title: The first President of the Royal Society.
abstract: Few people know the name of the Royal Society's first President, even though he features prominently in Thomas Sprat's famous allegorical frontispiece. In promotional images, his individual identity is irrelevant for proclaiming the Society's allegiance to Francis Bacon and commitment to experimental investigation. By contrast, William Brouncker's name does appear on Peter Lely's large portrait, which hung at the Royal Society. Brouncker was a gifted mathematician as well as a conscientious administrator, and Lely's portrait reproduces the diagram of one of his innovative algebraic proofs.
authors.affiliation: Clare College, CB2 1TL Cambridge, UK. pf10006@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fara
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000266:history; D004739:England; D049670:History, 17th Century; D008433:Mathematics / Q000266:history*; D012106:Research / Q000266:history; D012958:Societies, Scientific / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration