Lunar Society

The Lunar Society was a discussion club, of a number of prominent industrialists[?] and scientists, who met regularly in the latter half of the 18th century in Birmingham, England. The society's name came from their practice of scheduling their meetings at Matthew Boulton's house at the time of the full moon (in that time of no street lighting, the extra light made the journey home easier) .

They were a very influential group in British science and industry of the time - amongst those who attended meetings more or less regularly were:

Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood, James Watt, William Withering, Joseph Priestley and Samuel Galton[?].

Benjamin Franklin frequently corresponded with various members of the group, and visited them in Birmingham on several occasions.

A special purpose wiki has recently been constructed to continue the tradition of the Lunar_Society: http://www.greencheese.org