1742 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1742 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.
Technology
- Benjamin RobinsBenjamin RobinsBenjamin Robins was a pioneering English scientist, Newtonian mathematician, and military engineer.He wrote an influential treatise on gunnery, for the first time introducing Newtonian science to military men, was an early enthusiast for rifled gun barrels, and his work had substantive influence...
publishes his New Principles of Gunnery, containing the determination of the force of gun-powder and an investigation of the difference in the resisting power of the air to swift and slow motions 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...
, containing a description of his ballistic pendulumBallistic pendulumA ballistic pendulum is a device for measuring a bullet's momentum, from which it is possible to calculate the velocity and kinetic energy. Ballistic pendulums have been largely rendered obsolete by modern chronographs, which allow direct measurement of the projectile velocity.Although the...
and the results of his scientific experiments into improvements in ballisticsBallisticsBallistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
.
Births
- May 18 - Lionel LukinLionel LukinLionel Lukin Lionel Lukin Lionel Lukin (18 May 1742 (Great Dunmow, Essex, England) - 16 February 1834 (Hythe, Kent, England) is considered by some to have been the inventor of the lifeboat (although see William Wouldhave for the competing claim)....
, 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...
inventor (d. 18341834 in scienceThe year 1834 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Events:* March - William Whewell first publishes the term scientist in the Quarterly Review, but notes it as "not generally palatable"....
). - December 3 - James RennellJames RennellMajor James Rennell, FRS was an English geographer, historian and a pioneer of oceanography.-Early life:Rennell was born near Chudleigh in Devon...
, English geographer, historian and oceanographer (d. 18301830 in scienceThe year 1830 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* March 16 - Great Comet of 1830 first observed in Mauritius....
). - December 9 - Carl Wilhelm ScheeleCarl Wilhelm ScheeleCarl Wilhelm Scheele was a German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist. Isaac Asimov called him "hard-luck Scheele" because he made a number of chemical discoveries before others who are generally given the credit...
, SwedishSwedenSweden , 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....
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...
(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:...
).
Deaths
- January 14 - 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...
, English 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...
, geophysicist, mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, meteorologist, 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...
(b. 16561656 in scienceThe year 1656 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Botany:* Publication in Vienna of Michał Boym's Flora Sinensis, the first book that uses the name "Flora" in this meaning, a book covering the plant world of a region....
). - May 13 - Nicolas AndryNicolas AndryNicolas Andry de Bois-Regard was a French physician and writer. He played a significant role in the early history of both parasitology and orthopedics, the name for which is taken from Andry's book Orthopédie.-Early life and career:...
, 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...
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...
(b. 16581658 in scienceThe year 1658 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Life sciences:* Jan Swammerdam observes red blood cells with the aid of a microscope.-Births:...
). - September 22 - Frederic Louis NordenFrederic Louis NordenFrederic Louis Norden was a Danish naval captain and explorer.Also known as Frederick, Frederik, Friderick, Ludwig, Ludvig and Lewis, the name used on the first publication of his famous Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie is Frederic Louis Norden. His name is often shortened F. L...
, DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
explorer (b. 17081708 in scienceThe year 1708 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Medicine:* Herman Boerhaave publishes Institutiones medicae, one of the earliest textbooks on physiology.-Technology:...
).