The Royal Society, St Jamess, London, 2006.

UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 04: �The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge� was founded in November 1660 after a lecture by Christopher Wren, the Gresham Professor of Astronomy. A group of leading scientists of the day, (or �natural philosophers� as they were known), decided to found �a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning�. The group included Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker. Today it is �the leading independent scientific body of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth�. The Royal Society is based at 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, built in 1827-1832 to designs by John Nash. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)