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Royal Medal
...| Royal Medals | |
|---|---|
 King George IV of the United Kingdom (pictured) initiated the Royal Medals during 1825.[1] | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding achievements in biological, physical and applied sciences. |
| Sponsored by | The Royal Society of London, UK |
| Date | Since 1826 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Website | royalsociety |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Bakerian Medal (physical sciences)[2] Croonian Medal (biological sciences)[2] |
| Next (lower) | All other society awards/medals in the biological or physical sciences (restricted to Commonwealth or Irish citizens or residents only)[2] |
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences", done within the Commonwealth of Nations.[1]
Background
The award was created by George IV and awarded first during 1826. Initially there were two medals awarded, both for the most important discovery within the year previous, a time period which was lengthened to five years and then shortened to three. The format was endorsed by William IV and Victoria, who had the conditions changed during 1837 so that mathematics was a subject for which a Royal Medal could be awarded, albeit only every third year. The conditions were changed again during 1850 so that:
... the Royal Medals in each year should be awarded for the two most important contributions to the advancement of Natural Knowledge, published originally in Her Majesty's dominions within a period of not more than ten years and not less than one year of the date of the award, subject, of course, to Her Majesty's approval. ... in the award of the Royal Medals, one should be given in each of the two great divisions of Natural Knowledge.
During 1965, the system was changed to its current format, in which three medals are awarded annually by the monarch on the recommendation of the Royal Society Council. Because of its dual nature (for both physical and biological science) the award winners are chosen by both the A- and B-side Award Committees. Since its establishment during 1826 the medal has been awarded 405 times.[1]
Recent winners
 | This section needs to be updated. (January 2024) |
Full list of recipients
| Year | Name | Field | Rationale[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1826 | James Ivory | Mathematics | "For his Paper on Astronomical Refractions, published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1823; and his other valuable Papers on Mathematical Subjects." |
| John Dalton | Physics | "For his development of the Atomic Theory and his other important labours and discoveries in Physical Science." | |
| 1827 | Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve | Astronomy | "For his Work, entitled, Catalogus Novus Stellarum Duplicium." |
| Humphry Davy | Physics | "For his Bakerian Lecture, On the Relations of Electrical Changes, considered as the last link, in the order of time, of the splendid chain of Discoveries in Chemical Electricity, which has been continued for so many years of his valuable life." | |
| 1828 | Johann Franz Encke | Astronomy | "For his Accurate Determination of the Orbit of a Comet of short period, as confirmed by observation." |
| William Hyde Wollaston | Chemistry | "For his communication, entitled, On a method of rendering Platina malleable, being the conclusion of a series of researches on the properties of the Metallic Bodies contained in the Ores of Platina." | |
| 1829 | Charles Bell | Anatomy | "For his Discoveries relating to the Nervous System." |
| Eilhard Mitscherlich | Chemistry | "For his Discoveries relating to the Laws of Crystallization, and the Properties of Crystals." | |
| 1830 | Antoine Jerome Balard | Chemistry | "For his Discovery of Brome." |
| David Brewster | Physics | "For his Communications to the Royal Society on the Polarization and other Properties of Light." | |
| 1831 | No award | ||
| 1832 | No award | ||
| 1833 | Augustin Pyramus de Candolle | Botany | "For his Researches and Investigations in Vegetable Physiology, as detailed in his Work, entitled, Physiologie Vegetale." |
| John Herschel | Astronomy | "For his Paper "on the Investigation of the Orbits of Revolving Double Stars," inserted in the Fifth Volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society." | |
| 1834 | Charles Lyell | Geology | "For his Work, entitled, Principles of Geology." |
| John William Lubbock | Physics | "For his Papers on the Tides published in the Philosophical Transactions." | |
| 1835 | Michael Faraday | Chemistry | "For his investigations and discoveries contained in the series of experimental researches in electricity published in the Philosophical Transactions, and more particularly for the seventh series, relating to the definite nature of electrochemical action." |
| William Rowan Hamilton | Physics | "For the papers published by him in the 16th and 17th volumes of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, entitled Supplement to an Essay on the Theory of Systems of Rays, and more particularly for those investigations at the conclusion of the third and last supplement, which relate to the discovery of conic refraction." | |
| 1836 | George Newport | Anatomy | "For his series of investigations on the anatomy and physiology of insects, contained in his two papers published in the Philosophical Transactions within the last three years." |
| John Herschel | Astronomy | "For his paper on nebulae and clusters of stars, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1833." | |
