Product Description

In 1660, within a few months of the restoration of Charles II, a group of 12 men, including Robert Boyle and Christopher Wren, met in London to set up a society to study the mechanisms of nature. At a time when superstition and magic governed reason, the repressive dogma of Christian belief silenced many, and where post-war loyalties ruined careers, these men forbade the discussion of religion and politics at their meetings. The Royal Society was born and with it modern, experimental science. This book is a study of the turbulent political, economic and religious background to the formation of the Royal Society - an era of war against the Dutch, the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. It aims to make readers reassess many of the key events of this period, showing how Freemasonry, supported by Charles II, was the guiding force behind the birth of modern science, under the cover of the Royal Society.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212935 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Guardian
'A rollicking yarn of Restoration politicking, which is possibly useful even if one is immune to grander conspiriology'

From the Back Cover
In 1660 a small group of men, led by Sir Robert Moray, met in London with a secret plan to reshape the world. They were members of the ‘Invisible College’, better known today as the Freemasons
Britain was just emerging from the horrors of the Civil War and was a society torn apart by political difference, religious ferment and was still immersed in medieval superstition. It was a country which burnt alive at least one hundred elderly women a year on suspicion of witchcraft. Yet this group, who had recently been sworn enemies,managed to bridge their social and cultural differences to found a new organisation dedicated to the scientific study of nature, the Royal Society.
Robert Lomas reveals in compelling detail how the secret tenets and traditions of the Freemasons laid the groundwork for a new revolution, that gave the world modern, experimental science and founded what is still, 350 years later, the pre-eminent scientific institution in the world.

About the Author
Dr Robert Lomas lectures in engineering at Bradford University, and was involved in the early development of personal computers. He is the author of many bestselling books, including international bestsellers on Freemasonry such as THE HIRAM KEY and URIEL'S MACHINE.

Customer Reviews

The Royal Society's beginnings, warts and all!
Robert Lomas' latest offering The Invisible College provides us with a fascinating account of his examination of the United Kingdom's most renowned institution for the advancement of science, the Royal Society. Dr Lomas takes the reader on a journey through time starting during the reign of James I (VI of Scotland), through the civil war and into the turbulent years following the death of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.

Some may consider the inception of a supposed 'elitist' society to be little more than the inevitable result of the restoration, a monarch's money and political cronyism. However, in The Invisible College, Dr Lomas' demonstrates a rich complicated history replete with intrigue, science and humour set against a backdrop of conflict, plague and fire.

In this personal account of his search for the roots, and above all else the purpose of the formation of the Royal Society, Dr Lomas develops the key issue of membership, notably one member, Sir Robert Moray. Robert Moray, Scotsman, visionary, spy, and soldier, with an apparently flexible approach to choosing political sides in the Civil War. The history of the Royal Society is inextricably linked to the life of the non-scientist, Robert Moray the close friend of the King.

Moray's vision and Charles II patronage saw seemingly irreconcilable adversaries from both sides of the Parliamentarian / Royalist conflict manage to sit side by side under the auspices of Science and Philosophy, and develop an experimentation approach to solving the riddles of nature. The Royal Society, through experimentation, is responsible for many of the facts of modern life that we consider to be the norm. Facts such as: thermodynamics, the laws of motion, the measurement of longitude, and frozen chicken. But beyond the promotion of a new approach to science and the extended storage of fresh comestibles, what was Robert Moray's motivation in championing the inception of the Royal Society? Was it just as a 'Q' branch for the struggling Royal Navy, or was there an additional layer of purpose?

The Invisible College explores links between Freemasonry and the early membership of the Royal Society, revealing a close relationship between the Brethren and the founder members, significantly, one Sir Robert Moray among many others. The relationship is clearest in the articles and documents of the members, especially the frontispiece of Sprat's "History of the Royal Society" as presented to the Society in 1667. The Masonic imagery is apparent, once pointed out in Dr Lomas' text, as are a vast number of other references, overt and otherwise.

The Freemasonry relationship established, the book charts the next couple of hundred years of the life of the society in its closing chapters. During that period, The Invisible College documents the expansion of English Freemasonry and the changes to the structure and philosophy of the Royal Society during the Hannovarian 'purging' of the influences of Moray's Jacobite Scottish Freemansonry.

Without revealing too much of the evidence cited in this book, it could be said that this personal voyage provides the definitive work linking Freemasonry to one of Britain's oldest and most respected scientific bodies. It most certainly provides some very tasty food for thought.

An Interesting Masonic View on Astrology and Modern Science
I found Lomas's review of the astrologers who made up the early Masonic lodges in Republican London, just after the Civil War fascinating. I hadn't realised that the slide rule was invented to make it easier to cast horoscopes. His summary of Ashmole's motives and links with William Lilly, the man who wrote the best known text book on Astrology in the seventeenth century was an interesting insight into the politics of this period.
All in all I found this a really good read and it made me think very hard about how Freemasonry has contributed to modern science.
The change in attitude which led to Newton sweeping away astrology as a respectable academic subject would not have happened without the formation and success of the Royal Society.
I enjoyed the book immensely. And many of my Masonic brethren, with whom I have discussed it, said they were surprised just how much Sir Robert Moray contributed to early Freemasonry. He turns out to be a far more interesting and far-sighted visionary than astrologer Elias Ashmole.

Birth Pangs of The Royal Society
The Invisible College

This solo effort from Dr Robert Lomas, follows on naturally from two earlier books (co- authored with Christopher Knight) viz: 'The Hiram Key' and 'The Second Messiah.' A criticism levelled at the former book, concerning the vast range of events attempted in a single volume, is fully answered in 'The Invisible College'. Dr Lomas has taken the content of a few pages from 'The Hiram Key' and expanded it into an interesting, and well researched account.

That there is a connection between Freemasonry and the Royal Society, in its early days, there can be little doubt, as even a cursory examination of prints of the time will readily testify. Dr Lomas takes a thorough look into the causality of this connection. The main theme centres on an important period in the life of, Sir Robert Moray,( the first initiate into Freemasonry in England, Elias Ashmole was later) and leads on to what might be termed the Machiavellian but beneficial exploits of our hero. These were times when science as such was in its infancy and had not fully emerged from mysticism and alchemy, which themselves had barely emerged from the dead hand of religious dogma. The bitter civil war had recently ended, and it was no mean feat of Moray's to bring thinkers together who had found themselves on opposing sides. No scientist himself, his motivations given in the text, of exploiting the love of military power by kings and politicians are entirely plausible.

The emasculation of the older forms of Freemasonry into what is known as St John's Masonry by the United Grand Lodge of England for political reasons at the time, is thoroughly covered.

The hostility of the Roman Catholic Church to Freemasonry stemming from the papal edict of Clement XII 1738 In eminenti, and reinforced by successive popes, is popularly supposed to arise from the demand for secret oaths (now no longer secret) religious indifferentism and possible threat to church and state. None of these appear convincing in present times. This hostility has been reiterated in recent times (November 1983) by the head of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Cardinal J Ratzinger. Dr Lomas raises more likely possible reasons.

This is a refreshing approach, perhaps because it has been written by an Professional Engineer who has looked at historical events through fresh eyes and from a sound scientific background. That said, 'The Invisible College' is highly readable and a jolly good read. My major criticism was the difficulty I had in putting it down.