The Royal Society, the worlds oldest science academy, marks its 350th anniversary in 2010. In celebration, the society has devised a quite monumental contribution in the form of an interactive timeline website called "Trailblazing." Trailblazing gives one the opportunity to explore major contributions in science and its corresponding publications by the society over the past 350 years. Yet as a perk to all knowledge-hungry explorers out there, the Royal Society has made available 60 monumental published works in history. And when I mean monumental I mean a digital copy of the original contributed article on Isaac newton's theory on light, Benjamin Franklin's experiments with a kite in an electrical storm, the development of Penicillin by Alexander Fleming!
The availability of such inspiring works, such incredible revelations in thought, is quite exciting! But more so than interesting, this society is breaking through a huge and ongoing wall in the sharing of knowledge.
Don't get me wrong, I understand why emerging technologies are often kept private under layers of patent law, yet once these patents are up, should the ideas not be available to everyone? Of course, there will always be conflict in this debate, yet this small website exemplifies a unifying dream I hope comes someday.
With the dawn of the internet age knowledge has no longer become that which is unatainable without thousands of dollars, connections, and a high IQ, but instead something readily available to anyone with a computer and a web browser.
Yet in this transition we often find major faults - particularly questionable accuracy in information, necessitated degrees, etc.
This website represents that ever-present march towards a fully graspable knowledge base. Sure many people could care less what exactly Fleming said about his new found antibiotic, but I image many others would find his real words inspiring.
Everyone needs inspiration from time to time.
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