Prof. Dr Anna Marie Roos
Clare Hall, Cambridge;
Emeritus Professor, University of Lincoln
Taking Newton on Tour: The Grand Tour Travel Diary of Martin Folkes (1690-1754)
Please register for the event here.
When:
Wednesday, Mar 25, 16:15-17:45
Where:
VUB Main Campus Etterbeek
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Elsene
Raadzaal C2.07a
*Free of charge*
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to a lecture by Prof. Dr Anna Marie Roos (Clare Hall, Cambridge; University of Lincoln), entitled “Taking Newton on Tour: The Grand Tour Travel Diary of Martin Folkes (1690-1754)“. This lecture is part of the ERC lecture series ‘Knowledge in International Perspective’ (KIIP).
Contact: nicolo.cantoni@vub.be and demetrios.paraschos@vub.be
Prof. Dr Anna Marie Roos: This lecture delves into the extraordinary ‘Scientific Grand Tour’ undertaken by Martin Folkes (1690–1754), a distinguished figure who was not only Newton’s protégé but also an eminent antiquary and mathematician. Folkes holds the unique distinction of being the only individual to have simultaneously presided over both the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. Between 1733 and 1735, he embarked on a Grand Tour as a scientific ambassador for the Royal Society, where he showcased Newtonian optics to the virtuosi and nobility of Venice and Florence. Additionally, Folkes meticulously measured ancient and Renaissance buildings, aiming to unravel the intricacies of past architectural engineering and design. Folkes’s 97-page illustrated diary, now housed in the Bodleian Library, offers a compelling counter-narrative to the prevailing scholarly belief that the Royal Society was in decline during the eighteenth century. By analyzing Folkes’s activities abroad and preparing an edition of this diary for the Hakluyt Society (October 2025), this lecture provides a fresh perspective on Newtonianism and the Grand Tour’s role as a conduit for scientific inquiry and diplomacy.
About Prof. Dr Anna Marie Roos
Anna Marie Roos is a historian of early modern English science and medicine, noted for her research on the early Royal Society. She is an emeritus professor in the School of Humanities and Heritage at the University of Lincoln, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Fellow of the Linnean Society, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and the former Editor-in-Chief of Notes and Records. Roos is currently a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge.
