1746 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1746 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.
Chemistry
- John RoebuckJohn RoebuckThis article is about the English inventor. For the 19th century British politician, see John Arthur Roebuck.John Roebuck FRS was an English inventor who played an important role in the Industrial Revolution and who is known for developing the industrial-scale manufacture of sulfuric acid.-Life...
invents the lead-chamber process for the manufacture of sulfuric acidSulfuric acidSulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...
. - German chemist Andreas Sigismund MarggrafAndreas Sigismund MarggrafAndreas Sigismund Marggraf was a German chemist and pioneer of analytical chemistry from Berlin, which was then the capital of Brandenburg, a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire. He isolated zinc in 1746 by heating calamine and carbon...
(1709–1782) is credited with describing zincZincZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
as a separate metal. - Eva EkebladEva EkebladEva Ekeblad , née Eva De la Gardie, was a Swedish agronomist, scientist, Salonist and noble . Her most known discovery was to make flour and alcohol out of potatoes...
discovers how to make flourFlourFlour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
and alcoholAlcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
out of potatoPotatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es.
Geology
- Jean-Étienne GuettardJean-Étienne GuettardJean-Étienne Guettard , French naturalist and mineralogist, was born at Étampes, near Paris.In boyhood, he gained a knowledge of plants from his grandfather, who was an apothecary, and later he qualified as a doctor in medicine...
presents the first mineralogicalMineralogyMineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
map of FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to the 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...
. - William CookworthyWilliam Cookworthy-Bibliography:*Early New Church Worthies by the Rev Dr Jonathon Bayley*Cookworthy's Plymouth and Bristol Porcelain by F.Severne Mackenna published by F.Lewis...
discovers kaolin in CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
Technology
- Pierre BouguerPierre BouguerPierre Bouguer was a French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist, and astronomer. He is also known as "the father of naval architecture"....
publishes a treatise on naval architectureNaval architectureNaval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
,Traité du navire, which first explains use of the metacentric heightMetacentric heightThe metacentric height is a measurement of the static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre . A larger metacentric height implies greater stability against overturning...
as a measure of ships' stability. - John Muller publishes A Treatise Containing the Elementary Part of Fortification.
Births
- January 4 - Benjamin RushBenjamin RushBenjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
, Founding Father of the United StatesFounding Fathers of the United StatesThe Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
, chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
and 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...
(died 18131813 in scienceThe year 1813 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* Charles Waterton begins the process of turning his estate at Walton Hall, West Yorkshire, England, into what is, in effect, the world's first nature reserve....
) - March 7 - André MichauxAndré MichauxAndré Michaux was a French botanist and explorer.-Biography:Michaux was born in Satory, now part of Versailles, Yvelines. After the death of his wife within a year of their marriage he took up the study of botany and was a student of Bernard de Jussieu...
, 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...
botanist (died 18021802 in scienceThe year 1802 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* March 28 - H. W. Olbers discovers the second asteroid Pallas....
) - May 10 - Gaspard MongeGaspard MongeGaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse was a French mathematician, revolutionary, and was inventor of descriptive geometry. During the French Revolution, he was involved in the complete reorganization of the educational system, founding the École Polytechnique...
, 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....
(died 18181818 in scienceThe year 1818 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* January 3 - Venus occults Jupiter, last occultation of one planet by another before 22 November 2065.-Exploration:...
) - July 7 - Giuseppe PiazziGiuseppe PiazziGiuseppe Piazzi was an Italian Catholic priest of the Theatine order, mathematician, and astronomer. He was born in Ponte in Valtellina, and died in Naples. He established an observatory at Palermo, now the Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo – Giuseppe S...
, 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...
Theatine monkTheatinesThe Theatines or the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Divine Providence are a male religious order of the Catholic Church, with the post-nominal initials "C.R."-Foundation:...
, 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 mathematician (died 18261826 in scienceThe year 1826 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Antoine Jerome Balard isolates bromine.* Michael Faraday determines the chemical formula of naphthalene.-Mathematics:...
) - March 15 - Giovanni Battista VenturiGiovanni Battista VenturiGiovanni Battista Venturi was an Italian physicist. He was the discoverer and eponym of Venturi effect. He was also the eponym of the Venturi pump and Venturi tube....
, Italian 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...
after whom the Venturi tube is named (died 18221822 in scienceThe year 1822 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Geology:* Friedrich Mohs introduces his system of classifying minerals and his scale of mineral hardness....
) - Louise du PierryLouise du PierryLouise du Pierry or Dupiery , was a French astronomer and professor....
, French astronomer (died 17891789 in scienceThe year 1789 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Anatomy:* Antonio Scarpa publishes Anatomicæ disquisitiones de auditu et olfactu, a classic treatise on the hearing and olfactory organs.-Astronomy:...
)
Deaths
- June 14 - Colin MaclaurinColin MaclaurinColin Maclaurin was a Scottish mathematician who made important contributions to geometry and algebra. The Maclaurin series, a special case of the Taylor series, are named after him....
, Scottish mathematician (born 16981698 in scienceThe year 1698 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* Christiaan Huygens, in his posthumously published book Cosmotheros, argues that other planets in the solar system are inhabited, starting a debate that extends into the 20th century.-Exploration:* November - HMS...
) - November 14 - Georg Steller, German naturalist (born 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....
)