RSC responds to potential sale of Royal Institution building

On today's news that the Royal Institution may have to sell its building in Albemarle Street, London, RSC Chief Executive Dr Robert Parker said:

"This is terribly sad and worrying news. Over 200 years of remarkable scientific history has taken place at the Royal Institution's impressive buildings in Albemarle Street, from Faraday's invention of the electric generator to the discovery of ten chemical elements and the determination of the atomic structure of crystals.

"The Royal Institution has been the bedrock of public engagement in science in Britain. Lectures on the latest discoveries in science have entertained and delighted audiences for hundreds of years, and were so popular that Albemarle Street became London's first one-way street as a measure to control the gridlock formed by horse-drawn carriages bringing people to these events.

"And of course the Royal Institution is home to the world-famous Christmas Lectures. The RSC was delighted to support last year's instalment on chemistry, to demonstrate the importance and excitement of chemistry to a wider audience and to inspire the next generation of budding chemical scientists."