| 1837 | William Whewell | Physics | "For his researches connected with the theory of the tides, communicated to the Royal Society and published in its Transactions within the last three years." |
| 1838 | William Fox Talbot | Mathematics | "For his papers entitled Researches in the Integral Calculus, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1836 and 1837." |
| Thomas Graham | Chemistry | "For his paper entitled "Inquiries respecting the Constitution of salts, of oxalates, nitrates, phosphates, sulphates and chlorides," published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1836." | |
| 1839 | James Ivory | Mathematics | "For his paper on the theory of the astronomical refractions published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1838. Part II." |
| Martin Barry | Embryology | "For his papers on embryology, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1838 and 1839." | |
| 1840 | Charles Wheatstone | Physiology | "For his paper entitled Contributions to the physiology of vision, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1838." |
| John Herschel | Astronomy | "For his paper entitled On the chemical action of the rays of the solar spectrum on preparations of silver, and other substances, both metallic and non-metallic, and on some photogenic processes, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1840." | |
| 1841 | Eaton Hodgkinson | Engineering | "For his paper entitled Experimental researches on the strength of pillars of cast iron, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1840." |
| Robert Kane | Chemistry | "For his memoir entitled the Chemical History of archil and litmus, published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1840." | |
| 1842 | John Frederic Daniell | Chemistry | "For his letters on the electrolysis of secondary compounds and on voltaic combinations published in the Transactions for 1840 and 1842." |
| William Bowman | Anatomy | "For his paper on the structure and use of the Malpighian bodies of the kidney, with observations on the circulation through that gland, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the present year." | |
| 1843 | Charles Wheatstone | Physics | "For his paper entitled, an account of several new instruments and processes for determining the constants of a voltaic circuit, printed in the Philosophical Transactions for the present year." |
| James David Forbes | Physics | "For his researches on the law of extinction of the solar rays in passing through the atmosphere, contained in a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1842." | |
| 1844 | George Boole | Mathematics | "For his paper on a general method in analysis, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the present year." |
| Thomas Andrews | Chemistry | "For his paper on the thermal changes accompanying basic substitutions, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the present year." | |
| 1845 | George Biddell Airy | Astronomy | "For his paper on the laws of the tides on the coast of Ireland, as inferred from an extensive series of observations made in connection with the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, published in the Philosophical Transactions for the present year." |
| Thomas Snow Beck | Medicine | "For his paper entitled On the nerves of the uterus, which has been ordered for publication in the Philosophical Transactions." | |
| 1846 | Michael Faraday | Physics | "For his experimental researches in electricity, twentieth and twenty first series, on new magnetic actions, and on the magnetic conditions of all matter, inserted in the Philosophical Transactions part I. for 1845." |
| Richard Owen | Biology | "For his paper entitled A description of certain Belemnites preserved with a great proportion of their soft parts in the Oxford clay at Christian-Malford, Wilts, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1844." | |
| 1847 | George Fownes | Chemistry | "For his papers published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1845, on the artificial formation of a vegeto-alkali, and on benzoline, published in the same volume of the Transactions" |
| William Robert Grove | Physics | "For his papers published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1845 and 1847, on the gas voltaic battery, and on certain phenomena of voltaic ignition" | |
| 1848 | Charles James Hargreave | Mathematics | "For his paper on the solution of linear differential equations, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1848." |
| Thomas Galloway | Mathematics | "For his paper on the proper motion of the Solar System, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1847" | |
| 1849 | Edward Sabine | Astronomy | "For his contributions to terrestrial magnetism, published in the Philosophical Transactions parts VII and VIII, and his memoir on the diurnal variation of the magnetic declination at Saint Helena, part I." |
| Gideon Mantell | Geology | "For his paper on the Iguanodon, published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1848, being a continuation of a series of papers by him on the same fossil reptile, by which he has rendered eminent services to geology." | |
| 1850 | Benjamin Brodie | Chemistry | "For his investigations on the chemical nature of wax, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1848 and 1849." |
| Thomas Graham | Chemistry | "For his paper on the motion of gases, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1849." | |
| 1851 | William Parsons | Astronomy | "For his observations on the nebulae published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1850." |
