Royal Microscopical Society
The Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) is a society that promotes the use of microscopy. Its corporate form is Royal Charter, i.e. a society founded by royal privilege.
In 1839, the Microscopical Society of London was founded as the oldest society in the world specializing in microscopy and, after receiving a Royal Charter, called itself the Royal Microscopical Society from 1866. The first president was Richard Owen in 1839, and the treasurer was Nathaniel Ward. Subsequent presidents included John Thomas Quekett, and Dukinfield Henry Scott. The Society internationalised in the 1960s and diversified into interest groups, for example the Electron Microscopy Section was formed in 1965. In 1967 the RMS moved from London to Oxford. The RMS is a member of the European Microscopy Society, and hence the International Federation of Societies for Microscopy (IFSM), and the Royal Society of Biology (RSB).
From 1841 they published The Microscopical Journal. This became The Monthly Microscopical Journal in 1866, the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society in 1877, and the Journal of Microscopy in 1969. From 1966 the Proceedings of the Society were published, since 2006 under the title infocus. Furthermore, the RMS Microscopy Handbooks are published. Further fields of activity of the RMS are the professional support of education, for example in the microscope rental program for general education schools, as well as the professional further qualification (RMS-Diploma). In addition to microscopy applications, the RMS is also involved in microscopy technology. The most widely known standards set by the Royal Microscopic Society include the 3 × 1 inch (26 × 76 mm) microscope slide and the MS microscope objective thread for microscope objectives.
The approximately 1400 members of the RMS work in various fields of research, e.g. medical, physical, biological and geo-sciences, including amateur scientists. In 1885 Marian Farquharson, one of the first women, was elected a Fellow of the RMS. However, she was initially not allowed to attend meetings and vote, and subsequently successfully lobbied other learned societies to allow female members to join and participate. After three years of membership and service to the RMS, members may be awarded Fellowship (FRMS). The highest honor bestowed by the RMS is Honorary Fellow (HonFRMS) status, which is limited to 65 members. Deceased HonFRMS have included Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, Ernst Abbe and Rudolf Virchow, as well as Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Current HonFRMS include, among others: Peter B. Hirsch, Ewald Weibel, Archibald Howie, Calvin Quate, Shinya Inoué, Gerd Binnig, Nigel Unwin, John Meurig Thomas, Michael John Whelan, Sumio Iijima, Harald Rose, Michael Sheetz, Helen Saibil, Colin Humphreys, Xiaowei Zhuang, Petra Schwille, Eric Betzig, John Pethica, Wolfgang Baumeister, Stefan Hell and Joachim Frank.
