Wired magazine  informs me  that on this day in 1660, the Royal Society was founded. Coincidentally, just yesterday, I finished reading Quicksilver, a historical fiction that features the Royal Society prominently. Quicksilver is actually book 1 of a three-part novel named The Baroque Cycle, by Neal Stephenson. I’ve had the books for over two years and only now have I  been able to devote enough time to read them. The story is extremely difficult to follow because of the interplay between fact and fiction and because of the complexity of its ideas. It is also quite interesting because it deals with the genesis of the industrial revolution, a subject that has interested us before.