The British Association or the British Association for the Advancement of Science or the BA is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating intercourse between scientific workers. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A learned society is a society that exists to promote an academic discipline or group of disciplines. ...

It was founded in 1831 by William Vernon Harcourt, after a suggestion by Sir David Brewster, who was disillusioned with the elitist and conservative attitude of the Royal Society. The first meeting was held in York on September 27 of that year. From that date a meeting was held annually at some place chosen at a previous meeting. 1831 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... William Vernon Harcourt (1789 - April, 1871) was founder of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. ... David Brewster Sir David Brewster, (December 11, 1781 – February 10, 1868) was a Scottish scientist. ... The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence. ... York is a city in northern England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ...

Ironically, perhaps the BA's most momentous influence on science was in 1878 when a committee of the BA recommended against constructing Charles Babbage's analytical engine. This decision may have delayed the computer revolution by many decades. Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (December 26, 1791 – October 18, 1871) was an English mathematician, analytical philosopher and (proto-) computer scientist who originated the idea of a programmable computer. ... The analytical engine, an important step in the history of computers, is the design of a mechanical modern general-purpose computer by the British professor of mathematics Charles Babbage. ...

The Association's major emphasis in recent decades has been on the public understanding of science. Its annual meeting, now called the Festival of Science, is the largest public showcase for science in the U.K. and attracts a great deal of media attention. The Association also runs a youth branch, British Association Young Scientists, which seeks to inform school students about science beyond the school curriculum, and to encourage them to consider higher education and careers in science. Public awareness of science, also public understanding of science is a term relating to the attitudes, behaviors, opinions and activities that comprise the relations between the general public or lay society as a whole to scientific knowledge and organization. ... UK redirects here. ...

See also

• Royal Institution
• Royal Society

The Royal Institution of Great Britain was set up in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, including Henry Cavendish and its first president George Finch, the 9th Earl of Winchilsea, for diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for... The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence. ...

External links

• British Association for the Advancement of Science