1731 in science
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The year 1731 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Contents |
[edit] Agriculture
- Jethro Tull publishes The New Horse-Houghing Husbandry; or, an essay on the principles of tillage and vegetation in England.
[edit] Astronomy
- The octant is developed by John Hadley (it will eventually be replaced as an essential tool of navigation by the sextant).
- The orrery (or planetarium model) is developed as an apparatus showing the relative positions of heavenly bodies in the solar system by using balls moved by wheelwork.
[edit] Exploration
- English Captain Charles Gough rediscovers Gough Island in the South Atlantic.[1]
[edit] Geology
- The modern seismograph is developed by Italian scientist Nicholas Cerillo using a pendulum.
[edit] Medicine
- Laura Bassi becomes the first official female university teacher on being appointed professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna at the age of 21.[2]
- The Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge in Edinburgh begins publication of the peer reviewed Medical Essays and Observations.[3]
[edit] Technology
- The harpoon gun is developed and used for the purpose of throwing the harpoon into the body of whales.
[edit] Publications
- Publication begins in Augsburg and Ulm of Johann Jakob Scheuchzer's Physica Sacra which attempts to provide a scientific explanation of Biblical history.
[edit] Awards
- Copley Medal: The first Copley Medal is awarded to Stephen Gray.
[edit] Births
- October 10 - Henry Cavendish, English scientist (d. 1810)
- November 9 - Benjamin Banneker, African-American astronomer and surveyor (d. 1806)
- December 12 - Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist (d. 1802)
[edit] Deaths
- January 6 - Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist (b. 1672)
- December 29 - Brook Taylor, English mathematician (b. 1685)
[edit] References
- ^ Heaney, J. B.; Holdgate, M. W. (1957). "The Gough Island Scientific Survey". The Geographical Journal 123: 20–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1790718. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ^ "The 18th Century Women Scientists of Bologna". ScienceWeek. 2004. http://scienceweek.com/2004/rmps-4.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
- ^ Benos, Dale J. et al. (2007). "The ups and downs of per review". Advances in Physiology Education 31 (2): 145–152. doi:10.1152/advan.00104.2006. PMID 17562902. http://advan.physiology.org/content/31/2/145.full.pdf+html. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
