Copley Medal

The Copley Medal (English Copley Medal ) is an award given by the British Royal Society to scientists of all disciplines. It is the oldest and most valuable of the awards that the Royal Society regularly awards. The Copley Medal has been awarded annually to a scientist since 1731. The medal is named after Godfrey Copley , who was a wealthy landowner and himself a member of the Royal Society. It is silver-plated and has a cash prize of £ 25,000 . Among the excellent scientists are Charles Darwin , Albert Einstein and Léon Foucault .

Winner of the award

18th century

1731: Stephen Gray (1666-1736)
1732: Stephen Gray (1666-1736)
1733: not awarded
1734: John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744)
1735: not awarded
1736: John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744)
1737: John Belchier (1706–1785)
1738: James Valoue
1739: Stephen Hales (1677–1761)
1740: Alexander Stuart (1673-1742)
1741: John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744)
1742: Christopher Middleton († 1770)
1743: Abraham Trembley (1710–1784)
1744: Henry Baker (1698–1774)
1745: William Watson (1715–1787)
1746: Benjamin Robins (1707-1751)
1747: Gowin Knight (1713-1772)
1748: James Bradley (1693-1762)
1749: John Harrison (1693–1776)
1750: George Edwards (1694–1773)
1751: John Canton (1718–1772)
1752: John Pringle (1707–1782)
1753: Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
1754: William Lewis (1708-1790)
1755: John Huxham (1692–1768)
1757: Charles Cavendish (1704–1783)
1758: John Dollond (1706–1761)
1759: John Smeaton (1724-1792)
1760: Benjamin Wilson (1721–1788)
1761: not awarded
1762: not awarded
1763: not awarded
1764: John Canton (1718–1772)
1765: not awarded
1766: William Brownrigg (1711–1800), Edward Delaval (1729–1814), Henry Cavendish (1731–1810)
1767: John Ellis (around 1710 - 1776)
1768: Peter Woulfe (around 1727 - 1803)
1769: William Hewson (1739–1774)
1770: William Hamilton (1730-1803)
1771: Matthew Raper (1705-1778)
1772: Joseph Priestley (1733-1804)
1773: John Walsh (1726–1795)
1774: not awarded
1775: Nevil Maskelyne (1732-1811)
1776: James Cook (1728–1779)
1777: John Mudge (1721-1793)
1778: Charles Hutton (1737-1823)
1779: not awarded
1780: Samuel Vince (1749-1821)
1781: Wilhelm Herschel (1738–1822)
1782: Richard Kirwan (1733-1812)
1783: John Goodricke (1764–1786), Thomas Hutchins (1742–1790)
1784: Edward Waring (1736–1798)
1785: William Roy (1726–1790)
1787: John Hunter (1728-1793)
1788: Charles Blagden (1748–1820)
1789: William Morgan (1750-1833)
1791: James Rennell (1742-1830), Jean-André Deluc (1727-1817)
1792: Benjamin Thompson (1753-1814)
1794: Alessandro Volta (1745-1827)
1795: Jesse Ramsden (1735-1800)
1796: George Atwood (1745-1807)
1798: George Shuckburgh (1751–1804), Charles Hatchett (1765–1847)
1799: John Hellins (around 1749 - 1827)
1800: Edward Charles Howard (1774-1816)

