Sea battles, beasties in the blood, and the summer of 1665

In the summer and autumn of 1665, a German expatriate in London exchanged a series of fascinating letters with a renegade Dutch Jew. The expatriate was Henry Oldenburg, who was serving as secretary of the newly-formed Royal Society of London. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge – which, if formed today, probably would be styled far less handsomely as “RS-LINK” – was a science club of sorts. It provided gentlemen with the occasion to assemble and share their discoveries, puzzlements, and wonders – without their conversation degenerating into disputes over politics and religion. In the earliest history of the Society, Thomas Sprat described it as a respite from insanity: “Their first purpose was no more, then onely the satisfaction of breathing a freer air, and of conversing in quiet one with another, without being ingag’d in the passions, and madness of that dismal Age”.

– See more at: http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2014/01/sea-battles-beasties-in-the-blood-and-the-summer-of-1665.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+3quarksdaily+(3quarksdaily)#sthash.qhfG32Qe.dpuf

About Huenemann

Curious about the ways humans use their minds and hearts to distract themselves from the meaninglessness of life.
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