1849 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1849 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
- Édouard RocheÉdouard RocheÉdouard Albert Roche was a French astronomer and mathematician, who is best known for his work in the field of celestial mechanics...
finds the limiting radius of tidal destruction and tidal creation for a body held together only by its self gravity, called the Roche limitRoche limitThe Roche limit , sometimes referred to as the Roche radius, is the distance within which a celestial body, held together only by its own gravity, will disintegrate due to a second celestial body's tidal forces exceeding the first body's gravitational self-attraction...
, and uses it to explain why SaturnSaturnSaturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
's rings do not condense into a satellite.
Botany
- Nikolai Annenkov begins publication of Flora Mosquensis Exsiccata, the first 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 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:...
.
Mathematics
- George Gabriel StokesGeorge Gabriel StokesSir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet FRS , was an Irish mathematician and physicist, who at Cambridge made important contributions to fluid dynamics , optics, and mathematical physics...
shows that solitary wavesSolitonIn mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed. Solitons are caused by a cancellation of nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium...
can arise from a combination of periodic waves.
Medicine
- British 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...
Dr. Thomas AddisonThomas AddisonThomas Addison was a renowned 19th-century English physician and scientist. He is traditionally regarded as one of the "great men" of Guy's Hospital in London....
first describes Addison’s disease in his On the Constitutional and Local Effects of Disease of the Suprarenal Capsules.
Physics
- Hippolyte FizeauHippolyte FizeauArmand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau was a French physicist.-Biography:Fizeau was born in Paris. His earliest work was concerned with improvements in photographic processes. Following suggestions by François Arago, Léon Foucault and Fizeau collaborated in a series of investigations on the interference of...
and Léon FoucaultLéon FoucaultJean Bernard Léon Foucault was a French physicist best known for the invention of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of the Earth's rotation...
measure the speed of light to be about 298,000 km/s.
Technology
- David BrewsterDavid BrewsterSir David Brewster KH PRSE FRS FSA FSSA MICE was a Scottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, writer and university principal.-Early life:...
perfects the stereoscope. - James B. FrancisJames B. FrancisJames Bicheno Francis was a British-American engineer, who invented the Francis turbine.-Early years:James Francis was born in South Leigh, near Witney, Oxfordshire in England, United Kingdom...
develops the radial flow Francis turbineFrancis turbineThe Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....
.
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"...
: Roderick MurchisonRoderick MurchisonSir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet KCB DCL FRS FRSE FLS PRGS PBA MRIA was a Scottish geologist who first described and investigated the Silurian system.-Early life and work:...
. - 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...
for Geology: Joseph PrestwichJoseph PrestwichSir Joseph Prestwich FRS, was a British geologist and businessman, known as an expert on the Tertiary Period and for having confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes of ancient flint tools in the Somme valley gravel beds....
.
Births
- April 25 - Felix KleinFelix KleinChristian Felix Klein was a German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, function theory, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the connections between geometry and group theory...
(d. 19251925 in scienceThe year 1925 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* July 21 - Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T...
), 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....
. - May 26 - Ernst RemakErnst RemakErnst Julius Remak was a German neurologist who was the son of famed neurologist Robert Remak and the father of the mathematician Robert Remak. He received his education at the Universities of Breslau, Berlin, Würzburg, Strasbourg and Heidelberg, and obtained the degree of M.D. in 1870...
(d. 19111911 in scienceThe year 1911 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space science:* June 28 - The Nakhla meteorite lands in the area of Alexandria, Egypt, purportedly killing a dog.-Exploration:...
), German neurologistNeurologistA neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
. - July 12 - William OslerWilliam OslerSir William Osler, 1st Baronet was a physician. He was one of the "Big Four" founding professors at Johns Hopkins Hospital as the first Professor of Medicine and founder of the Medical Service there. Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet (July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a physician. He was...
(d. 19191919 in scienceThe year 1919 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* June 1 - The term covalence in relation to chemical bonding models is first used by Irving Langmuir.-History of science:...
), CanadianCanadaCanada 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...
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...
. - July 27 - John HopkinsonJohn HopkinsonJohn Hopkinson, FRS, was a British physicist, electrical engineer, Fellow of the Royal Society and President of the IEE twice in 1890 and 1896. He invented the three-wire system for the distribution of electrical power, for which he was granted a patent in 1882...
(d. 18981898 in scienceThe year 1898 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* William Ramsay and Morris Travers discover Neon, Krypton and Xenon ....
), 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...
electrical engineer. - September 14 - Ivan PavlovIvan PavlovIvan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....
(d. 19361936 in scienceThe year 1936 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* February 4 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically....
), 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 physiologist. - October 26 - Ferdinand Georg FrobeniusFerdinand Georg FrobeniusFerdinand Georg Frobenius was a German mathematician, best known for his contributions to the theory of differential equations and to group theory...
(d. 19171917 in scienceThe year 1917 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Awards:* Nobel Prize** Physics - Charles Glover Barkla** Chemistry - not awarded** Medicine - not awarded-Births:...
), German mathematician.