Royal Society Unveils "Trailblazing" Website To Mark 350th Birthday

The Royal Society has published 60 of its most ground breaking scientific papers in a new website called Trailblazing to mark the Society's 350th anniversary next year.

The site, which is presented as an "interactive timeline for everybody with an interest in science", has been put together by a team of scientists, historians and science communicators, a project headed by Professor Michael Thompson FRS.

Works - showing one of the very first recorded attempted blood transfusions - dating from 1666 have been unveiled on the website and include some of the most important scientific papers ever published.

Users of the website are invited to proceed at their own pace through the interactive Flash interface where you can not only select which categories to browse through but also download the PDF documents of the highlighted commentaries for offline reading.

Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society, commented on the website saying that the papers on it showed "a ceaseless quest by scientists over the centuries [...] to test and build on our knowledge of humankind and the universe."

Amongst the other notable documents published are Benjamin Franklin's first steps with lightning, the discovery of salicylic acid, the main component of Aspirin, black holes, penicillin and the coming of age of a young musician called Mozart.

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Our Comments
The project by the Royal Society is a commendable one as it offers an easy interface to get in touch with some of the most important documents ever written. 2010 will also see a number of other activities by the Royal Society to mark its anniversary.

Related Links
From young Mozart to black holes, 350 years of the Royal Society go online
(Guardian)

Royal Society's 350th anniversary year begins
(Telegraph)

Royal Society manuscripts go online
(UKPress)

Royal Society celebrates 350 years of discovery
(AP)

"Trailblazing" website reveals 350 years of science
(Reuters)