The Coat of Arms of the Company shows Newton and Faraday, two of the founders of modern scientific thinking, supporting the shield on which are found pyramidical cubes in the form of an optical illusion and above that, the head of Minerva. This Roman goddess had many qualities attributed to her including wisdom and knowledge. She presided over the arts in her temple which was used as a meeting place for the guilds of craftsmen. The reproduction was taken from a bust in the British Museum which was found near Rome and which is dated around the 1st or 2nd Century AD.
The figure of Faraday, holding his famed induction coil and robed in the gown of a Doctor of Civil Law of Oxford University is reproduced from the statue by Robert Foley that stands in the Royal Institution. The figure of Isaac Newton is taken from his statue in the Ante-Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is depicted in his robes of a Cambridge MA and holding his telescope.
Our motto
The motto Sine Nobis Scientia Languet - Knowledge cannot flourish without us - reflects the fundamental role the craft has played in the achievement of science over the past centuries and will, it is expected, prove to be an inspiration in the years to come.
The Grant of Arms by the College of Arms was completed on 10 December 1956.
When the Company was formed in 1956, the UK was a large manufacturer of specialist electronic and mechanical scientific instruments. Examples ranged from microscopes to spectrum analysers and a wide variety of other laboratory test and measurement equipment. Since our formation the industrial base has changed but the UK retains strong positions, especially in research, development and manufacturing, in fields as diverse as satellites, aerospace, medical equipment and leading edge electronics and electronic components.
Our members today come from a wide range of industries including education, measurement and control, medical and biomedical, communication electronics and lighting components. We also have an architect!
We promote the craft of scientific instrument making and the exchange of ideas and information by members and guests through meetings, visits, lectures and social events.
The members are all linked with the manufacture or use of scientific instruments. The Company advances the craft through traditional apprenticeships supervised by Liverymen, and through its educational trust fund. The fund provides grants, bursaries and scholarships at A level, undergraduate and post graduate and research fellow levels.
One of the primary objectives of the Company is to encourage young people to participate in the craft through grants, prizes, scholarships and apprenticeships. The Company has relationships with a number of universities as well as the armed forces, the Young Engineers program and the Arkwright Scholarship Scheme. The Trust has been built up over the years through regular donations from Liverymen, endowments and investment gains. The Trust operates under a Trust Deed and has a group of managing trustees including the Master, who chairs the Trust, the Deputy Master, the Honorary Treasurer and two Past Masters. The Charity also provides some limited financial support to Liverymen and Freemen who have fallen on hard times.