Members of the Society enjoy regular opportunities to meet each other and share their passion for scientific instruments old and new. The Society makes an annual 'overseas' trip, recent destinations having included St. Petersburg, Dresden, Florence, Utrecht and Paris. In addition there are occasional one-day and week-end meetings divided purposely between London and attractive provincial locations.

Recent destinations have included Leicester, Derby, Birmingham, Norwich and Spalding. Speakers are usually experts in their field, but all members are welcome to give talks. Special 'behind-the-scenes' visits to museums are a particular feature of the annual programme. Above all, the Society's gatherings are enjoyable social occasions.

May 14^th—19^th Annual Study Tour in London

The Annual study tour this year will be held in London. Over the week the Society will visit a variety of museums and be taken on special tours of collections. The schedule so far includes visits to the Science Museum, the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory at Greenwich, the Royal College of Surgeons, Soane’s Museum, the British Museum, the Wellcome Collection, and the V&A to see the collection of drawing instruments held by the Royal Institute of British Architects. On the 18^th we will be holding the Society Dinner at the famous Royal Institution in Albemarle Street. On the 19^th we will be holding a Members Day at Baden Powell House, where members will be invited to bring along items from their own collections for viewing and discussing.

July 28th AGM in Oxford

This year's AGM will be held at Wadham College, Oxford on Saturday July 28th. The day's schedule will include an exclusive after-hours tour of the Museum of the History of Science, as well as talks by SIS members, including Marcus Cavalier on the development of the patent system and Patrick Mill on pocket microscopes. Members are invited to give a 15 minute slide show / paper. Those interested should please email abstracts to James Hyslop: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

October 19^th—20^th Autumn Study Tour in the Netherlands

This year’s autumn study tour will be to the Netherlands in late October. Our local representative is organising a day and a half of activities with a focus on scientific instrument antique dealers in and around Amsterdam. In addition, we also plan to go to Oud Zuylen to view a modern copy of the planetarium by Eise Eisinga (see Bulletin 108 for details), as well as excursions to see the private collections of two of our members.

November 23rd, 6pm, Twentieth Annual Invitation Lecture
This year's medal lecture will be delivered by Willem Hackmann, who will speak on "Spectacular Science through the Magic Lantern". This event is once again being held at the Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House, Picadilly, London, W1J 0BE. The lecture is free and open to the general public, with no booking required, doors open 5.30pm, with the lecture to begin at 6pm. The lecture will be followed by a bookable buffet reception from 7pm to 8.45pm. For further details of this event, including details on how to book for the buffet reception, please see our specific page.