1612 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1612 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.
Astronomy
- The first description of the Andromeda GalaxyAndromeda GalaxyThe Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Andromeda. It is also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, and is often referred to as the Great Andromeda Nebula in older texts. Andromeda is the nearest spiral galaxy to the...
based on observations by telescopeTelescopeA telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
is given by Simon MariusSimon MariusSimon Marius was a German astronomer. He was born in Gunzenhausen, near Nuremberg, but he spent most of his life in the city of Ansbach....
. - December 28 - GalileoGalileo GalileiGalileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
observes the planetPlanetA planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times...
for the first time when it is in conjunction with 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,...
, but mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed starFixed starThe fixed stars are celestial objects that do not seem to move in relation to the other stars of the night sky. Hence, a fixed star is any star except for the Sun. A nebula or other starlike object may also be called a fixed star. People in many cultures have imagined that the stars form pictures...
because of its extremely slow motion along the eclipticEclipticThe ecliptic is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun. In more accurate terms, it is the intersection of the celestial sphere with the ecliptic plane, which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth around the Sun...
, and it will not be properly identified until 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....
.
Births
- approx. date - William GascoigneWilliam Gascoigne (scientist)William Gascoigne was an English astronomer, mathematician and maker of scientific instruments from Middleton near Leeds who invented the micrometer...
, 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. 16441644 in scienceThe year 1644 AD in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* The Basel problem is posed by Pietro Mengoli, and will puzzle mathematicians until solved by Leonhard Euler in 1731.-Births:...
)
Deaths
- February 12
- Christopher ClaviusChristopher ClaviusChristopher Clavius was a German Jesuit mathematician and astronomer who was the main architect of the modern Gregorian calendar...
, 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....
and 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...
(b. 15371537 in scienceThe year 1537 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.-Mathematics:* Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia publishes La Nova Scientia in Venice, applying mathematics to the study of ballistics....
) - Jodocus HondiusJodocus HondiusJodocus Hondius , sometimes called Jodocus Hondius the Elder to distinguish him from his son Henricus Hondius II, was a Flemish artist, engraver, and cartographer...
, FlemishFlemish peopleThe Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
cartographer (b. 15631563 in scienceThe year 1563 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Medicine and physiology:* June–October - Outbreak of bubonic plague in London kills over 20,000....
)
- Christopher Clavius
- November 20 - Sir John Harington, English inventorEnglish 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...
(b. 15611561 in scienceThe year 1561 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Cartography:* Bartolomeu Velho produces a for Sebastian of Portugal.-Medicine and physiology:...
) - Jacques de Cahaignes, 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. 15481548 in scienceThe year 1548 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Events:* February 14 - Battle of Uedahara: Firearms are used for the first time on the battlefield in Japan....
)