Invisible College
Encyclopedia
The Invisible College has been described as a precursor group to the Royal Society
of London, consisting of a number of natural philosophers around Robert Boyle
. It has been suggested that other members included prominent figures later closely concerned with the Royal Society; but several groups preceded the formation of the Royal Society, and who the other members of this one were is still debated by scholars.
The concept of "invisible college" is mentioned in German Rosicrucian
pamphlets in the early 17th century. Ben Jonson
in England referenced the idea, related in meaning to Francis Bacon
's House of Solomon
, in a masque
The Fortunate Isles and Their Union
from 1624/5. The term gained currency for the exchanges of correspondence within the Republic of Letters
.
, who was then in Geneva
), Francis Tallents
who at that point was a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge
, and London-based Samuel Hartlib
.
The Hartlib Circle
were a far-reaching group of correspondents linked to Hartlib, an intelligencer
. They included Sir Cheney Culpeper
and Benjamin Worsley
who were interested, among other matters, in alchemy
, Worsley in 1646 was experimenting on saltpetre manufacture, and Charles Webster in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography argues that he was the "prime mover" of the Invisible College at this point: a network with aims and views close to those of the Hartlib Circle with which it overlapped. Margery Purver concludes that the 1647 reference of "invisible college" was to the group around Hartlib concerned to lobby Parliament in favour of an "Office of Address" or centralised communication centre for the exchange of information.
Richard S. Westfall
distinguishes Hartlib's "Comenian circle" from other groups; and gives a list of "invisible college" members based on this identification. They comprise: William Petty
, Boyle, Arnold Boate and Gerard Boate
, Cressy Dymock, and Gabriel Platte.
, writing in the 18th century; this identification then became orthodox, for example in the first edition Dictionary of National Biography
. This other group, later centred on Wadham College, Oxford
and John Wilkins
, was centrally concerned in the founding of the Royal Society; and Boyle became part of it in the 1650s. It is more properly called "the men of Gresham", from its connection with Gresham College
in London.
It is the identification of the Gresham group with the "invisible college" that is now generally queried by scholars. Christopher Hill
writes that the Gresham group was convened in 1645 by Theodore Haak
in Samuel Foster
's rooms in Gresham College; and notes Haak's membership of the Hartlib Circle and Comenian connections, while also distinguishing the two groups. Haak is mentioned as convener in an account by John Wallis, who talks about a previous group containing many physicians who then came to Foster's rooms; but Wallis's account is generally seen to be somewhat at variance with the history provided by Thomas Sprat
of the Royal Society.
's work on citation networks. It is related, but significantly different, from other concepts of expert communities, such as 'Epistemic communities' (Haas, 1992) or Community of Practice
(Wenger, 1998). Recently, the concept was applied to the global network of communications among scientists by Caroline S. Wagner in The New Invisible College: Science for Development (Brookings 2008). It was also referred to in Clay Shirky
's book Cognitive Surplus
In fiction it is mentioned in the novel The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, and was the inspiration for the Unseen University
in the works of Terry Pratchett
.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
of London, consisting of a number of natural philosophers around Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
. It has been suggested that other members included prominent figures later closely concerned with the Royal Society; but several groups preceded the formation of the Royal Society, and who the other members of this one were is still debated by scholars.
Background
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
pamphlets in the early 17th century. Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
in England referenced the idea, related in meaning to Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
's House of Solomon
House of Solomon
The House of Solomon can refer to* The Solomonic Dynasty, the traditional Imperial House of Ethiopia* Salomon's House in the 1627 utopian work New Atlantis by Francis Bacon...
, in a masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
The Fortunate Isles and Their Union
The Fortunate Isles and Their Union
The Fortunate Isles and Their Union is a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, and performed on January 9, 1625...
from 1624/5. The term gained currency for the exchanges of correspondence within the Republic of Letters
Republic of Letters
Republic of Letters is most commonly used to define intellectual communities in the late 17th and 18th century in Europe and America. It especially brought together the intellectuals of Age of Enlightenment, or "philosophes" as they were called in France...
.
Connection with Robert Boyle and the Royal Society
Much has been made of an "invisible college" in London of the later 1640s. Revisionist history has undermined earlier narratives.Detailed evidence
In letters in 1646 and 1647, Boyle refers to "our invisible college" or "our philosophical college". The society's common theme was to acquire knowledge through experimental investigation. Three dated letters are the basic documentary evidence: Boyle sent them to Isaac Marcombes (Boyle's former tutor and a HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
, who was then in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
), Francis Tallents
Francis Tallents
Francis Tallents was a non-conforming English Presbyterian clergyman.-Life:He was the eldest son of Philip Tallents, whose father, a Frenchman, accompanied Sir Francis Leake to England after saving his life. Francis Tallents was born at Pilsley in the parish of North Wingfield, Derbyshire, in...
who at that point was a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
, and London-based Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib was a German-British polymath. An active promoter and expert writer in many fields, he was interested in science, medicine, agriculture, politics, and education. He settled in England, where he married and died...
.
The Hartlib Circle
Hartlib Circle
The Hartlib Circle refers primarily to the correspondence network set up in Western and Central Europe by Samuel Hartlib, an intelligencer based in London, and his associates, in the period 1630 to 1660.-Structure:J. T. Young writes:...
were a far-reaching group of correspondents linked to Hartlib, an intelligencer
Intelligencer
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an intelligencer is "One who conveys intelligence or information", "One employed to obtain secret information, an informer, a spy, a secret agent", or "A bringer of news; a messenger; an informant; a newsmonger"...