| George Newport | Entomology | "For his paper on the impregnation of the ovum in the amphibia (first series), published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1851." | |
| 1852 | James Prescott Joule | Physics | "For his paper on the mechanical equivalent of heat, printed in the Philosophical Transactions for 1850." |
| Thomas Henry Huxley | Biology | "For his papers on the anatomy and the affinities of the family of the Medusae, printed in the Philosophical Transactions." | |
| 1853 | Charles Darwin | Natural history | "For his work entitled Geological Observations on Coral Reefs, Volcanic Islands, and on South America, and his work, Fossil Circhipeda of Great Britain, Section Lepadidae, Monograph of the Circhipeda." |
| John Tyndall[7] | Physics | "For his paper on diamagnetism and magne-crystallic action, published in the Philosophical Magazine in 1851. (the award of this medal was declined by Dr Tyndall)" | |
| 1854 | August Wilhelm von Hofmann | Chemistry | "For his researches in organic chemistry published in the Transactions of the Royal and Chemical Societies." |
| Joseph Dalton Hooker | Botany | "For his researches in various branches of science, especially in botany, as naturalist of the Antarctic expedition of Sir James Ross, and in an expedition to the eastern part of the Himalayan range; of which researches part has been published in works entitled The Antarctic Flora, and the Flora of New Zealand, and in various other communications, and part is now in course of publication." | |
| 1855 | John Obadiah Westwood | Entomology | "For his various monographs and papers on entomology." |
| John Russell Hind | Astronomy | "For the discovery of ten planetoids, the computation of their orbits, and various other astronomical discoveries." | |
| 1856 | John Richardson | Natural history | "For his contributions to natural history and physical geography." |
| William Thomson | Physics | "For his various chemical researches relating to electricity, to the motive power of heat, and to other subjects." | |
| 1857 | Edward Frankland | Chemistry | "For the isolation of the organic radicals of the alcohols, and for his researches on the metallic derivatives of alcohol." |
| John Lindley | Botany | "For his numerous researches and works on all branches of scientific botany, and especially for his vegetable kingdom, and his genera & species of Orchideae." | |
| 1858 | Albany Hancock | Biology | "For his various researches on the anatomy of the mollusca." |
| William Lassell | Astronomy | "For his various astronomical discoveries and researches." | |
| 1859 | Arthur Cayley | Mathematics | "For his mathematical papers published in the Philosophical Transactions, and in various English and foreign journals." |
| George Bentham | Botany | "For his important contributions to the advancement of systematic and descriptive botany." | |
| 1860 | Augustus Volney Waller | Neurophysiology | "For his investigations into the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, and for the introduction of a valuable method of conducting such investigations." |
| William Fairbairn | Structural engineering | "For his various experimental inquiries on the properties of the materials employed in mechanical construction, contained in the Philosophical transactions, and in the publications of other scientific societies." | |
| 1861 | James Joseph Sylvester | Mathematics | "For his various memoirs and researches in mathematical science." |
| William Benjamin Carpenter | Physiology | "For his researches on the Foraminifera, contained in four memoirs in the Philosophical Transactions, his investigations into the structure of shell, his observations on the embryonic development of Purpura, and his various other writings in physiology and comparative anatomy" | |
| 1862 | Alexander William Williamson | Chemistry | "For his researches on the compound ethers, and his subsequent communications in organic chemistry." |
| John Thomas Romney Robinson | Astronomy | "For the Armagh catalogue of 5345 stars, deduced from observations made at the Armagh Observatory, from the years 1820 up to 1854; for his papers on the construction of astronomical instruments in the memoirs of the Astronomical Society, and his paper on electromagnets in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy." | |
| 1863 | John Peter Gassiot | Physics | "For his researches on the voltaic battery and current, and on the discharge of electricity through attenuated media." |
| Miles Berkeley | Botany | "For his researches in cryptogamic botany, especially mycology." | |
| 1864 | Jacob Lockhart Clarke | Anatomy | "For his researches on the intimate structure of the spinal cord and brain, and on the development of the spinal cord, published in five memoirs in the Philosophical Transactions and in other writings." |
| Warren De La Rue | Astronomy | "For his observations on the total eclipse of the Sun of 1860, and for his improvements in astronomical photography." | |
| 1865 | Archibald Smith | Mathematics | "For his papers in the Philosophical Transactions and elsewhere, on the magnetism of ships." |
| Joseph Prestwich | Geology | "For his numerous & valuable contributions to geological science and more especially for his papers published in the Philosophical Transactions on the general question of the excavation of river valleys, and on the superficial deposits in France and England in which the works of man are associated with the remains of extinct animals." | |
