Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
{{Short description|Academic journal published by the Royal Society}}
{{Infobox journal
| italic title = force
| title = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
| cover = File:Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 2011 cover.gif
| editor = Malcolm Longair
| discipline = Biography
| former_names = Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society
| abbreviation = Biogr. Mem. Fellows R. Soc.
| publisher = Royal Society
| country = United Kingdom
| frequency = Biannually
| history = 1932–present
| openaccess = Yes
| license =
| impact =
| impact-year =
| website = https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsbm
| link1 = https://royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rsbm/current
| link1-name = Online access
| link2 = https://royalsocietypublishing.org/loi/rsbm
| link2-name = Online archive
| JSTOR = 00804606
| OCLC =
| LCCN = 56026605
| CODEN =
| ISSN = 0080-4606
| eISSN = 1748-8494
}}
The Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society is an academic journal on the history of science published annually by the Royal Society. It publishes obituaries of Fellows of the Royal Society. It was established in 1932 as Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society and obtained its current title in 1955, with volume numbering restarting at 1. Prior to 1932, obituaries were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
The memoirs are a significant historical record and most include a full bibliography of works by the subjects. The memoirs are often written by a scientist of the next generation, often one of the subject's own former students, or a close colleague. In many cases the author is also a Fellow. Notable biographies published in this journal include Albert Einstein,{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1955.0005 |title=Albert Einstein. 1879–1955 |year=1955 |last1=Whittaker |first1=E. |s2cid=619823 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=1 |pages=37–67}} Alan Turing,{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1955.0019 |title=Alan Mathison Turing. 1912–1954 |year=1955 |last1=Newman |first1=M. H. A. |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=1 |pages=253–263|doi-access=free }} Bertrand Russell,{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1973.0021 |title=Bertrand Arthur William Russell, Earl Russell. 1872–1970 |year=1973 |last1=Kreisel |first1=G. |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=19 |pages=583–620|doi-access= }} Claude Shannon,{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2009.0015 |title=Claude Elwood Shannon 30 April 1916 -- 24 February 2001 |year=2009 |last1=James |first1=I. |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=55 |pages=257–265|doi-access= }} Clement Attlee,{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1968.0002 |title=Clement Richard Attlee First Earl Attlee. 1883–1967 |year=1968 |last1=Bridges |first1=L. |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=14 |pages=15–36|doi-access=free }} Ernst Mayr,{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2006.0013 |title=Ernst Walter Mayr. 5 July 1904 -- 3 February 2005: Elected ForMemRS 1988 |year=2006 |last1=Bock |first1=W. J. |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=52 |pages=167–187|doi-access= }} and Erwin Schrödinger.{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1961.0017 |title=Erwin Schrodinger. 1887–1961 |year=1961 |last1=Heitler |first1=W. |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=7 |pages=221–228|doi-access=free }}
Each year, around 40 to 50 memoirs of deceased Fellows of the Royal Society are collated by the Editor-in-Chief, currently Malcolm Longair, who succeeded Trevor Stuart in 2016. All contents are freely available to read.