1784 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1784 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.
Biology
- Publication of the Annals of Agriculture edited by Arthur Young begins in Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. - Peter Simon PallasPeter Simon PallasPeter Simon Pallas was a German zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia.- Life and work :Pallas was born in Berlin, the son of Professor of Surgery Simon Pallas. He studied with private tutors and took an interest in natural history, later attending the University of Halle and the University...
begins publication of Flora Rossica, the first FloraFloraFlora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
of 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...
.
Mathematics
- Carl Friedrich GaussCarl Friedrich GaussJohann Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, electrostatics, astronomy and optics.Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum...
, at the age of 7, pioneers the field of summation with the formula summing 1:n as (n(n+1))/2.
Medicine
- Madame du CoudrayAngelique du CoudrayAngélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray was a royal midwife in the court of Louis XV of France.Born into an eminent French medical family she became the head accoucheuse at the Hotel Dieu in Paris...
, pioneer of modern midwiferyMidwiferyMidwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
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...
, retires. - Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinDr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
makes the first known specific reference (in a letter) to the wearing of bifocalBifocalsBifocals are eyeglasses with two distinct optical powers. Bifocals are most commonly prescribed to people with presbyopia who also require a correction for myopia, hyperopia, and/or astigmatism.-History:...
spectacles.
Paleontology
- The first description of a PterodactylusPterodactylusPterodactylus is a genus of pterosaurs, whose members are popularly known as pterodactyls. It was the first to be named and identified as a flying reptile...
fossilFossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
is made by Cosimo Alessandro Collini, although he is unable to determine what kind of creature it is.
Physics
- January 15 - Henry CavendishHenry CavendishHenry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
's paper to the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
of 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...
, Experiments on Air, reveals the composition of water.
Technology
- August 21 - Joseph BramahJoseph BramahJoseph Bramah , born Stainborough Lane Farm, Wentworth, Yorkshire, England, was an inventor and locksmith. He is best known for having invented the hydraulic press...
receives his first lockLock (device)A lock is a mechanical or electronic fastening device that is released by a physical object or secret information , or combination of more than one of these....
patent 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...
. - Henry CortHenry CortHenry Cort was an English ironmaster. During the Industrial Revolution in England, Cort began refining iron from pig iron to wrought iron using innovative production systems. In 1783 he patented the puddling process for refining iron ore...
of FuntleyFuntleyFuntley – from the Anglo-Saxon, "Funtaleg", meaning "Springs", formerly known as Fontley – is a village located to the north of Fareham, Hampshire, England, within the borough of Fareham. Originally it grew due to the development of a quarry there, used to extract the clay that was...
, 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...
, applies the coal-fired reverbatory furnace to the puddlingPuddling (metallurgy)Puddling was an Industrial Revolution means of making iron and steel. In the original puddling technique, molten iron in a reverberatory furnace was stirred with rods, which were consumed in the process...
process for conversion of castCast ironCast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
to wrought ironWrought ironthumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
.
Births
- March 12 - William BucklandWilliam BucklandThe Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
, 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...
geologistGeologistA geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
and paleontologist (d. 18561856 in scienceThe year 1856 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Archaeology:* First remains of Neanderthal Man found in the Neandertal Valley of Germany.-Biology:* Gregor Mendel starts his research on genetics....
) - June 17 - Andrew CrosseAndrew CrosseAndrew Crosse was a British amateur scientist who was born and died at Fyne Court, Broomfield, Somerset. Crosse was an early pioneer and experimenter in the use of electricity and one of the last of the 'gentlemen scientists'...
, English 'gentleman scientist', pioneer experimenter in electricity (d. 18551855 in scienceThe year 1855 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Events:* Opening of Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule in Zurich, Switzerland.-Biology:...
) - July 22 - Friedrich BesselFriedrich Bessel-References:* John Frederick William Herschel, A brief notice of the life, researches, and discoveries of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel, London: Barclay, 1847 -External links:...
, German mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
(d. 18461846 in scienceThe year 1846 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* February 20 - Francesco de Vico discovers comet 122P/de Vico....
)
Deaths
- May 12 - Abraham TrembleyAbraham TrembleyAbraham Trembley was a Swiss naturalist. He is best known for being the first to study freshwater polyps or hydra and for being among the first to develop experimental zoology...
, SwissSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
naturalistNaturalistNaturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
(b. 17101710 in scienceThe year 1710 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Events:* The Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala is founded in Uppsala, Sweden, as the Collegium curiosorum .-Physiology and medicine:...
) - September 1 - Jean-François SéguierJean-François SéguierJean François Séguier was a French astronomer and botanist from Nîmes.His botanical works include Plantae Veronenses, seu Stirpium quae in agro Veronensi repriuntur ....
, 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...
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 botanist (b. 17031703 in scienceThe year 1703 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Biology:* Charles Plumier's Nova plantarum Americanarum genera is published in Paris...
) - September 4 - César-François Cassini de ThuryCésar-François Cassini de ThuryCésar-François Cassini de Thury , also called Cassini III or Cassini de Thury, was a French astronomer and cartographer.- Biography :...
, French astronomer (b. 17141714 in scienceThe year 1714 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* March - Roger Cotes publishes Logometrica in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society...
)