The original Invisible College was formed in the 1600s by the Robert Boyle, who made Boyle's Law. Boyle's contemporaries were frustrated with Academia of the day, which determined truth by-authority (e.g. the Church and Aristotle) and made little room for questioning beliefs, or doing science via evidence and experimentation. Instead, Boyle's science colleagues convened on their own, outside the academic walls, and called themselves an "Invisible College", to discuss experiments and scientific questions with higher ideals not afforded by Academia.

This Invisible College went on to attract the best scientists of the day—such as Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton—as it developed into the Royal Society of London, a proper organization with reputation, rules, and protocols. The Royal Society wanted to publish its results more broadly, and bought a printing press. However, lacking trust in authorities, they needed a better way to agree on which papers to include within the journal's page limit. So, they invented the peer review process — and thus created the world's first peer-reviewed journal in the process.

And now, of course, peer review has overtaken the entire Academy. Peer review determines truth, allocates jobs, and allocates research funding. Yet, peer review itself has now become corrupt and dependent upon authority. Many of us are re-joining the Invisible College, to improve the culture of science and create a better peer review for the next generation of knowledge seekers.

Each Invisible College takes part in a revolution in science:

Boyle's Invisible College went through all four stages. Our Invisible College is currently moving from yellow to green as it builds tools and systems, including new forms of peer review.

We are inspired by the spirit of the original Invisible College:

The Invisible College:

Men of so capacious and searching spirits, that school-philosophy is but the lowest region of their knowledge; so humble and teachable; persons that endeavour to put narrow-mindedness out of countenance; that reach unto every thing called man, content to bring nothing less than good will. And indeed they are so apprehensive of the want of good employment that they take the whole body of mankind for their care.

There are not enough of them.

– Robert Boyle

Read more history.