1720 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1720 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.
Medicine
- Dr Steevens' HospitalDr Steevens' HospitalDr Steevens' Hospital in Dublin was one of Ireland's most distinguished eighteenth-century medical establishments...
is established at KilmainhamKilmainhamKilmainham is a suburb of Dublin south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre, in the Dublin 8 postal district.-History:In the Viking era, the monastery was home to the first Norse base in Ireland....
, Dublin. - Great Plague of MarseilleGreat Plague of MarseilleThe Great Plague of Marseille was the last of the significant European outbreaks of bubonic plague. Arriving in Marseille, France in 1720, the disease killed 100,000 people in the city and the surrounding provinces. However, Marseille recovered quickly from the plague outbreak. Economic activity...
, the last major outbreak of bubonic plagueBubonic plaguePlague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Technology
- A theodoliteTheodoliteA theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are mainly used for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like metrology and rocket launch technology...
is developed by Jonathan Sisson of England. - PinchbeckPinchbeck (alloy)Pinchbeck is a form of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, mixed in proportions so that it closely resembles gold in appearance the idea being that ordinary people could buy gold 'effect' gems when gold was only sold in 18 carats which pushed the price way over what people could afford to pay....
, an alloyAlloyAn alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
which was a commercially-produced goldGoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
substitute, is invented by English watchmaker Sir Christopher PinchbeckChristopher PinchbeckChristopher Pinchbeck was a London clockmaker and maker of musical Automata. He was born in Clerkenwell but worked in Fleet Street. Probably his name was derived from Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire. In the 18th century he invented the alloy Pinchbeck a cheap substitute for gold...
: pinchbeck is an alloy of 83% copperCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and 17% zincZincZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, creating a strong, hard-wearing metal which has the appearance and weight of genuine 20k gold. - An early chronographChronographA chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
is invented which has only mechanical parts in it. - Henry de Saumarez (of the Channel IslandsChannel IslandsThe Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
) produces an instrument called the Marine Surveyor intended to measure a ship's velocityVelocityIn physics, velocity is speed in a given direction. Speed describes only how fast an object is moving, whereas velocity gives both the speed and direction of the object's motion. To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed and motion in a constant direction. Constant ...
. - The pedal harpPedal harpThe pedal harp is a large and technically modern harp, designed primarily for classical music and played either solo, as part of chamber ensembles, as soloist with or as a section or member in an orchestra...
is developed, as the first single-action pedal harp which could raise the pitch of the selected strings by a half step. - The five-pedal single-action harp is developed by Jacob HochbruckerJacob HochbruckerJacob Hochbrucker was an eighteenth-century luthier and musician credited with the invention of the single-action pedal harp popularized in Europe between 1729 and 1750 by his descendants, and particularly by the Dauphine, Marie Antoinette, who performed on it after her arrival in Paris in...
of BavariaBavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. - approx. date - Joseph Williamson uses a differential gear in a clock.
Births
- March 13 - Charles BonnetCharles BonnetCharles Bonnet , Swiss naturalist and philosophical writer, was born at Geneva, of a French family driven into Switzerland by the religious persecution in the 16th century.-Life and work:Bonnet's life was uneventful...
, Swiss naturalistNaturalistNaturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
and philosophical writer (died 17931793 in scienceThe year 1793 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Events:* October 24 - The French Republican Calendar, devised by Gilbert Romme, is adopted by the National Convention.-Biology:...
) - July 18 - Gilbert WhiteGilbert WhiteGilbert White FRS was a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist.-Life:White was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne in Hampshire. He was educated at the Holy Ghost School and by a private tutor in Basingstoke before going to Oriel College, Oxford...
, 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...
naturalist (died 1793) - December ? - James HargreavesJames HargreavesJames Hargreaves was a weaver, carpenter and an inventor in Lancashire, England. He is credited with inventing the spinning Jenny in 1764....
, English inventor (died 17781778 in scienceThe year 1778 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Geoscience:* James Rennell publishes a chart and memoir of the Agulhas Current, one of the first contributions to scientific oceanography.-Medicine:...
) - approx. date - Dmitry Ivanovich VinogradovDmitry Ivanovich VinogradovDmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov was a Russian chemist, the inventor of Russian hard-paste porcelain and the founder of the Imperial Porcelain Factory....
, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n 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...
(died 17581758 in scienceThe year 1758 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Comet Halley reappears as predicted by Edmond Halley in 1705.-Medicine:* Angélique du Coudray demonstrates the first obstetric mannequin.-Physics:...
)