THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 28

Why did a British organization founded in 1660 make its motto “Take no man’s word for it”?

Subject:  Science -  Nullius in verba

Event: The founding of the Royal Society, 1660

On this day in 1660, The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge was founded.  

After attending a lecture by Christopher Wren, a 25-year-old professor of astronomy at Gresham College, twelve men met to discuss the idea of creating a new organization, a society to promote experimental learning.

The men were inspired by Francis Bacon’s book Novum Organum, where he first proposed what would become known as the scientific method.  Bacon proposed that the source of knowledge should not just be what someone believes; instead, it should be based on what they do, specifically a process of observations, inquiries, and experiments.  This process should include the seeking out of disconfirming evidence as well as confirming evidence, and it should be a collaborative process, hence the necessity for a society based on fellowship and made up of fellows.

                                                            Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

The Royal Society became truly official -- and truly “royal” -- when it was first granted a charter in July 1662. Christopher Wren persuaded the King of England, Charles II, to become its founder and patron.  Supposedly a part of Wren’s pitch involved his drawing of a magnified louse and a homemade lunar globe featuring details of the moon’s surface.

Although English was agreed upon as the society’s primary language, its motto is “Nullius in verba,” which means “Take no man’s word for it.”  It’s an appropriate motto for an organization that is determined to resist claims of authority and to test all things based on facts, evidence, and experiment.  Today the British Royal Society remains the oldest scientific institution in the world.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason: What is the motto of the Royal Society, and why is the motto an important reminder of its work?

Challenge - Seeing Better Through Science:  What is the best thing that has ever been said about science and the importance of the scientific method.  Do a search on some quotations.  When you find one you like, write it down, and explain why you think it is insightful.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

November 28, 1694:  On this day, Japanese haiku master Basho died.  Born Matsuo Kinsaku in Kyoto, Japan, the poet began to write under the pseudonym Basho in 1680 after one of his students presented him with a gift of basho (banana) trees.  Clearly, this was an appropriate gift for a writer who was centered on close observation of the natural world.  Basho adapted the haiku from a longer form called haikai no renga, which opened with a hokku, or “startling verse,” made up of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables.

In the cicada's cry

There's no sign that can foretell

How soon it must die. (2)

November 28, 1976:  On this day, Dallas police officer Robert Wood was murdered while making a routine traffic stop.  The crime became the subject of the groundbreaking documentary The Thin Blue Line.  In the film, director Eroll Morris traces the murder case of Robert Wood, revealing evidence that proves that the convicted killer Randall Adams was actually innocent.  When the film was released in 1988, Adams was serving a life sentence in prison.  Because of the publicity generated by the film, Adams was eventually exonerated and released from prison in 1989.  Writing about his obsession with truth, Morris proclaims the following:

There is such a thing as truth, but we often have a vested interest in ignoring it or outright denying it. Also, it’s not just thinking something that makes it true. Truth is not relative. It’s not subjective. It may be elusive or hidden. People may wish to disregard it. But there is such a thing as truth and the pursuit of truth: trying to figure out what has really happened, trying to figure out how things really are. (3)

Sources:

1-Keeler, C. Richard. “Three Hundred Fifty Years of the Royal Society.” Arch Ophthalmol. 2011;129(10):1361-1365. Oct. 2011.

2-http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/basho

3-https://thisibelieve.org/essay/28/