. They included Sir Cheney Culpeper
Cheney Culpeper
Sir Cheney Culpeper was an English landowner, a supporter of Samuel Hartlib, and a largely non-political figure of his troubled times, interested in technological progress and reform. His sister Judith was the second wife of John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper.-Landowner:After a legal training, he...
and Benjamin Worsley
Benjamin Worsley
Benjamin Worsley was an English physician, Surveyor-General of Ireland, experimental scientist, civil servant and intellectual figure of Commonwealth England. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, but may not have graduated....
who were interested, among other matters, in alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, Worsley in 1646 was experimenting on saltpetre manufacture, and Charles Webster in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography argues that he was the "prime mover" of the Invisible College at this point: a network with aims and views close to those of the Hartlib Circle with which it overlapped. Margery Purver concludes that the 1647 reference of "invisible college" was to the group around Hartlib concerned to lobby Parliament in favour of an "Office of Address" or centralised communication centre for the exchange of information.
Richard S. Westfall
Richard S. Westfall
Richard S. Westfall was an American academic, biographer and historian of science. He is best known for his biography of Isaac Newton and his work on the scientific revolution of the 17th century.-Life:...
distinguishes Hartlib's "Comenian circle" from other groups; and gives a list of "invisible college" members based on this identification. They comprise: William Petty
William Petty
Sir William Petty FRS was an English economist, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to survey the land that was to be confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers...
, Boyle, Arnold Boate and Gerard Boate
Gerard Boate
Gerard Boate was a Dutch physician, known for his Natural History of Ireland.-Life:...
, Cressy Dymock, and Gabriel Platte.
Historiography of the Royal Society
Lauren Kassell, writing for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, notes that the group of natural philosophers meeting in London from 1645 was identified as the "invisible college" by Thomas BirchThomas Birch
Thomas Birch was an English historian.-Life:He was the son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, and was born at Clerkenwell....
, writing in the 18th century; this identification then became orthodox, for example in the first edition Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
. This other group, later centred on Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
and John Wilkins
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
, was centrally concerned in the founding of the Royal Society; and Boyle became part of it in the 1650s. It is more properly called "the men of Gresham", from its connection with Gresham College
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
in London.
It is the identification of the Gresham group with the "invisible college" that is now generally queried by scholars. Christopher Hill
Christopher Hill (historian)
John Edward Christopher Hill , usually known simply as Christopher Hill, was an English Marxist historian and author of textbooks....
writes that the Gresham group was convened in 1645 by Theodore Haak
Theodore Haak
Theodore Haak was a German Calvinist scholar, resident in England in later life. Haak’s communications abilities and interests in the new science provided the backdrop for convening the “1645 Group,” a precursor of the Royal Society.Although not himself known as a natural philosopher, Haak's...
in Samuel Foster
Samuel Foster
Samuel Foster was an English mathematician and astronomer. He made several observations of eclipses, both of the sun and moon, at Gresham College and in other places; and he was known particularly for inventing and improving planetary instruments...
's rooms in Gresham College; and notes Haak's membership of the Hartlib Circle and Comenian connections, while also distinguishing the two groups. Haak is mentioned as convener in an account by John Wallis, who talks about a previous group containing many physicians who then came to Foster's rooms; but Wallis's account is generally seen to be somewhat at variance with the history provided by Thomas Sprat
Thomas Sprat
Thomas Sprat , English divine, was born at Beaminster, Dorset, and educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he held a fellowship from 1657 to 1670.Having taken orders he became a prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral in 1660...
of the Royal Society.
Modern use
The concept of invisible college was developed in the sociology of science by Diane Crane (1972) building on Derek J. de Solla PriceDerek J. de Solla Price
Derek John de Solla Price was a physicist, historian of science, and information scientist,credited as the father of scientometrics.-Biography:...
's work on citation networks. It is related, but significantly different, from other concepts of expert communities, such as 'Epistemic communities' (Haas, 1992) or Community of Practice
Community of practice
A community of practice is, according to cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created...
(Wenger, 1998). Recently, the concept was applied to the global network of communications among scientists by Caroline S. Wagner in The New Invisible College: Science for Development (Brookings 2008). It was also referred to in Clay Shirky
Clay Shirky
Clay Shirky is an American writer, consultant and teacher on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies. He has a joint appointment at New York University as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and Assistant Arts Professor in the New...
's book Cognitive Surplus
Cognitive Surplus
Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age is a 2010 non-fiction book by Clay Shirky. The book is an indirect sequel to Shirky's Here Comes Everybody, which covered the impact of social media.-Summary:...
In fiction it is mentioned in the novel The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, and was the inspiration for the Unseen University
Unseen University
The Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
in the works of Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
.
See also
- Education in Poland during World War IIEducation in Poland during World War IIThis article covers the topic of underground education in Poland during World War II. Secret learning prepared new cadres for the post-war reconstruction of Poland and countered the German and Soviet threat to exterminate the Polish culture....
, on underground universities - Flying UniversityFlying UniversityFlying University was the name of an underground educational enterprise that operated from 1885 to 1905 in Warsaw, the historic Polish capital, then under the control of the Russian Empire, and that was revived between 1977 and 1981 in the People's Republic of Poland...
- Collegium InvisibileCollegium InvisibileCollegium Invisibile is an academic society in Poland, founded in 1995, that affiliates outstanding Polish students with distinguished scholars in accordance with the idea of liberal education...
- Society for the Preservation of Film Music
- Unseen UniversityUnseen UniversityThe Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
Further reading
- Robert LomasRobert LomasRoberto Lomas is a British writer and business studies academic. He writes primarily about the history of Freemasonry as well as the Neolithic period, ancient engineering and archaeoastronomy...
, The Invisible College: The Royal Society, Freemasonry and the birth of modern science, Headline Book Publishing, 2002