| 1866 | William Huggins | Astronomy | "For his researches on the spectra of some of the chemical elements and on the spectra of certain of the heavenly bodies; and especially for his researches on the spectra of the nebulae, published in the Philosophical Transactions." |
| William Kitchen Parker | Anatomy | "For his researches in comparative osteology, and more especially on the anatomy of the skull, as contained in papers published in the Transactions of the Zoological Society and the Philosophical Transactions." | |
| 1867 | John Bennet Lawes and Joseph Henry Gilbert | Chemistry | "For their researches in agricultural chemistry." |
| William Edmond Logan | Geology | "For his geological researches in Canada, and the construction of a geological map of that colony." | |
| 1868 | Alfred Russel Wallace | Zoology | "For his labours in practical and theoretical zoology." |
| George Salmon | Mathematics | "For his researches in analytical geometry and the theory of surfaces, published in the Philosophical Transactions, the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, and the Quarterly Journal of Mathematics." | |
| 1869 | Augustus Matthiessen | Chemistry | "For his researches on the electrical and other physical properties of metals and their alloys." |
| Thomas Maclear | Astronomy | "For his measurement of an arc of the meridian at the Cape of Good Hope." | |
| 1870 | Thomas Davidson | Paleontology | "For his works on the recent and fossil Brachiopoda, more especially his series of monographs in the publications of the Palaeontographical Society." |
| William Hallowes Miller | Mineralogy | "For his researches and writings on mineralogy and crystallography, and his scientific labours in the restoration of the National Standard of Weight." | |
| 1871 | George Busk | Zoology | "For his researches in zoology, physiology, and comparative anatomy." |
| John Stenhouse | Chemistry | "For his researches on the lichens & their proximate constituents and derivatives, including Erythrite; and for his researches on the action of charcoal in purifying air." | |
| 1872 | Henry John Carter | Zoology | "For his long continued and valuable researches in zoology, and more especially for his inquiries into the natural history of the Spongiadae." |
| Thomas Anderson | Chemistry | "For his investigations on the organic bases of Dippells animal oil; on codeine; on the crystallized constituents of opium; on piperin and on papaverin; and for his researches in physiological and animal chemistry." | |
| 1873 | George James Allman | Zoology | "For his researches in zoology, and especially for his memoirs on the structure, development, and physiology of the gymnoblastic hydroids." |
| Henry Enfield Roscoe | Chemistry | "For his various chemical investigations, especially fot those on the chemical action of light, and upon the element Vanadium and its combinations." | |
| 1874 | Henry Clifton Sorby | Geology | "For his researches on Slaty cleavage and on the minute structure of minerals and rocks; for the construction of the microspectroscope, and for his researches on colouring matters." |
| William Crawford Williamson | Paleontology | "For his contributions to zoology & palaeontology, & especially for his investigations into the structure of the fossil plants of the coal measures." | |
| 1875 | Thomas Oldham | Geology | "For his long & important services in the science of geology, first as Professor of Geology, Trin. Col. Dub. And Director of the Geol. Survey of Ireland & chiefly for the great work which he has long conducted as superintendent of the Geol. Survey of India, also for the series of volumes of geological reports and memoirs, including the Palaeontographica Indica published under his direction." |
| William Crookes | Chemistry | "For his various chemical and physical researches, more especially for his discovery of thallium, his investigation of its compounds and determination of its atomic weight; and for his discovery of the repulsion referable to radiation." | |
| 1876 | Charles Wyville Thomson | Zoology | "For his successful direction of the scientific investigations carried on by HMS Challenger." |
| William Froude | Hydrodynamics | "For his researches both theoretical and experimental on the behaviour of ships, their oscillations, their resistance, & propulsion." | |
| 1877 | Frederick Augustus Abel | Chemistry | "For his physico-chemical researches on gun cotton & explosive agents." |
| Oswald Heer | Natural History | "For his numerous researches & writings on the tertiary plants of Europe, of the North Atlantic, North Asia, and North America, and for his able generalizations respecting their affinities, and their geological & climatic relations." | |
| 1878 | Albert Gunther | Zoology | "For his numerous & valuable contributions to the zoology & anatomy of fishes & reptiles." |
| John Allan Broun | Meteorology | "For his investigations during thirty five years in magnetism and meteorology & for his improvements in methods of observation." | |
| 1879 | Andrew Crombie Ramsay | Geology | "For his long continued & successful labours in geology and physical geography." |
| William Henry Perkin | Chemistry | "For his synthetical & other researches in organic chemistry." | |
| 1880 | Andrew Noble | Physics | "For his researches into the action of explosives; his invention of the chronoscope; and other mathematical & physical inquiries." |
| Joseph Lister | Surgery | "For his contributions on various physiological & biological subjects published in the Philosophical Transactions & Proceedings of the Royal Society & elsewhere; and for his labours practical and theoretical, on questions relating to the antiseptic system of treatment in surgery." | |
