1706 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1706 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
- William Jones publishes Synopsis palmariorum matheseos or, A New Introduction to the Mathematics, Containing the Principles of Arithmetic and Geometry Demonstrated in a Short and Easie Method ... Designed for ... Beginners in which he
- proposes using the symbol π (the GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
letter piPi (letter)Pi is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing . In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 80. Letters that arose from pi include Cyrillic Pe , Coptic pi , and Gothic pairthra .The upper-case letter Π is used as a symbol for:...
, as an abbreviation for perimeterPerimeterA perimeter is a path that surrounds an area. The word comes from the Greek peri and meter . The term may be used either for the path or its length - it can be thought of as the length of the outline of a shape. The perimeter of a circular area is called circumference.- Practical uses :Calculating...
) to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameterPi' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
. - introduces John MachinJohn MachinJohn Machin, , a professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London, is best known for developing a quickly converging series for Pi in 1706 and using it to compute Pi to 100 decimal places.Machin's formula is:...
's quickly converging inverse-tangent series for π (piPi' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
), enabling it to be computed to 100 decimal places.
- proposes using the symbol π (the Greek
Medicine
- Giovanni Battista MorgagniGiovanni Battista MorgagniGiovanni Battista Morgagni was an Italian anatomist, celebrated as the father of modern anatomical pathology.-Education:...
publishes Adversaria anatomica, the first in a series in which he describes his observations of human anatomy.
Births
- January 17 - Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinDr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, scientist and inventor, known for his experiments with electricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
(died 17901790 in scienceThe year 1790 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Armagh Observatory founded by Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby, Archbishop of Armagh.-Biology:...
) - January 28 - John BaskervilleJohn BaskervilleJohn Baskerville was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and typographer.-Life:...
, English printer and inventor (died 17751775 in scienceThe year 1775 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Events:*February 21 - La Specola, Florence's Museum of Zoology and Natural History, opens to the public.-Chemistry:...
) - May 12 - François Boissier de Sauvages de LacroixFrançois Boissier de Sauvages de LacroixFrançois Boissier de Sauvages de Lacroix was a French physician and botanist who was a native of Alès. He studied medicine and botany at the University of Montpellier, and received his doctorate in 1726. After spending a few years in Paris, he returned to Montpellier in 1734, where became...
, French 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 botanist (died 17671767 in scienceThe year 1767 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Agriculture:* Arthur Young publishes The farmer's letters to the people of England, containing the sentiments of a practical husbandman .....
) - June 10 - John DollondJohn DollondJohn Dollond was an English optician, known for his successful optics business and his patenting and commercialization of achromatic doublets.-Biography:...
, English opticianOpticianAn optician is a person who is trained to fill prescriptions for eye correction in the field of medicine, also known as a dispensing optician or optician, dispensing...
(died 17611761 in scienceThe year 1761 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* June 6 - The first transit of Venus since Edmond Halley suggested that its observation could determine the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Joseph-Nicolas Delisle set up a 62-station network for...
) - December 17 - Émilie du ChâteletÉmilie du Châtelet-Early life:Du Châtelet was born on 17 December 1706 in Paris, the only daughter of six children. Three brothers lived to adulthood: René-Alexandre , Charles-Auguste , and Elisabeth-Théodore . Her eldest brother, René-Alexandre, died in 1720, and the next brother, Charles-Auguste, died in 1731...
, French 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 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...
(died 17491749 in scienceThe year 1749 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Pierre Bouguer publishes in Paris, describing some of the results of his work with Charles Marie de La Condamine on the French Geodesic Mission to Peru to measure a degree of the meridian arc near the...
)