Eighty years ago, on 13th August 1946, our founder and first president, Herbert George Wells, died peacefully at his home overlooking Regents Park. So today would seem an appropriate point to remind ourselves about the RCSA’s H.G. Wells Cup…..
Distinctive in appearance and designed to resemble an hourglass, the H.G. Wells Cup was commissioned by then president Rob Park, to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Royal College of Science Association. Unveiled at the ‘Eleventieth’ Annual Dinner at the House of Lords in 2018, and inaugurated with the after-dinner port, it bears the name of Herbert George Wells, famous alumnus of the RCS and founder and first president of the RCS Association.
The form of an egg-timer is well chosen. The hourglass shape has been imbued with mystical meaning since the time of the alchemists with the upper bulb representing the heavens or the future, and the lower bulb the Earth or the past. The constriction in between hints at the smallness and insignificance and fleetingness of the here-and-now.
Of course, an hourglass measures time, one of the fundamental dimensions of physics, and the ability to accurately measure the passage of time, whether by counting revolutions of the earth or by the turning of an hourglass or by the oscillations of a caesium atom, has made a vital contribution to our picture of the Universe. H.G. Wells went one step further and portrayed complete mastery over the passage of time in his breakthrough novella of 1895, The Time Machine. So we come full-circle, back to H.G. Wells, and the Cup that bears his name.
The bottom section, the bottom ‘bulb’ of the hourglass, is headed “PRESIDENTS” and lists each president of the RCSA and their year of inauguration. It starts, of course, with the founding president H.G. Wells in 1908 and continues right through to the incumbent president, Mike Munroe, whose term of office began in 2022. All this is above the caption “Natalis Centesimum Decimum MMXVIII” (one hundred and tenth birthday 2018).
The list of presidents contains an inconspicuous detail which is a personal and slightly indulgent tribute to the recently deceased and much missed Martin C. Black, RCSU Hon Sec 1971-1972, ICU Hon Sec 1972-1973, RCSA President 1998-2002 and long-time devotee to the RCS Union, to the RCS Association and to the RCSA Trust. Professing, rather late in his life, that he preferred the name ‘MC’ Black and confessing to somewhat disliking both his given names of Martin and Charles, ‘MC’ is honoured with the omission of a space between the ‘M’ and the ‘C’ of his initials. For a man with a great eye for detail, we trust that ‘MC’ finds this a fitting and suitably discreet ‘thank you’ for the many years of service that he has given us over the decades.
But there is still more to this complex object. The top ‘bulb’ of the hourglass is headed up with the inscription “Scientia Imperii Decus et Tutamen MCMVII” which is, of course, the now discarded Imperial College motto (‘Scientific knowledge, the crowning glory and the safeguard of the empire) followed by 1907, the year of the founding of Imperial College. Below that is inscribed our name. the all-important ‘Royal College of Science Association’.
The underneath of the cup contains a hidden gem, the name ‘August Wilhelm von Hofmann’ and the inscription ‘Nostri prÆses primus MDCCCXLV’ (‘Our first president 1845’), a reference to the first director of the Royal College of Chemistry and a reminder that the RCSA didn’t restrict its membership to students registering after 1908, but that the RCSA looked after the interests of alumni going right back to the original college founded in 1845.
Also on the underneath, you will see the touchmarks of the maker of the vessel, A.E. Wentworth of Sheffield. They are premier makers of pewter artefacts and have produced a magnificent cup which is shiny and silvery. No doubt, the passage of time will give it that more familiar dull patinated sheen. Should anyone build H.G. Wells’ time machine, please be so kind as to pop into the future and let us know how the patina has developed, failing that we’ll just have to wait a hundred years to see the Cup in its full glory.
(If you approve of the support we offer to our students and to the traditions of Imperial College, why not help us do more? Consider making a donation to the RCSA Trust here….. With no paid staff and no building costs you can be assured that every penny of your donation will be gratefully received and faithfully applied to assist the students of the Royal College of Science).
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