Royal Geological Society of Cornwall Royal Geological Society of Cornwall The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Penzance, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world, after the Geological Society of London which was founded in 1807. The first President of the society was Davies Gilbert, the first Secretary John Ayrton Paris, and other notable members include Humphry Davy (some of whose papers are held by the Society), and William Gregor, who discovered titanium. The society's first premises was
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society 1828. No other woman received the award until Vera Rubin in 1996. Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge were jointly awarded the 2005 Gold Medal in astronomy, the first joint award since 1886. The medal features an image of the 40-foot telescope constructed by Sir William Herschel, the first President of the RAS. Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is the highest award given by the RAS. The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and as such it can be awarded for any reason.