19th century

1801: Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841)
1802: William Hyde Wollaston (1766–1828)
1803: Richard Chenevix (around 1774 - 1830)
1804: Smithson Tennant (1761-1815)
1805: Humphry Davy (1778-1829)
1806: Thomas Andrew Knight (1759-1838)
1807: Everard Home (1756-1832)
1808: William Henry (1774–1836)
1809: Edward Troughton (1753-1835)
1810: not awarded
1811: Benjamin Collins Brodie (1783–1862)
1812: not awarded
1813: William Thomas Brande (1788–1866)
1814: James Ivory (1765-1842)
1815: David Brewster (1781–1868)
1816: not awarded
1817: Henry Kater (1777–1835)
1818: Robert Seppings (1767-1840)
1820: Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851)
1821: Edward Sabine (1788–1883), John Herschel (1792–1871)
1822: William Buckland (1784-1856)
1823: John Pond (1767–1836)
1824: John Brinkley (around 1763-1835)
1825: François Arago (1786–1853), Peter Barlow (1776–1862)
1826: James South (1785–1867)
1827: William Prout (1785–1850), Henry Foster (1796–1831)
1828: not awarded
1829: not awarded
1830: not awarded
1831: George Biddell Airy (1801-1892)
1832: Michael Faraday (1791–1867), Siméon Denis Poisson (1781–1840)
1833: not awarded
1834: Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana (1781–1864)
1835: William Snow Harris (1791–1867)
1836: Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779–1848), Francis Kiernan (1800–1874)
1837: Antoine César Becquerel (1788–1878), John Frederic Daniell (1790–1845)
1838: Carl Friedrich Gauß (1777–1855), Michael Faraday (1791–1867)
1839: Robert Brown (1773-1858)
1840: Justus von Liebig (1803–1873)
1841: Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854)
1842: James MacCullagh (1809-1847)
1843: Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800-1884)
1844: Carlo Matteucci (1811–1868)
1845: Theodor Schwann (1810–1882)
1846: Urbain Le Verrier (1811–1877)
1847: John Herschel (1792–1871)
1848: John Couch Adams (1819-1892)
1849: Roderick Murchison (1792–1871)
1850: Peter Andreas Hansen (1795–1874)
1851: Richard Owen (1804-1892)
1852: Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)
1853: Heinrich Wilhelm Dove (1803–1879)
1854: Johannes Peter Müller (1801-1858)
1855: Léon Foucault (1819–1868)
1856: Henri Milne Edwards (1800-1885)
1857: Eugène Chevreul (1786–1889)
1858: Charles Lyell (1797–1875)
1859: Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1804-1891)
1860: Robert Wilhelm Bunsen (1811–1899)
1861: Louis Agassiz (1807–1873)
1862: Thomas Graham (1805-1869)
1863: Adam Sedgwick (1785–1873)
1864: Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
1865: Michel Chasles (1793–1880)
1866: Julius Plücker (1801–1868)
1867: Karl Ernst von Baer (1792–1876)
1868: Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875)
1869: Henri Victor Regnault (1810–1878)
1870: James Prescott Joule (1818–1889)
1871: Julius Robert von Mayer (1814–1878)
1872: Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882)
1873: Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)
1874: Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)
1875: August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818-1892)
1876: Claude Bernard (1813–1878)
1877: James Dwight Dana (1813–1895)
1878: Jean Baptiste Boussingault (1802-1887)
1879: Rudolf Clausius (1822–1888)
1880: James Joseph Sylvester (1814–1897)
1881: Charles Adolphe Wurtz (1817–1884)
1882: Arthur Cayley (1821–1895)
1883: William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907)
1884: Carl Ludwig (1816–1895)
1885: August Kekulé (1829-1896)
1886: Franz Ernst Neumann (1798–1895)
1887: Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911)
1888: Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)
1889: George Salmon (1819–1904)
1890: Simon Newcomb (1835–1909)
1891: Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826–1910)
1892: Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902)
1893: George Gabriel Stokes (1819–1903)
1894: Edward Frankland (1825–1899)
1895: Karl Weierstraß (1815–1897)
1896: Carl Gegenbaur (1826–1903)
1897: Albert von Kölliker (1817–1905)
1898: William Huggins (1824–1910)
1899: John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919)
1900: Marcelin Berthelot (1827–1907)

