1654 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1654 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.
Mathematics
- At the prompting of the Chevalier de Méré, Blaise PascalBlaise PascalBlaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
corresponds with Pierre de FermatPierre de FermatPierre de Fermat was a French lawyer at the Parlement of Toulouse, France, and an amateur mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his adequality...
on gambling problems, from which is born the theory of probabilityProbabilityProbability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...
.
Physics
- May 8 - Otto von GuerickeOtto von GuerickeOtto von Guericke was a German scientist, inventor, and politician...
demonstrates the effectiveness of his vacuum pumpVacuum pumpA vacuum pump is a device that removes gas molecules from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial vacuum. The first vacuum pump was invented in 1650 by Otto von Guericke.- Types :Pumps can be broadly categorized according to three techniques:...
and the power of atmospheric pressureAtmospheric pressureAtmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth . In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point...
using the Magdeburg hemispheresMagdeburg hemispheresThe Magdeburg hemispheres are a pair of large copper hemispheres with mating rims. When the rims were sealed with grease and the air was pumped out, the sphere contained a vacuum and could not be pulled apart by teams of horses...
before Ferdinand III, Holy Roman EmperorFerdinand III, Holy Roman EmperorFerdinand III was Holy Roman Emperor from 15 February 1637 until his death, as well as King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria.-Life:...
, in RegensburgRegensburgRegensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
.
Births
- December 27 - Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
(d. 17051705 in scienceThe year 1705 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Edmond Halley, in his Synopsis Astronomia Cometicae, states that comets seen in 1456, 1531, 1607, and 1682 were actually a single comet and correctly predicts that it will return in 1758.-Births:* February 22 -...
). - prob. date - Eleanor GlanvilleEleanor GlanvilleLady Eleanor Glanville was a 17th century English entomologist from Tickenham in Somerset. She was particularly interested in butterflies. Lady Glanville collected large numbers of butterfly specimens, many of which survive as some of the earliest specimens kept in the Natural History Museum...
, 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...
entomologist (d. 17091709 in scienceThe year 1709 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Physics:* Francis Hauksbee publishes Physico-Mechanical Experiments on Various Subjects, summarizing the results of his many experiments with electricity and other topics....
).
Deaths
- August 31 - Ole WormOle WormOle Worm , who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician and antiquary.-Life:...
, DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
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...
and antiquary (b. 15881588 in scienceThe year 1588 in science and technology, Armada year, included a number of events, some of which are listed here.-Astronomy:* Tycho Brahe publishes De mundi aetheri recentioribus phaenomenis in Uraniborg....
) - October 18 - Nicholas CulpeperNicholas CulpeperNicholas Culpeper was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His published books include The English Physician and the Complete Herbal , which contain a rich store of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge, and Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick ,...
, English herbalistHerbalistAn herbalist is:#A person whose life is dedicated to the economic or medicinal uses of plants.#One skilled in the harvesting and collection of medicinal plants ....
(b. 16161616 in scienceThe year 1616 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Galileo challenges the Catholic Church, saying Copernicus' theory of the Solar System is correct...
)