Societies & Academia

London's societies, institutes and universities, and the doors they open to everyone else: lecture theatres, libraries, collections and free exhibitions at institutions that have been arguing about the world since the seventeenth century. Most of it costs nothing. Events are also listed under What's On.

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Royal Astronomical Society

Public lectures on astronomy and geophysics, and a library you can arrange to use, in the Burlington House courtyard.

Public talksLibrary you can useWorth it for the building

Founded in 1820 by a group including Charles Babbage, the Society has spent two centuries as the place where British astronomy argues with itself - the monthly Ordinary Meetings, where results are presented and taken apart, run alongside a public programme of lectures and events open to anyone.

The library is the other half. It holds one of the great astronomical collections, built from the beginning and still added to, and the Society publishes the visiting arrangements rather than keeping it to Fellows. The archives hold the papers of people who were arguing about the shape of the universe when the answer was genuinely open.

Where
Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1J 0BQ
Nearest station
Green Park · 4 min walk

Lectures and events are the way in; the library is used by arrangement rather than by walking in.

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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