans. R. Soc...
). Both journals now publish themed issues and issues resulting from papers presented at the Discussion Meetings of the
Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
. Primary
researchResearch can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
articles are published in the sister journals
Proceedings of the Royal SocietyProceedings of the Royal Society is the parent title of two scientific journals published by the Royal Society, whereas its initial journal, Philosophical Transactions, is now devoted to special thematic issues...
,
Biology LettersBiology Letters is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It was split off as a separate journal from the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences in 2005 after having been published as a supplement. Originally it was published quarterly, but from 2007 it has been...
,
Journal of the Royal Society InterfaceThe Journal of the Royal Society Interface is an international scientific journal publishing reviews, research articles, and short reports from the interface between the physical sciences, including mathematics, and the life sciences...
, and
Interface Focus.
External links