Royal School of Mines
The school was founded in 1851 as the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts and in 1863 renamed the Royal School of Mines was a state school for Mining Engineering in London. In 1907 she became part of the Imperial College London and now houses the departments of Earth and Engineering Sciences ( Earth Science and Engineering ) and material sciences ( material ) of Imperial College.
History
The School of Mining Engineering had its origin in the geological collection of Henry Thomas de la Bèche, founder of the Ordnance Geological Survey, who exhibited his collection in two houses on Craig's Court in London's Charing Cross. A little later came a chemical laboratory and added to operate by de la Bèche was in London's Jermyn Street, a building for the Museum of Practical Geology constructed, which was opened in 1851 by Prince Albert.
At this time came Michael Faraday and Lyon Playfair, the conditions in the mines examined for the British government, in order to increase to the conclusion that this is a scientific and technical training of miners essential safety and productivity in British mines. Therefore, in 1851 at the Museum of Practical Geology Department of the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts was founded. President of the school was de la Bèche. Playfair taught chemistry, Edward Forbes Natural History, Robert Hunt (1807-1887) Mechanical Sciences and Andrew Crombie Ramsay geology. In the first year, only seven students were enrolled.
1853 in financial troubled Royal College of Chemistry was taken over and renamed the school briefly in The Metropolitan School of Science Applied to Mining and the Arts. Thomas Henry Huxley was the end of July 1854 the successor of Forbes and taught at the school until his retirement in 1885. Roderick Murchison was in 1855 as successor to the late de la Bèche president of the school. From 1857 to 1861 Richard Owen held courses on fossils from here. In 1863 the school was renamed The Royal School of Mines.
The school has developed into a valued commodity and soon reached the limits of their capabilities. Trained by August Wilhelm von Hofmann, chemist William Henry Perkin and Henry Edward Armstrong had to perform in two small laboratories of the Royal College of Chemistry in Oxford Street in their experiments together with the students. The teaching at the school physicists Robert Hunt, John Tyndall ( Professor of Physics from 1859 to 1868 ) and George Gabriel Stokes missing any opportunities the students using real-world experiments to train. 1868 formed the British Parliament, headed by Bernhard Samuelson ( 1820-1905 ), a commission to investigate whether the Royal School of Mines can convert into a technical school. In July 1869 Samuelson urged to validate if the Royal School of Mines, the Royal College of Chemistry and the Royal School of Naval Architecture could be merged on a common site, and referred to in " Albertopolis " (South Kensington) emerging new building. As a result of Samuelson's reports, the Commission Scientific Instruction and Advancement of Science was established under William Edward Forster (1818-1886), by William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire ( 1808-1891 ) was passed and who belonged to Huxley. In the first of their eight reports, the Commission recommended in March 1871 the merger of three state scientific training facilities and the move to a building in Exhibition Road.
In July 1872, the departments of chemistry, physics and biology moved into the new building in South Kensington. The departments of Mining, Minerals, Metals and paleontology remained in the Jeremyn Street. Following the example of the French Ecole Normale School in South Kensington from 1884 were called The Normal School of Science. The Royal School of Mines remained independent. After the death of Warington Wilkinson Smyth (1817-1890) remaining in the Jeremyn Street departments moved to the Exhibition Road. 1890 therefore came to another name change in the Royal College of Science and Royal School of Mines.
In 1907, the Royal College of Science and Royal School of Mines and the City & Guilds College joined forces to Imperial College London.
Reception in the literature
1884 took Herbert George Wells participated in by Thomas Henry Huxley held courses in The Normal School of Science. His impressions formed the basis for his novel Love and Mr Lewisham appeared in 1899. It was Wells 's first novel which did not deal with science fiction.