ABSTRACT
A group of natural philosophers meeting in Oxford from ca. the late 1640s to the early 1690s. The society went through several phases, beginning as an informal group known as the Philosophical College or the Experimental Philosophy Club, meeting under the leadership of John Wilkins (1614-1672). It originated as a combination of London-based natural philosophers-including Robert Boyle (1627-1691) and John Wallis (16161703), who relocated to Oxford as a consequence of the Puritan reforms of the university-and the remnants of William Harvey’s (1578-1657) circle at Oxford. By 1651 the group had a formal basis, with written by-laws calling for weekly meetings, although the meetings themselves were irregular. The society lapsed with the Restoration, when Wilkins removed to Cambridge and several other members to London, where they formed part of the nucleus of the Royal Society.
