1727 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1727 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
- Maharaja Jai Singh II begins construction of the Jantar MantarJantar Mantar (Jaipur)The Jantar Mantar is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II at his then new capital of Jaipur between 1727 and 1734. It is modeled after the one that he had built for him at the Mughal capital of Delhi. He had constructed a total of five such...
observatoryObservatoryAn observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
at JaipurJaipurJaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
.
Biology
- Rev. Stephen HalesStephen HalesStephen Hales, FRS was an English physiologist, chemist and inventor.Hales studied the role of air and water in the maintenance of both plant and animal life. He gave accurate accounts of the movements of water in plants, and demonstrated that plants absorb air...
publishes Vegetable Staticks, containing an account of key experiments in plant physiologyPlant physiologyPlant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology , plant ecology , phytochemistry , cell biology, and molecular biology.Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition,...
; and makes the first measurement of blood pressureBlood pressureBlood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
.
Mathematics
- This year's French Academy of SciencesFrench Academy of SciencesThe French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
prize is based on a problem on the masting of ships: to calculate the number of masts to use and where in the ship to locate them. Pierre BouguerPierre BouguerPierre Bouguer was a French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist, and astronomer. He is also known as "the father of naval architecture"....
gains the award for his paper On the masting of ships; and two other prizes, one for his dissertation On the best method of observing the altitude of stars at sea and the other for his paper On the best method of observing the variation of the compass at sea. The 19-year-old Euler enters for the prize with an essay written in 1726 and published in 1728.
Optics
- Eyeglasses, with side pieces that rest on the ears, are invented by Englishman Edward Scarlett.
Other events
- The kiltKiltThe kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly...
is invented by Thomas Rawlinson, the English owner of an ironworks, who designs it as a cheap uniform for better maneuverability around machinery. Ian MacDonnel of GlengarryGlengarryThe glengarry bonnet is a traditional boat-shaped hat without a peak made of thick-milled woollen material with a toorie on top, a rosette cockade on the left, and ribbons hanging down behind...
adopts the garment along with his clansmen, and the kilt is worn throughout the Highlands by 1745.
Births
- March 19 - Ferdinand BerthoudFerdinand BerthoudFerdinand Berthoud was a Swiss chronometer-maker.-Career:He was born at Plancemont, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Having served his apprenticeship with his brother, Jean-Henri, a pendulum maker, he set up a clockmaking business in Paris in 1745 and gained a great reputation for the excellence and...
, Swiss clockmaker and maker of scientific instruments (d. 18071807 in scienceThe year 1807 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* March 29 - H. W. Olbers discovers the asteroid which Carl Friedrich Gauss names Vesta.-Chemistry:* Potassium and sodium are isolated by Sir Humphry Davy....
) - April 7 - Michel AdansonMichel AdansonMichel Adanson was a French naturalist of Scottish descent.Adanson was born at Aix-en-Provence. His family moved to Paris on 1730. After leaving the College Sainte Barbe he was employed in the cabinets of R. A. F. Reaumur and Bernard de Jussieu, as well as in the Jardin des Plantes. At the end of...
, French botanist (d. 18061806 in scienceThe year 1806 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Botany:* Publication begins in London of the Flora Graeca collected by John Sibthorp.-Mathematics:* Jean-Robert Argand introduces the Argand diagram....
)
Deaths
- 20 March - Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, 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...
and 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. 16431643 in scienceThe year 1643 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Meteorology:* Evangelista Torricelli invents the mercury barometer.-Technology:* A microscope is developed by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek of Delft .-Births:...
)