Scientific Societies: History and Psychological

The Royal Society

In chapter 12 (p. 384) we discuss the forming of the Royal Society, the first scientific society, founded in 1662. We also mention the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the seven regional psychological associations.

Scientific societies hold an important role in science. Many publish journals and nearly all hold annual meetings. Scientific societies also help scientists identify themselves professionally and give them a venue for meeting other scientists who are interested in similar topics.

The Royal Society has the longest history, naturally, and this page tells the story of the Society. Before the actual founding of the society, English scientists began meeting in what they called an "invisible college" to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. Two of those early scientists were Christopher Wren and Robert Boyle. Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton were two other early members. Their correspondence led Newton to develop his theory of universal gravitation.

In 1679, Hooke, then the secretary of the Royal Society, wrote to Newton inviting him to correspond about scientific topics of mutual interest to them. (See: Cohen, I. B., (1981). Newton's discovery of gravity, Scientific American, 244 (3), 166-179 for a comprehensive account.) A few years earlier, Hooke and Newton had disagreed over Newton's work on optics. So, intense was Hooke's criticism that Newton nearly gave up science.

Their new correspondence was amicable and related to planetary motion and the predicted paths of objects in space as they were influenced by other objects. After a visit by Edmund Halley, the discoverer of Halley's comet, Newton's ideas became firmer. Halley urged Newton to publish his ideas and Newton did, writing De Motu.

Psychological Societies

The American Psychological Association was founded in 1892 in the home of G. Stanley Hall. Fernberger's account tells much about the first 50 years of the association. The Association for Psychological Science was founded in 1988. This link provides a timeline of APS's history.

Information on the regional psychological associations can be found here. As we mention in chapter 12, the seven regionals are: the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA), the New England Psychological Association (NEPA), the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA), the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA), the Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA), and the Western Psychological Association (WPA).

The seven regionals differ in size. The WPA and MPA are the largest. NEPA is the smallest. The EPA and SEPA are mid-sized and the SWPA and RMPA are slightly smaller. All of the regionals meet annually in cities within their regions. The MPA nearly always meets in Chicago (at the Palmer House Hotel) while the others move from city to city.

Many students, both undergraduate and graduate, attend the meetings of regional and national societies. The meetings provide many learning opportunities for them. Check the links above for a meeting near you and try to attend.