Celebrating 350 years of Philosophical Transactions: life sciences papers

One contribution of 18 to a theme issue 'Celebrating 350 years of Philosophical Transactions: life sciences papers'. Editor-in-Chief This special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B has been commissioned to mark the Royal Society's celebration of the 350th anniversary of the publication of the first issue of Philosophical Transactions, the world's oldest scientific journal. The issue is designed both to look back at some major, historical, scientific landmarks in the biological sciences published in the journal, and to consider their ramifications for modern understanding and research. A corresponding special issue of Philosophical Transactions A, covering the physical, mathematical and engineering sciences, has also been produced [1]. Some 2 years after its formation, 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge' was granted an addition to its charter by King Charles II, allowing it to publish. On 6 March 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions was published under the visionary editorship of Henry Oldenburg, a theologian and polymath from the German Hanseatic town of Bremen, who was also the first Secretary of the Society. The information presented in the first volume [2] was both diverse and fascinating, with a wide range of correspondence on topics including 'A spot in one of the belts of Jupiter'; 'An account of micrographia, or the physiological descriptions of minute bodies, made by magnifying glasses' and 'Of the mineral of Liege, yielding both brim-stone and vitriol, and the way of extracting them out of it, used at Liege'. Thus was the continuing, wide, scientific range of the journal established. 1 The journal has changed considerably in its 350 years, although important features of modern scientific publishing were present from the beginning. At the outset, the journal focused on the latest scientific discoveries and development , and often reported on current, rather than on finished, research. Accurate recording of empirical observations and experimental measurements was paramount , and regarded as the route to understanding the true nature of things. The importance of the archival function of scientific journals became painfully apparent with the Great Fire of London in 1666, when the prospect of all knowledge being lost must have seemed all too real. Indeed, all the remaining stock of Philosophical Transactions from that year was destroyed, although thankfully copies still survived outside London. Samuel Pepys, diarist and later President of the Royal Society, rushed to save his own papers from the fire, …