1609 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1609 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.
Astronomy
- Johannes KeplerJohannes KeplerJohannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
publishes Astronomia novaAstronomia novaThe Astronomia nova is a book, published in 1609, that contains the results of the astronomer Johannes Kepler's ten-year long investigation of the motion of Mars...
, containing his first two laws of planetary motionKepler's laws of planetary motionIn astronomy, Kepler's laws give a description of the motion of planets around the Sun.Kepler's laws are:#The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci....
.
Exploration
- April 4 - Henry HudsonHenry HudsonHenry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
's sets out from AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the Halve Maen.- August 28 - Hudson finds Delaware BayDelaware BayDelaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...
. - September 11–12 - Hudson sails into Upper New York BayUpper New York BayUpper New York Bay, or Upper Bay, is the traditional heart of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and often called New York Harbor. It is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne.It...
and begins a journey up the Hudson RiverHudson RiverThe Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
.
- August 28 - Hudson finds Delaware Bay
Medicine
- Louise Bourgeois BoursierLouise Bourgeois BoursierLouise Bourgeois Boursier or Louise Bourgeois or Louyse Bourgeous was a French midwife called The Scholar...
publishes Diverse Observations on Sterility; Loss of the Ovum after Fecundation, Fecundity and Childbirth; Diseases of Women and of Newborn Infants in 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...
, the first book on obstetricsObstetricsObstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
written by a woman. - Jacques GuillemeauJacques GuillemeauJacques Guillemeau was a French surgeon from Orléans. He is credited for making pioneer contributions in the fields of obstetrics and ophthalmology....
publishes De l'heureux accouchement des femmes in which he describes a method of assisted breech delivery.
Births
- June 29 - Pierre Paul Riquet, French engineer and canal builder (died 1680)
- October 8 - John ClarkeJohn Clarke (1609-1676)John Clarke was a medical doctor, Baptist minister, co-founder of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, author of its influential charter, and a leading advocate of religious freedom in the Americas....
, English physician (died 16761676 in scienceThe year 1676 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Danish astronomer Ole Rømer measures the speed of light by observing the eclipses of Jupiter's moons, obtaining a speed of 140,000 miles per second .* Summer - The Royal Greenwich Observatory, designed by...
)
Deaths
- March 26 - John DeeJohn Dee (mathematician)John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....
, 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...
alchemistAlchemyAlchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, astrologerAstrologerAn astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
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....
(born 15271527 in scienceThe year 1527 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Mathematics:* Petrus Apianus publishes a handbook of commercial arithmetic, Ein newe und wolgegründete underweisung aller Kauffmanns Rechnung in dreyen Büchern, mit schönen Regeln und fragstücken...
) - April 4 - Carolus Clusius, FlemishFlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
botanist (b. 15251525 in scienceThe year 1525 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.-Events:* Albrecht Dürer's book on geometry and perspective, The Painter's Manual is published at Nuremberg...
) - December - Oswald CrollOswald CrollOswald Croll or Crollius was an alchemist, and professor of medicine at the University of Marburg in Hesse, Germany. A strong proponent of alchemy and using chemistry in medicine, he was heavily involved in writing books and influencing thinkers of his day towards viewing chemistry and alchemy as...
, German iatrochemistIatrochemistryIatrochemistry is a branch of both chemistry and medicine. Having its roots in alchemy, iatrochemistry seeks to provide chemical solutions to diseases and medical ailments....
(b. c.15631563 in scienceThe year 1563 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Medicine and physiology:* June–October - Outbreak of bubonic plague in London kills over 20,000....
)