1740 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1740 in science
and technology
involved some significant events.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
involved some significant events.
Physics
- Jacques-Barthélemy Micheli du CrestJacques-Barthélemy Micheli du CrestJacques-Barthélemy Micheli du Crest was a Genevan military engineer, physicist and cartographer. Born into the aristocracy, he eventually fled to France as an enemy of Geneva and eventually spent his later years in Aarburg Castle as a political prisoner. During his time there, he mapped the Alps...
created a spirit thermometer, making use of two fixed points, 0 for "Temperature of earth" based on a cave at Paris ObservatoryParis ObservatoryThe Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...
and 100 for the heat of boiling water. - Émilie du ChâteletÉmilie du Châtelet-Early life:Du Châtelet was born on 17 December 1706 in Paris, the only daughter of six children. Three brothers lived to adulthood: René-Alexandre , Charles-Auguste , and Elisabeth-Théodore . Her eldest brother, René-Alexandre, died in 1720, and the next brother, Charles-Auguste, died in 1731...
publishes Institutions de Physique, including a demonstration that the energy of a moving objectKinetic energyThe kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
is proportional to the square of its velocity (Ek = mv²).
Births
- June 27 - John LathamJohn Latham (ornithologist)John Latham was an English physician, naturalist and author. He was born at Eltham in Kent, and was the eldest son of John Latham, a surgeon there, and his mother was a descendant of the Sothebys, in Yorkshire....
, physicianPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, naturalistNatural historyNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, "grandfather of Australian ornithologyOrnithologyOrnithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
" (died 18371837 in scienceThe year 1837 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* August 9 - Edward C. Herrick, in New Haven, Connecticut, identifies the Perseids as an annual phenomenon....
) - July 1 - Franz-Joseph Müller von ReichensteinFranz-Joseph Müller von ReichensteinFranz-Joseph Müller Freiherr von Reichenstein or Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein was an Austrian mineralogist and mining engineer. Müller held several positions in the Austria-Hungarian administration of mines and coinage in the Banat, Transylvania, and Tyrol...
, mineralogist and discoverer of tellurium (died 18251825 in scienceThe year 1825 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* Pierre-Simon Laplace completes his study of gravitation, the stability of the solar system, tides, the precession of the equinoxes, the libration of the Moon, and Saturn's rings in Mecanique...
) - August 26 - Joseph Michel MontgolfierMontgolfier brothersJoseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were the inventors of the montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique. The brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent, carrying Étienne into the sky...
, pioneer balloonist (died 18101810 in scienceThe year 1810 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.-Medicine:* John Haslam, resident apothecary at Bethlem Hospital in London, produces the book Illustrations of Madness: Exhibiting a Singular Case of Insanity, And a No Less Remarkable Difference in Medical...
) - September 29 - Thomas PercivalThomas PercivalThomas Percival FRS FRSE FSA was an English physician and author, best known for crafting perhaps the first modern code of medical ethics...
, reforming physician and medical ethicist (died 18041804 in scienceThe year 1804 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space science:* April 5 - High Possil meteorite falls in Scotland.* September 1 - Karl Ludwig Harding discovers the asteroid Juno.-Botany:...
) - December 24 - Anders Johan LexellAnders Johan LexellAnders Johan Lexell was a Swedish-born Russian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist who spent most of his life in Russia where he is known as Andrei Ivanovich Leksel .Lexell made important discoveries in polygonometry and celestial mechanics; the latter led to a comet named in...
, astronomerAstronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
and mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
(died 17841784 in scienceThe year 1784 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Biology:* Publication of the Annals of Agriculture edited by Arthur Young begins in Great Britain....
) - unknown - William SmellieWilliam Smellie (encyclopedist)William Smellie was a Scottish master printer, naturalist, antiquary, editor and encyclopedist. He was friends with Robert Burns, whose assessment is engraved on Smellie's tombstone: "Here lies a man who did honour to human nature"...
, naturalist and encyclopedist (died 17951795 in scienceThe year 1795 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* December 13 - A meteorite falls to earth at Wold Newton, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the first to be recognised in modern times.-Metrology:...
)
Deaths
- March 23 - Olof Rudbeck the YoungerOlof Rudbeck the YoungerOlaus Rudbeckius, junior or Olof Rudbeck , Swedish explorer and scientist, son of Olaus Rudbeck Sr, Rudbeck Jr. succeeded his father as professor of medicine at Uppsala University. Young Rudbeck was an able botanist and ornithologist who took his doctor's degree in Utrecht in 1690...
, SwedishSwedesSwedes are a Scandinavian nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.-Etymology:...
naturalist (born 16601660 in scienceThe year 1660 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Events:* November 28 - At Gresham College in London, twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Robert Moray, meet after a lecture by Wren and resolve to found "a College for the Promoting of...
)