20th century

1901: Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839–1903)
1902: Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (1827–1912)
1903: Eduard Suess (1831–1914)
1904: William Crookes (1832-1919)
1905: Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907)
1906: Ilja Metschnikow (1845–1916)
1907: Albert A. Michelson (1852–1931)
1908: Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913)
1909: George William Hill (1838–1914)
1910: Francis Galton (1822-1911)
1911: George Howard Darwin (1845–1912)
1912: Felix Klein (1849–1925)
1913: Ray Lankester (1847-1929)
1914: Joseph John Thomson (1856–1940)
1915: Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936)
1916: James Dewar (1842-1923)
1917: Émile Roux (1853-1933)
1918: Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853–1928)
1919: William Bayliss (1860-1924)
1920: Horace Tabberer Brown (1848–1925)
1921: Joseph Larmor (1857–1942)
1922: Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937)
1923: Horace Lamb (1849-1934)
1924: Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer (1850–1935)
1925: Albert Einstein (1879–1955)
1926: Frederick Gowland Hopkins (1861–1947)
1927: Charles Scott Sherrington (1857–1952)
1928: Charles Parsons (1854–1931)
1929: Max Planck (1858–1947)
1930: William Henry Bragg (1862–1942)
1931: Arthur Schuster (1851–1934)
1932: George Ellery Hale (1868–1938)
1933: Theobald Smith (1859–1934)
1934: John Scott Haldane (1860-1936)
1935: Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869-1959)
1936: Arthur Evans (1851-1941)
1937: Henry Hallett Dale (1875–1968)
1938: Niels Bohr (1885–1962)
1939: Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866–1945)
1940: Paul Langevin (1872–1946)
1941: Thomas Lewis (1881–1945)
1942: Robert Robinson (1886–1975)
1943: Joseph Barcroft (1872–1947)
1944: Geoffrey Ingram Taylor (1886–1975)
1945: Oswald Avery (1877–1955)
1946: Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian (1889–1977)
1947: Godfrey Harold Hardy (1877–1947)
1948: Archibald Vivian Hill (1886–1977)
1949: George de Hevesy (1885–1966)
1950: James Chadwick (1891–1974)
1951: David Keilin (1887–1963)
1952: Paul Dirac (1902–1984)
1953: Albert Jan Kluyver (1888–1956)
1954: Edmund Taylor Whittaker (1873–1956)
1955: Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890–1962)
1956: Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett (1897–1974)
1957: Howard Walter Florey (1898–1968)
1958: John Edensor Littlewood (1885–1977)
1959: Frank Macfarlane Burnet (1899–1985)
1960: Harold Jeffreys (1891–1989)
1961: Hans Adolf Krebs (1900–1981)
1962: Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (1897–1967)
1963: Paul Fildes (1882–1971)
1964: Sydney Chapman (1888–1970)
1965: Alan Lloyd Hodgkin (1914–1998)
1966: William Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971)
1967: Bernard Katz (1911-2003)
1968: Tadeus Reichstein (1897–1996)
1969: Peter Brian Medawar (1915–1987)
1970: Alexander Robert Todd (1907–1997)
1971: Norman Pirie (1907-1997)
1972: Nevill Francis Mott (1905-1996)
1973: Andrew Fielding Huxley (1917–2012)
1974: William Vallance Douglas Hodge (1903–1975)
1975: Francis Crick (1916-2004)
1976: Dorothy Mary Hodgkin (1910-1994)
1977: Frederick Sanger (1918-2013)
1978: Robert B. Woodward (1917–1979)
1979: Max Ferdinand Perutz (1914-2002)
1980: Derek HR Barton (1918-1998)
1981: Peter D. Mitchell (1920–1992)
1982: John W. Cornforth (1917-2013)
1983: Rodney R. Porter (1917–1985)
1984: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995)
1985: Aaron Klug (1926-2018)
1986: Rudolf Peierls (1907–1995)
1987: Robert Hill (1899–1991)
1988: Michael Francis Atiyah (1929-2019)
1989: César Milstein (1927-2002)
1990: Abdus Salam (1926–1996)
1991: Sydney Brenner (1927-2019)
1992: George Porter (1920–2002)
1993: James Watson (* 1928)
1994: Charles Frank (1911–1998)
1995: Frank Fenner (1914-2010)
1996: Alan Cottrell (1919–2012)
1997: Hugh Esmor Huxley (1924-2013)
1998: Michael James Lighthill (1924–1998)
1999: John Maynard Smith (1920-2004)
2000: Alan Battersby (1925-2018)

21st century

2001: Jacques Miller (* 1931)
2002: John Anthony Pople (1925-2004)
2003: John Gurdon (* 1933)
2004: Harold Kroto (1939-2016)
2005: Paul Nurse (* 1949)
2006: Stephen Hawking (1942-2018)
2007: Robert May (1936-2020)
2008: Roger Penrose (* 1931)
2009: Martin Evans (* 1941)
2010: David Cox (* 1924), Tomas Lindahl (* 1938)
2011: Dan McKenzie (* 1942)
2012: John E. Walker (* 1941)
2013: Andre Geim (* 1958)
2014: Alec John Jeffreys (* 1950)
2015: Peter Higgs (* 1929)
2016: Richard Henderson (* 1945)
2017: Andrew Wiles (* 1953)
2018: Jeffrey I. Gordon (* 1947)
2019: John B. Goodenough (* 1922)
2020: Alan Fersht (* 1943)

literature

M. Yakup Bektas, Maurice Crosland : The Copley Medal: The Establishment of a Reward System in the Royal Society, 1731-1839 . In: Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London . Volume 46, Number 1, 1992, pp. 43-76 ( JSTOR 531440 ).
James Hudson: Report on the adjudication of the Copley, Rumford and Royal medals: and appointement of the Bakerian, Croonian and Fairchild lectures . Richard Taylor, London 1834 (online) .
Awards of the Copley Medal . In: Charles Richard Weld: A History of the Royal Society: With Memoirs of the Presidents . Volume 2, JW Parker, London 1848, pp. 566-572 (on-line) .

Web links

Copley Medal on the side of the Royal Society