1553 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1553 CE in science
and technology
included a number of events, some of which are listed here.
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 ;...
included a number of events, some of which are listed here.
Cryptography
- 'Vigenère cipherVigenère cipherThe Vigenère cipher is a method of encrypting alphabetic text by using a series of different Caesar ciphers based on the letters of a keyword. It is a simple form of polyalphabetic substitution....
' first described by Giovan Battista BellasoGiovan Battista Bellaso-Biography:Bellaso was born of a distinguished family in 1505. His father was Piervincenzo, a patrician of Brescia, owner since the 15th century of a house in town and a suburban estate in Capriano, in a neighborhood called Fenili Belasi , including the Holy Trinity chapel. The chaplain was...
in his book La cifra del. Sig. Giovan Battista Bellaso (VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
).
Exploration
- May 10 - Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard ChancellorRichard ChancellorRichard Chancellor was an English explorer and navigator; the first to penetrate to the White Sea and establish relations with Russia....
set out from the River ThamesRiver ThamesThe River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
to seek the Northeast Passage.- August 14 - Willoughby sights what is probably Novaya ZemlyaNovaya ZemlyaNovaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
. - August - Chancellor enters the White SeaWhite SeaThe White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
and reaches ArkhangelskArkhangelskArkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
.
- August 14 - Willoughby sights what is probably Novaya Zemlya
- NaturalistNaturalistNaturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
Pierre BelonPierre BelonPierre Belon was a French naturalist. He is sometimes known as Pierre Belon du Mans, or, in Latin translations of his works, as Petrus Bellonius Cenomanus.Belon was born in 1517 at Soulletiere near Cérans-Foulletourte...
publishes Les observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et autres pays étrangèrsObservations (Pierre Belon)Les observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses memorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Egypte, Arabie et autres pays étrangèrs is a work of ethnographical, botanical and zoological exploration by Pierre Belon , a French naturalist from Le Mans...
(ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
). - ConquistadorConquistadorConquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
Pedro Cieza de LeónPedro Cieza de LeónPedro Cieza de León was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru. He is known primarily for his history and description of Peru, Crónicas del Perú...
publishes the Primera Parte of his Crónicas del Perú.
Physics
- VenetianVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
Giambattista BenedettiGiambattista BenedettiGiambattista Benedetti was an Italian mathematician from Venice who was also interested in physics, mechanics, the construction of sundials, and the science of music.-Science of motion:...
publishes Resolutio omnium Euclidis problematum, proposing a new doctrine of the speed of bodies in free fall.
Physiology and medicine
- Michael ServetusMichael ServetusMichael Servetus was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and humanist. He was the first European to correctly describe the function of pulmonary circulation...
publishes Christianismi Restitutio, including an account of the circulation of the blood. - Publication in SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
of Libro del Exercicio, considered the first book on the benefits of physical exercise for health.
Births
- November 23 - Prospero AlpiniProspero AlpiniProspero Alpini , was a Venetian physician and botanist....
, ItalianItalian peopleThe Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
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...
and botanist (d. 16171617 in scienceThe year 1617 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* Napier’s Bones, a multiplication device invented by John Napier, is described in his Rabdologiæ, published in Edinburgh.-Medicine:...
) - Robert HuesRobert HuesRobert Hues was an English mathematician and geographer. He attended St. Mary Hall at Oxford, and graduated in 1578. Hues became interested in geography and mathematics, and studied navigation at a school set up by Walter Raleigh. During a trip to Newfoundland, he made observations which caused...
, 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...
mathematician and geographerGeographerA geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
(d. 16321632 in scienceThe year 1632 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Events:* The University of Tartu in Swedish Livonia is founded.-Astronomy:...
) - Thomas MuffetThomas MuffetThomas Muffet was an English naturalist and physician. He is best known for his Puritan beliefs, his study of insects in regards to medicine , his support of the Paracelsian system of medicine, and his emphasis on the importance of experience over reputation in the field of medicine.-Early...
, English naturalist and physician (d. 16041604 in scienceThe year 1604 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* October 9 - Supernova 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, is observed...
) - Luca ValerioLuca ValerioLuca Valerio was an Italian mathematician. He developed ways to find volumes and centers of gravity of solid bodies using the methods of Archimedes. He corresponded with Galileo Galilei and was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei.-Biography:...
, Italian mathematician (d. 16181618 in scienceThe year 1618 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* March 8–May 15 - Johannes Kepler formulates the third law of planetary motion.* July 20 - Pluto reaches an aphelion....
)
Deaths
- February 19 - Erasmus ReinholdErasmus ReinholdErasmus Reinhold was a German astronomer and mathematician, considered to be the most influential astronomical pedagogue of his generation. He was born and died in Saalfeld, Saxony....
, German 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 mathematician (b. 15111511 in scienceThe year 1511 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Mathematics:* Charles de Bovelles publishes Géométrie en françoys, the first scientific work printed in French.-Births:...
) - August 8 - Girolamo FracastoroGirolamo FracastoroGirolamo Fracastoro was an Italian physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, geography and astronomy. Fracastoro subscribed to the philosophy of atomism, and rejected appeals to hidden causes in scientific investigation....
, Italian physician (b. 1478) - October 27 - Michael ServetusMichael ServetusMichael Servetus was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and humanist. He was the first European to correctly describe the function of pulmonary circulation...
, AragonAragonAragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
ese polymathPolymathA polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
(b. 1511) (executed for heresyHeresyHeresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
)