1815 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1815 in science
and technology
involved some significant events, listed below.
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, listed below.
Biology
- Jean-Baptiste LamarckJean-Baptiste LamarckJean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck , often known simply as Lamarck, was a French naturalist...
begins publication of Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres.
Chemistry
- William ProutWilliam ProutWilliam Prout FRS was an English chemist, physician, and natural theologian. He is remembered today mainly for what is called Prout's hypothesis.-Biography:...
anonymously publishes his hypothesisProut's hypothesisProut's hypothesis was an early 19th century attempt to explain the existence of the various chemical elements through a hypothesis regarding the internal structure of the atom...
that the atomic weightAtomic weightAtomic weight is a dimensionless physical quantity, the ratio of the average mass of atoms of an element to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of carbon-12...
of every elementChemical elementA chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. Familiar examples of elements include carbon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, copper, gold, mercury, and lead.As of November 2011, 118 elements...
is an integerIntegerThe integers are formed by the natural numbers together with the negatives of the non-zero natural numbers .They are known as Positive and Negative Integers respectively...
multiple of that of hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
.
Geology
- April 5 - Volcanic eruption of Mount TamboraMount TamboraMount Tambora is an active stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by oceanic crust, and Tambora was formed by the active subduction zone beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as , making it...
on the IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n island of Sumbava. About 92,000 people die as a direct consequence of this disaster, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The eruption sends so much volcanic ash into the atmosphere that weather patterns around the world are altered, causing 1815 to be the "Year Without A SummerYear Without a SummerThe Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
". - August 1 - William SmithWilliam Smith (geologist)William 'Strata' Smith was an English geologist, credited with creating the first nationwide geological map. He is known as the "Father of English Geology" for collating the geological history of England and Wales into a single record, although recognition was very slow in coming...
publishes the first national geological map of the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales, with part of Scotland.
Medicine
- July 10 - Apothecaries ActApothecaries Act 1815The Apothecaries Act 1815 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the long title "An Act for better regulating the Practice of Apothecaries throughout England and Wales"...
prohibits unlicensed medical practitioners in the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. - CholesterolCholesterolCholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
is discovered by French chemist Michel E. Chevreul, who analyzes it in human gall stones, but its causal relationship with atherosclerosisAtherosclerosisAtherosclerosis is a condition in which an artery wall thickens as a result of the accumulation of fatty materials such as cholesterol...
remains unknown.
Physics
- Experiments by Jean Baptist Biot reveal polarimetryPolarimetryPolarimetry is the measurement and interpretation of the polarization of transverse waves, most notably electromagnetic waves, such as radio or light waves...
in the polarization of light in liquids. - Atomic decay is discovered by Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob BerzeliusJöns Jakob BerzeliusJöns Jacob Berzelius was a Swedish chemist. He worked out the modern technique of chemical formula notation, and is together with John Dalton, Antoine Lavoisier, and Robert Boyle considered a father of modern chemistry...
in gadoliniteGadoliniteGadolinite, sometimes also known as Ytterbite, is a silicate mineral which consists principally of the silicates of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium, beryllium, and iron with the formula 2FeBe2Si2O10...
, a radioactive mineral damaged by alpha particleAlpha particleAlpha particles consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium nucleus, which is classically produced in the process of alpha decay, but may be produced also in other ways and given the same name...
s released in its own activity.
Technology
- October 21 - The Davy lampDavy lampThe Davy lamp is a safety lamp with a wick and oil vessel burning originally a heavy vegetable oil, devised in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It was created for use in coal mines, allowing deep seams to be mined despite the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp.Sir...
is patentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
ed by Humphry DavyHumphry DavySir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...
as a coal miners' safety lamp. - Dental flossDental flossDental floss is made of either a bundle of thin nylon filaments or a plastic ribbon used to remove food and dental plaque from teeth. The floss is gently inserted between the teeth and scraped along the teeth sides, especially close to the gums. Dental floss may be flavored or unflavored, and...
is invented by Levi Spear Parmly.
Births
- July 26 - Robert RemakRobert Remak-External links:*** in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science...
, embryologist (d. 18651865 in scienceThe year 1865 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Friedrich Kekulé proposes a ring structure for benzene.-Life sciences:* Louis Pasteur shows that the air is full of bacteria....
) - Ausust 23 - Henry Acland, 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...
(d. 19001900 in scienceThe year 1900 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Aeronautics:* July 2 - The first airship flight is made by the LZ1 designed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin.-Chemistry:...
) - October 31 - Karl Weierstraß, mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
(d. 18971897 in scienceThe year 1897 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert unifies the field of algebraic number theory with his treatise Zahlbericht.-Medicine:...
) - November 2 - George BooleGeorge BooleGeorge Boole was an English mathematician and philosopher.As the inventor of Boolean logic—the basis of modern digital computer logic—Boole is regarded in hindsight as a founder of the field of computer science. Boole said,...
, mathematician (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:...
) - December 10 - Augusta Ada King (née Byron), Countess of Lovelace, computing pioneer (d. 18521852 in scienceThe year 1852 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Aeronautics:* September 24 - French engineer Henri Giffard makes the first airship trip, from Paris to Trappes.-Medicine:...
)
Deaths
- February 22 - Smithson TennantSmithson TennantSmithson Tennant FRS was an English chemist.Tennant is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium, which he found in the residues from the solution of platinum ores in 1803. He also contributed to the proof of the identity of diamond and charcoal. The mineral tennantite is...
, BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
(b. 17611761 in scienceThe year 1761 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* June 6 - The first transit of Venus since Edmond Halley suggested that its observation could determine the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Joseph-Nicolas Delisle set up a 62-station network for...
) - March 5 - Franz MesmerFranz MesmerFranz Anton Mesmer , sometimes, albeit incorrectly, referred to as Friedrich Anton Mesmer, was a German physician with an interest in astronomy, who theorised that there was a natural energetic transference that occurred between all animated and inanimate objects that he called magnétisme animal ...
, German 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...
(b. 17341734 in scienceThe year 1734 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* George Berkeley publishes The Analyst, an empiricist critique of the foundations of infinitesimal calculus, influential in the development of mathematics.-Zoology:...
) - September 20 - Nicolas DesmarestNicolas DesmarestNicolas Desmarest was a French geologist.Desmarest was born at Soulaines, in the department of Aube. Of humble parentage, he was educated at the college of the Oratorians of Troyes and Paris. Taking full advantage of the instruction he received, he was able to support himself by teaching, and to...
, FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
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...
(b. 17251725 in scienceThe year 1725 in science and technology involved some significant events.-History of science:* John Freind begins publication of The History of Physick, from the time of Galen to the beginning of the sixteenth century, chiefly with regard to practice, the first comprehensive history of medicine in...
)