1715 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1715 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
- May 3 - Total solar eclipseSolar eclipseAs seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...
across southern 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...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , 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....
and FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
(last total eclipse visible in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for almost 900 years). - Edmond HalleyEdmond HalleyEdmond Halley FRS was an English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist who is best known for computing the orbit of the eponymous Halley's Comet. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, following in the footsteps of John Flamsteed.-Biography and career:Halley...
suggests that nebulaNebulaA nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
e are clouds of interstellar gas. - Publication in London of David Gregory's The elements of astronomy, physical and geometrical... Done into English, containing the first recorded use in EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
of the word PhysicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
in its modern scientific sense and the first mention of a series approximating the Titius–Bode law on celestial orbitOrbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
s.
Discoveries
- GinsengGinsengGinseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....
, first used by Native AmericansIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, is discovered by a Jesuit missionary in CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. - Mine La Motte, in Madison county, MissouriMissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, is discovered by De la Motte Cadillac. - The "miracle" springs are discovered in CheltenhamCheltenhamCheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, 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...
, a small CotswoldCotswoldThe Cotswolds are a range of hills in central England that give their name to:*Cotswold *Cotswold *Cotswold Chase, a horse race*Cotswold Games, annual games in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire...
village at the time.
Geology
- Edmund Halley suggests using the salinity and evaporation of salt lakeSalt lakeA salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water which has a concentration of salts and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes . In some cases, salt lakes have a higher concentration of salt than sea water, but such lakes would also be termed hypersaline lakes...
s to determine the age of the EarthAge of the EarthThe age of the Earth is 4.54 billion years This age is based on evidence from radiometric age dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples...
.
Mathematics
- Brook TaylorBrook TaylorBrook Taylor FRS was an English mathematician who is best known for Taylor's theorem and the Taylor series.- Life and work :...
's Methodus Incrementorum Directa et Inversa adds a new branch to the higher mathematics, now designated the "calculusCalculusCalculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
of finite differenceFinite differenceA finite difference is a mathematical expression of the form f − f. If a finite difference is divided by b − a, one gets a difference quotient...
s", and introduces Taylor's theoremTaylor's theoremIn calculus, Taylor's theorem gives an approximation of a k times differentiable function around a given point by a k-th order Taylor-polynomial. For analytic functions the Taylor polynomials at a given point are finite order truncations of its Taylor's series, which completely determines the...
and the Taylor seriesTaylor seriesIn mathematics, a Taylor series is a representation of a function as an infinite sum of terms that are calculated from the values of the function's derivatives at a single point....
. - Taylor also publishes his Essay on Linear Perspective, which discusses the principles of perspectivePerspective (graphical)Perspective in the graphic arts, such as drawing, is an approximate representation, on a flat surface , of an image as it is seen by the eye...
and the vanishing pointVanishing pointA vanishing point is a point in a perspective drawing to which parallel lines not parallel to the image plane appear to converge. The number and placement of the vanishing points determines which perspective technique is being used...
.
Technology
- The first recognised fire extinguisherFire extinguisherA fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...
is invented. - approx. date - In clockmaking, George GrahamGeorge Graham (clockmaker)George Graham was an English clockmaker, inventor, and geophysicist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.He was born to George Graham in Kirklinton, Cumberland. A Friend like his mentor Thomas Tompion, Graham left Cumberland in 1688 for London to work with Tompion...
invents his deadbeat escapementEscapementIn mechanical watches and clocks, an escapement is a device that transfers energy to the timekeeping element and enables counting the number of oscillations of the timekeeping element...
and experiments with compensation pendulumPendulumA pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...
s.
Births
- April 3 - William Watson, 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...
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...
, botanist and 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...
(d. 17871787 in scienceThe year 1787 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* January 11 - William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, the first moons of Uranus found.-Biology:...
) - September 22 - Jean-Étienne GuettardJean-Étienne GuettardJean-Étienne Guettard , French naturalist and mineralogist, was born at Étampes, near Paris.In boyhood, he gained a knowledge of plants from his grandfather, who was an apothecary, and later he qualified as a doctor in medicine...
, 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...
physician and scientist (d. 17861786 in scienceThe year 1786 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Births:* January 5 - Thomas Nuttall, English naturalist * February 26 - François Arago, French mathematician, physicist, and astronomer -Deaths:...
