1772 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1772 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.
Cartography
- Johann Heinrich LambertJohann Heinrich LambertJohann Heinrich Lambert was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, philosopher and astronomer.Asteroid 187 Lamberta was named in his honour.-Biography:...
publishes seven new map projectionMap projectionA map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other three-dimensional body on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
s, including the Lambert conformal conicLambert conformal conic projectionA Lambert conformal conic projection is a conic map projection, which is often used for aeronautical charts. In essence, the projection superimposes a cone over the sphere of the Earth, with two reference parallels secant to the globe and intersecting it. This minimizes distortion from projecting...
, Transverse MercatorTransverse Mercator projectionThe transverse Mercator map projection is an adaptation of the standard Mercator projection. The transverse version is widely used in national and international mapping systems around the world, including the UTM...
and Lambert azimuthal equal areaLambert azimuthal equal-area projectionThe Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection is a particular mapping from a sphere to a disk . It accurately represents area in all regions of the sphere, but it does not accurately represent angles...
.
Chemistry
- Daniel RutherfordDaniel RutherfordDaniel Rutherford was a Scottish physician, chemist and botanist who is most famous for the isolation of nitrogen in 1772.Rutherford was the uncle of the novelist Sir Walter Scott.-Early life:...
isolates nitrogenNitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
. - Joseph PriestleyJoseph PriestleyJoseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
synthesizes nitrous oxideNitrous oxideNitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...
as phlogisticated nitrous air.
Earth sciences
- William HamiltonWilliam Hamilton (diplomat)Sir William Hamilton KB, PC, FRS was a Scottish diplomat, antiquarian, archaeologist and vulcanologist. After a short period as a Member of Parliament, he served as British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764 to 1800...
publishes Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and Other Volcano's: in a series of letters addressed to the Royal Society from the Honorable Sir William Hamilton (London).
Mathematics
- The Marquis de CondorcetMarquis de CondorcetMarie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet , known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, mathematician, and early political scientist whose Condorcet method in voting tally selects the candidate who would beat each of the other candidates in a run-off election...
publishes his second significant paper on integral calculus.
Technology
- May 28 - The Staffordshire and Worcestershire CanalStaffordshire and Worcestershire CanalThe Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a narrow navigable canal in the English Midlands, passing through the counties of Staffordshire and Worcestershire....
opens for traffic throughout in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from a junction with the Trent and Mersey CanalTrent and Mersey CanalThe Trent and Mersey Canal is a in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and North West of England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities—east of Burton upon Trent and west of Middlewich—it is a wide canal....
to the River SevernRiver SevernThe River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
at Stourport. Engineered by James BrindleyJames BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
, this is the first British trunk canalCanals of the United KingdomThe canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
completed and its dimensions determine the size of boat used throughout the narrow canal network (72 feet (21.9 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m)). - Andrew MeikleAndrew MeikleAndrew Meikle was an early mechanical engineer credited with inventing the threshing machine, a device used to remove the outer husks from grains of wheat. This was regarded as one of the key developments of the British Agricultural Revolution in the late 18th century...
invents spring sails for windmillWindmillA windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
s.
Births
- April 15 - Étienne Geoffroy Saint-HilaireÉtienne Geoffroy Saint-HilaireÉtienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories...
, FrenchFrench peopleThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
naturalistNaturalistNaturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
(d. 18441844 in scienceThe year 1844 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* Friedrich Bessel explains the wobbling motions of Sirius and Procyon by suggesting that these stars have dark companions.-Biology:...
) - October 29 - Jean Henri Jaume Saint-HilaireJean Henri Jaume Saint-HilaireJean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire was a French naturalist and artist, born in Grasse, France.-Biography:Born as Jaume, he added Saint-Hilaire later. Some biographers indicate that this addition was to distinguish himself from a family member, Henri-Honore Jaume, a Jacobin who had been involved in...
, French botanist (d. 18451845 in scienceThe year 1845 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Events:* January 14 – Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin established and begins publishing Fortschritte der Physik and Verhandlungen....
) - November 28 - Luke HowardLuke HowardLuke Howard FRS was a British manufacturing chemist and an amateur meteorologist with broad interests in science...
, EnglishEnglish peopleThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
meteorologist and manufacturing chemist (d. 18641864 in scienceThe year 1864 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.-Conservation:* June 30 - The Yosemite Grant is created in the United States.-Chemistry:...
)
Deaths
- March 22 - John CantonJohn CantonJohn Canton FRS was an English physicist.Canton was born in Middle Street Stroud, Gloucestershire, the son of a weaver John Canton and Esther He had only a common education, after which he was put apprentice to a broadcloth weaver, but his leisure hours were devoted to mathematical studies, and...
, EnglishEnglish peopleThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
(born 17181718 in scienceThe year 1718 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* Abraham de Moivre publishes The Doctrine of Chances: a method of calculating the probabilities of events in play in English, which goes through several editions....
) - March 29 - Emanuel SwedenborgEmanuel Swedenborgwas a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
, SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
scientistScientistA scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and theologian (born 16881688 in scienceThe year 1688 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.-Births:* January 29 - Emanuel Swedenborg, scientist and theologian * April 4 - Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, astronomer...
) - September 30 - James BrindleyJames BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
, English canal builder (born 17161716 in scienceThe year 1716 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Births:* January 12 - Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish explorer * March 6 - Pehr Kalm, Swedish botanist and explorer...
)