1618 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1618 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
- March 8–May 15 - Johannes KeplerJohannes KeplerJohannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
formulates the third law of planetary motionKepler's laws of planetary motionIn astronomy, Kepler's laws give a description of the motion of planets around the Sun.Kepler's laws are:#The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci....
. - July 20 - PlutoPlutoPluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
(not known at this time) reaches an aphelion. - Johann Baptist CysatJohann Baptist CysatJohann Baptist Cysat was a Swiss Jesuit mathematician and astronomer, after whom the lunar crater Cysatus is named...
, 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....
Jesuit geometer 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...
and one of Christoph ScheinerChristoph ScheinerChristoph Scheiner SJ was a Jesuit priest, physicist and astronomer in Ingolstadt....
's pupils, becomes the first to study a cometCometA comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
through the telescope and gives the first description of the nucleusComet nucleusThe nucleus is the solid, central part of a comet, popularly termed a dirty snowball. A cometary nucleus is composed of rock, dust, and frozen gases. When heated by the Sun, the gases sublimate and produce an atmosphere surrounding the nucleus known as the coma...
and comaComa (cometary)frame|right|The [[153P/Ikeya-Zhang|comet Ikeya-Zhang]] exhibiting a bright, condensed coma In astronomy, a coma is the nebulous envelope around the nucleus of a comet. It is formed when the comet passes close to the Sun on its highly elliptical orbit; as the comet warms, parts of it sublimate...
of a comet.
Medicine
- The College of Physicians of LondonRoyal College of PhysiciansThe Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
publishes the Pharmacopœia Londinensis.
Births
- April 2 - Francesco Maria GrimaldiFrancesco Maria GrimaldiFrancesco Maria Grimaldi was an Italian Jesuit priest, mathematician and physicist who taught at the Jesuit college in Bologna....
, ItalianItalian peopleThe Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
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...
, discoverer of the diffraction of light (d. 16631663 in scienceThe year 1663 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Mathematics:* The first book about games of chance, Girolamo Cardano's Liber de ludo aleae , written in the 1560s, is published.-Births:...
) - Jeremiah HorrocksJeremiah HorrocksJeremiah Horrocks , sometimes given as Jeremiah Horrox , was an English astronomer who was the only person to predict, and one of only two people to observe and record, the transit of Venus of 1639.- Life and work :Horrocks was born in Lower Lodge, in...
, 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...
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...
(d. 16411641 in scienceThe year 1641 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Technology:* The sealed thermometer is developed with Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, using a glass tube containing alcohol, which freezes well below the freezing point of water....
)
Deaths
- June 6 - Sir James LancasterJames LancasterSir James Lancaster was a prominent Elizabethan trader and privateer.Lancaster came from Basingstoke in Hampshire. In his early life, he was a soldier and a trader in Portugal...
, 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...
navigator (b. 15541554 in scienceThe year 1554 CE in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Astronomy:* Flemish astronomer Johannes Stadius' first published work, Ephemerides novae at auctae, appears in Cologne-Biology:...
) - October 29 - Walter RaleghWalter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
, English explorer (b. c.1554) - Luca ValerioLuca ValerioLuca Valerio was an Italian mathematician. He developed ways to find volumes and centers of gravity of solid bodies using the methods of Archimedes. He corresponded with Galileo Galilei and was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei.-Biography:...
, Italian mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
(b. 15531553 in scienceThe year 1553 CE in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Cryptography:* 'Vigenère cipher' first described by Giovan Battista Bellaso in his book La cifra del. Sig...
)