1831 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1831 in science
and technology
involved some significant events, listed below.
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, listed below.
Astronomy
- January 7 - Great Comet of 1831 (C/1831 A1, 1830 II) first observed by John HerapathJohn HerapathJohn Herapath was an English physicist who gave a partial account of the kinetic theory of gases in 1820 though it was neglected by the scientific community at the time....
. - Heinrich SchwabeHeinrich SchwabeSamuel Heinrich Schwabe a German astronomer remembered for his work on sunspots.Schwabe was born at Dessau. At first an apothecary, he turned his attention to astronomy, and in 1826 commenced his observations on sunspots. Schwabe was trying to discover a new planet inside the orbit of Mercury...
makes the first detailed drawing of the Great Red Spot on JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
. - Mary SomervilleMary SomervilleMary Fairfax Somerville was a Scottish science writer and polymath, at a time when women's participation in science was discouraged...
translates Laplace's Mécanique céleste as The Mechanism of the Heavens.
Chemistry
- A. A. BussyAntoine BussyAntoine Alexandre Brutus Bussy was a French chemist who primarily studied bussays.Antoine Bussy entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1813, and there followed the courses delivered by Pierre Robiquet, the great French chemist who was to make decisive breakthroughs in bio-chemistry Antoine Alexandre...
publishes his Mémoire sur le Radical métallique de la Magnésie describing his method of isolating magnesiumMagnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
.
Exploration
- June 1 - James Clark RossJames Clark RossSir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
discovers the position of the North Magnetic PoleNorth PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
on the Boothia PeninsulaBoothia PeninsulaBoothia Peninsula is a large peninsula in Nunavut's northern Canadian Arctic, south of Somerset Island. The northern part, Murchison Promontory, is the northernmost point of mainland Canada, and thus North America....
. - December 27 - Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
starts his voyage on HMS BeagleHMS BeagleHMS Beagle was a Cherokee-class 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames, at a cost of £7,803. In July of that year she took part in a fleet review celebrating the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom in which...
.
Medicine
- Dr C. Turner ThackrahCharles ThackrahCharles Turner Thiiiiiiackrah, MRCS Eng, was an English surgeon. He was a pioneer in the field of occupational medicine, and was a founder member of the Leeds School of Medicine...
publishes The Effects of the Principal Arts, Trades, and Professions, and of Civic States and Habits of Living, on Health and Longevity, with a particular reference to the trades and manufactures of Leeds, and suggestions for the removal of many of the agents which produce disease and shorten the duration of life, a pioneering study of occupational and public healthPublic healthPublic health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
in a newly-industrialised city.
Technology
- April 12 - Broughton Suspension BridgeBroughton Suspension BridgeBroughton Suspension Bridge was a suspended-deck suspension bridge built in 1826 to span the River Irwell between Broughton and Pendleton, now in Greater Manchester, England. It was one of the first suspension bridges constructed in Europe. On 12 April 1831 the bridge collapsed, reportedly owing...
over the River IrwellRiver IrwellThe River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
in 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...
collapses under marching troops. - August 29 - Michael FaradayMichael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
demonstrates electromagnetic inductionElectromagnetic inductionElectromagnetic induction is the production of an electric current across a conductor moving through a magnetic field. It underlies the operation of generators, transformers, induction motors, electric motors, synchronous motors, and solenoids....
at 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"...
.
Events
- March 7 - Royal Astronomical SocietyRoyal Astronomical SocietyThe Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
receives its Royal CharterRoyal CharterA royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
. - September 27 - British Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Scienceframe|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
first meets, in YorkYorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
.
Awards
- Copley MedalCopley MedalThe Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
: George Biddell AiryGeorge Biddell AirySir George Biddell Airy PRS KCB was an English mathematician and astronomer, Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881... - Wollaston MedalWollaston MedalThe Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831...
: William SmithWilliam Smith (geologist)William 'Strata' Smith was an English geologist, credited with creating the first nationwide geological map. He is known as the "Father of English Geology" for collating the geological history of England and Wales into a single record, although recognition was very slow in coming...
Births
- January 26 - Anton de BaryAnton de BaryHeinrich Anton de Bary was a German surgeon, botanist, microbiologist, and mycologist ....
(d. 18881888 in scienceThe year 1888 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* January 3 - The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory is first used...
), surgeonSurgerySurgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, botanist, microbiologistMicrobiologistA microbiologist is a scientist who works in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists study organisms called microbes. Microbes can take the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protists...
, and mycologist. - February 28 - Edward James StoneEdward James StoneEdward James Stone was an English astronomer.He was born in Notting Hill, London to Roger and Elizabeth Stone...
(d. 18971897 in scienceThe year 1897 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert unifies the field of algebraic number theory with his treatise Zahlbericht.-Medicine:...
), 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...
. - March 3 - George PullmanGeorge PullmanGeorge Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
(d. 18971897 in scienceThe year 1897 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert unifies the field of algebraic number theory with his treatise Zahlbericht.-Medicine:...
), inventor. - May 16 - David E. HughesDavid E. HughesDavid Edward Hughes , was a British scientist and musician. Hughes was co-inventor of the microphone, a harpist and a professor of music.-Biography:...
(d. 19001900 in scienceThe year 1900 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Aeronautics:* July 2 - The first airship flight is made by the LZ1 designed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin.-Chemistry:...
), inventor. - June 13 - James Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
(d. 18791879 in scienceThe year 1879 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* Jean Henri Fabre publishes the first of his Souvenirs entomologiques....
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - August 20 - Eduard SuessEduard SuessEduard Suess was a geologist who was an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana and the Tethys Ocean.Born in London to a Jewish Saxon merchant, when he was three his family relocated toPrague,...
(d. 19141914 in scienceThe year 1914 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* Sinope, the outermost known moon of Jupiter, is discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Lick Observatory....
), 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...
. - October 6 - Richard DedekindRichard DedekindJulius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind was a German mathematician who did important work in abstract algebra , algebraic number theory and the foundations of the real numbers.-Life:...
(d. 19161916 in scienceThe year 1916 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Gilbert N. Lewis and Irving Langmuir formulate an electron shell model of chemical bonding....
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - October 29 - Othniel Charles MarshOthniel Charles MarshOthniel Charles Marsh was an American paleontologist. Marsh was one of the preeminent scientists in the field; the discovery or description of dozens of news species and theories on the origins of birds are among his legacies.Born into a modest family, Marsh was able to afford higher education...
(d. 18991899 in scienceThe year 1899 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Mathematics:* David Hilbert publishes Grundlagen der Geometrie, proposing a formal set, Hilbert's axioms, to replace Euclid's elements....
), paleontologist.