) - October 8 - Michel BenoistMichel BenoistMichel Benoist October 23, 1774 in Beijing, China of a stroke) was a Jesuit scientist, who stood in the service of the ChineseQianlong Emperor for thirty years and is most noted for the waterworks he constructed for the emperor.-Education:...
, French Jesuit missionary and scientist (d. 17741774 in scienceThe year 1774 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Chemistry:* August 1 - Joseph Priestley, working at Bowood House, Wiltshire, England, isolates oxygen in the form of a gas, which he calls "dephlogisticated air"....
) - November 13 - Dorothea ErxlebenDorothea ErxlebenDorothea Christiane Erxleben née Leporin was the first female medical doctor in Germany...
, German physician (d. 17621762 in scienceThe year 1762 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* September – Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorships is established in London, pioneering mutual insurance using a method of actuarial science devised by mathematician James Dodson.* Johann...
) - November 23 - Pierre Charles Le MonnierPierre Charles Le MonnierPierre Charles Le Monnier was a French astronomer. His name is sometimes given as Lemonnier.-Biography:...
, French 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...
(d. 17991799 in scienceThe year 1799 in science and technology involved many significant events, listed below.-Archaeology:* July 15 - In the Egyptian port city of Rosetta , French Captain Pierre Bouchard finds the Rosetta Stone, which will become the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.* July 25 -...
)
Deaths
- January 19 - Nicolas LemeryNicolas LemeryNicolas Lémery , French chemist, was born at Rouen. He was one of the first to develop theories on acid-base chemistry....
, French 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. 16451645 in scienceThe year 1645 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* The Solar cycle enters the 70-year Maunder Minimum.* First published map of the Moon produced by Michael Florent van Langren.-Technology:...
) - February 17 - Antoine GallandAntoine GallandAntoine Galland was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of The Thousand and One Nights...
, French archaeologist (b. 16461646 in scienceThe year 1646 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Technology:* Pascal's Law, a law of hydrostatics is developed, stating that, in a perfect fluid, the pressure exerted on it anywhere is transmitted equally.-Publications:...
) - March - William DampierWilliam DampierWilliam Dampier was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer...
, English explorer, hydrographic surveyor and triple circumnavigator (b. 16511651 in scienceThe year 1651 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Anatomy:* Jean Pecquet publishes Experimenta nova anatomica which includes his findings on the lymphatic system....
) - May - Thomas SaveryThomas SaveryThomas Savery was an English inventor, born at Shilstone, a manor house near Modbury, Devon, England.-Career:Savery became a military engineer, rising to the rank of Captain by 1702, and spent his free time performing experiments in mechanics...
, English engineer, inventor of a steam pump (b. c.16501650 in scienceThe year 1650 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:*In Ursa Major, the handle's middle star, Mizar, is noted to be a binary star by Giambattista Riccioli.-Botany:* Begonias are first discovered by Francisco Hernandez....
) - August 16 - Raymond VieussensRaymond VieussensRaymond Vieussens was a French anatomist from Vigan. He studied medicine at the University of Montpellier where he earned his degree in 1670. He later became head physician at Hôtel Dieu Saint-Eloi in Montpellier...
, French anatomist (b. c.16351635 in scienceThe year 1635 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Botany:* Jardin des Plantes, Paris, planted as a physic garden by Guy de La Brosse.-Births:* May 9 - J. J. Becher, German physician and chemist...
) - September 24 - Wilhelm HombergWilhelm HombergWilhelm Homberg , also known as Guillaume Homberg in French, was a Dutch natural philosopher.-Life:...
, DutchDutch peopleThe Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
chemist working in FranceFranceThe 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...
(b. 16521652 in scienceThe year 1652 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Publications:* Nicholas Culpeper publishes his herbal, The English Physitian, or, An astrologo-physical discourse on the vulgar herbs of this nation, being a compleat method of physick, whereby a man may preserve his body in...
) - October 15 - Humphry DittonHumphry DittonHumphry Ditton was an English mathematician.-Life:Ditton was born at Salisbury. He studied theology, and was for some years a dissenting minister at Tonbridge, but on the death of his father he devoted himself to the congenial study of mathematics...
, English mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
(b. 16751675 in scienceThe year 1675 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* March 4 - John Flamsteed appointed as "astronomical observator", in effect, the first Astronomer Royal of England.* Giovanni Cassini discovers Saturn's Cassini Division....
)