| 1881 | John Hewitt Jellett | Mathematics | "For his various mathematical & physical papers, more especially for his researches in chemical optics, & his invention of the new and delicate analyser by which they were carried out." |
| Francis Maitland Balfour | Biology | "For his numerous and important contributions to animal morphology; and more especially for his investigations respecting the origin of the urogenital organs and the cerebrospinal nerves of the Vertebrata; and for his work on the development of the Elasmobranch fishes." | |
| 1882 | John Strutt | Physics | "For his various papers in mathematical and experimental physics." |
| William Henry Flower | Biology | "For his valuable contributions to the morphology and classification of the Mammalia and to anthropology." | |
| 1883 | Thomas Archer Hirst | Mathematics | "For his researches in pure mathematics." |
| John Scott Burdon-Sanderson | Physiology | "For the eminent services which he has rendered to physiology and pathology, especially for his investigation of the relations of micro-organisms to disease, and his researches on the electric phenomena of plants." | |
| 1884 | George Darwin | Mathematics | "For his mathematical investigations on the rigidity of the Earth, and on tides." |
| Daniel Oliver | Botany | "For his investigations in the classification of plants, and for the great services which he has rendered to taxonomic botany." | |
| 1885 | David Edward Hughes | Electrical engineering | "For his electric and magnetic researches, and his invention of the microphone & the induction balance." |
| Ray Lankester | Zoology | "For his discoveries concerning the embryology and morphology of the mollusca and his services to embryology & animal morphology in general." | |
| 1886 | Peter Guthrie Tait | Physics | "For his various mathematical and physical researches." |
| Francis Galton | Biology | "For his statistical inquiries into biological phenomena." | |
| 1887 | Alexander Ross Clarke | Geodesy | "For his comparison of standards of length and determination of the figure of the Earth." |
| Henry Nottidge Moseley | Natural history | "For his numerous researches in animal morphology, and especially his investigations." | |
| 1888 | Osborne Reynolds | Physics | "For his investigations in mathematical & experimental physics, and on the application of scientific theory to engineering." |
| Ferdinand von Mueller | Geography | "For his long services in Australian exploration and for his investigations of the flora of the Australian continent." | |
| 1889 | Thomas Edward Thorpe | Chemistry | "For his researches on fluorine compounds, and his determination of the atomic weights of titanium and gold." |
| Walter Holbrook Gaskell | Physiology | "For his researches in cardiac physiology and his important discoveries in the anatomy and physiology of the sympathetic nervous system." | |
| 1890 | John Hopkinson | Physics | "For his researches in magnetism and electricity." |
| David Ferrier | Neurology | "For his researches on the localisation of cerebral functions." | |
| 1891 | Arthur William Rucker | Physics | "For his researches on liquid films, and his contributions to our knowledge of terrestrial magnetism." |
| Charles Lapworth | Geology | "For his researches among the older rocks of Britain." | |
| 1892 | Charles Pritchard | Astronomy | "For his work on photometry and stellar parallax." |
| John Newport Langley | Physiology | "For his work on secreting glands, and on the nervous system." | |
| 1893 | Harry Marshall Ward | Botany | "For his researches into the life-history of fungi and schizomycetes." |
| Arthur Schuster | Physics | "For his spectroscopic inquiries, and his researches on disruptive discharge through gases and on terrestrial magnetism." | |
| 1894 | Joseph John Thomson | Physics | "For his contributions to mathematical and experimental physics especially to electrical theory." |
| Victor Horsley | Physiology | "For his investigations relating to the physiology of the nervous system, and of the thyroid gland, and to their applications to the treatment of disease." | |
| 1895 | John Murray | Oceanography | "For his services to biological science and oceanography in connection with the "Challenger" reports, and for his original contributions to the same." |
| James Alfred Ewing | Physics | "For his investigations on magnetic induction in iron and other metals. | |
| 1896 | Archibald Geikie | Geology | "For his many original contributions to geology especially those upon the Old Red Sandstone of Western Europe." |
| Charles Vernon Boys | Physics | "For his invention of Quartz Fibres and investigation of their properties, his improvement of the radio-micrometer and investigations with it, for developments in the art of instantaneous photography, and for his determination of the value of the constant of attraction." | |
| 1897 | Richard Strachey | Geology | "For his researches in geographical, meteorological, and botanical science." |
| Andrew Forsyth | Mathematics | "For his contributions to the progress of pure mathematics, and especially for his work in differential equations and the theory of functions." | |
| 1898 | John Kerr | Physics | "For his researches on the optical effect of electrical stress and on the reflection of light at the surface of a magnetised body." |
| Walter Gardiner | Botany | "For his researches on the protoplasmic connection of the cells of vegetable tissues and on the minute histology of plants." | |
| 1899 | William Carmichael McIntosh | Marine biology | "For his important monographs on British marine zoology and on the fishing industries." |