1851 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1851 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
- February - First public exhibition of a Foucault pendulumFoucault pendulumThe Foucault pendulum , or Foucault's pendulum, named after the French physicist Léon Foucault, is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotated, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the...
, at the Meridian of the Paris ObservatoryParis ObservatoryThe Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...
, demonstrating the Earth's rotation. A few weeks later 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...
installs one at the PanthéonPanthéon, ParisThe Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens...
. - October 24 - ArielAriel (moon)Ariel is the brightest and fourth-largest of the 27 known moons of Uranus. Ariel orbits and rotates in the equatorial plane of Uranus, which is almost perpendicular to the orbit of Uranus, and so has an extreme seasonal cycle....
and UmbrielUmbriel (moon)Umbriel is a moon of Uranus discovered on October 24, 1851, by William Lassell. It was discovered at the same time as Ariel and named after a character in Alexander Pope's poem The Rape of the Lock. Umbriel consists mainly of ice with a substantial fraction of rock, and may be differentiated into a...
, moonNatural satelliteA natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
s of UranusUranusUranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
, are discovered by William LassellWilliam LassellWilliam Lassell FRS was an English merchant and astronomer.Born in Bolton and educated in Rochdale after the death of his father, he was apprenticed from 1814 to 1821 to a merchant in Liverpool. He then made his fortune as a beer brewer, which enabled him to indulge his interest in astronomy...
.
Technology
- November 13 - First protected submarine telegraph cableSubmarine communications cableA submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....
laid, across the English ChannelEnglish ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. - William Armstrong introduces the weight-loaded hydraulic accumulatorHydraulic accumulatorA 'hydraulic accumulator' is an energy storage device. It is a pressure storage reservoir in which a non-compressible hydraulic fluid is held under pressure by an external source. That external source can be a spring, a raised weight, or a compressed gas...
.
Births
- January 19 - Jacobus KapteynJacobus KapteynJacobus Cornelius Kapteyn, was a Dutch astronomer, best known for his extensive studies of the Milky Way and as the first discoverer of evidence for galactic rotation....
(d. 19221922 in scienceThe year 1922 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Archaeology:* November 4 - British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings of Egypt.-Biology:...
), 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...
. - April 12 - E. Walter MaunderEdward Walter MaunderEdward Walter Maunder was an English astronomer best remembered for his study of sunspots and the solar magnetic cycle that led to his identification of the period from 1645 to 1715 that is now known as the Maunder Minimum....
(d. 19281928 in scienceThe year 1928 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* January - Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA....
), astronomer. - July 8 - Arthur EvansArthur EvansSir Arthur John Evans FRS was a British archaeologist most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete and for developing the concept of Minoan civilization from the structures and artifacts found there and elsewhere throughout eastern Mediterranean...
(d. 19411941 in scienceThe year 1941 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* George Wells Beadle and Edward Lawrie Tatum publish "Genetic Control of Biochemical Reactions in Neurospora" which shows that specific genes code for specific proteins.-Chemistry:* February 23 -...
), archaeologist. - July 20 - Arnold PickArnold PickArnold Pick was a Czech neurologist and psychiatrist. He is known for identifying the clinical syndrome of Pick's Disease and the Pick bodies that are characteristic of the disorder. He was the first to name reduplicative paramnesia. He was also to use the term dementia praecox .- External links...
(d. 19241924 in scienceThe year 1924 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* December 30 - Edwin Hubble announces the existence of other galaxies....
), 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...
. - August 3 - George FitzGeraldGeorge FitzGeraldGeorge Francis FitzGerald was an Irish professor of "natural and experimental philosophy" at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, during the last quarter of the 19th century....
(d. 19011901 in scienceThe year 1901 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* Okapi, a relative of the Giraffe found in the rainforests around the Congo River in north east Zaire, is discovered ....
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
.
Deaths
- January 27 - John James AudubonJohn James AudubonJohn James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
(b. 17851785 in scienceThe year 1785 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Aviation:* January 7 - Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a gas balloon, becoming the first to cross the English Channel by air.-Biology:* Antoine...
), naturalistNatural historyNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
and illustratorIllustratorAn Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
. - February 18 - Carl Gustav Jakob JacobiCarl Gustav Jakob JacobiCarl Gustav Jacob Jacobi was a German mathematician, widely considered to be the most inspiring teacher of his time and is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of his generation.-Biography:...
(b. 18041804 in scienceThe year 1804 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space science:* April 5 - High Possil meteorite falls in Scotland.* September 1 - Karl Ludwig Harding discovers the asteroid Juno.-Botany:...
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - March 9 - Hans Christian ØrstedHans Christian ØrstedHans Christian Ørsted was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, an important aspect of electromagnetism...
(b. 17771777 in scienceThe year 1777 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* Leonhard Euler introduces the symbol i to represent the square root of -1.-Births:* February 12 - Bernard Courtois, chemist...
), 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...
. - July 17 - John FareyJohn Farey, Jr.-Biography.:Farey was the eldest son of John Farey, Sr., the geologist, and was born at Lambeth, London on March 20, 1791. Details of his education are obscure, but he undertook a systematic study of the manufacturing industry of London between 1804-5...
(b. 17911791 in scienceThe year 1791 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Biology:* Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard begins publication of Histoire des champignons de la France, a significant text in mycology....
), mechanical engineerMechanical engineeringMechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
and technical writer.