1766 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1766 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.
Biology
- Moses HarrisMoses HarrisMoses Harris was an English entomologist and engraver.In the Natural System of Colours he examined the work of Isaac Newton and tried to reveal the multitude of colours which can be created from three basic ones...
publishes The Aurelian, or, natural history of English insects; namely, moths and butterflies.
Chemistry
- Henry CavendishHenry CavendishHenry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
publishes his paper "On Factitious Airs". This is generally credited as showing the discovery of hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
, since it describes the density of 'inflammable air', which forms water on combustion. - Pierre MacquerPierre MacquerPierre-Joseph Macquer was an influential French chemist.He is known for his Dictionnaire de chymie . He was also involved in practical applications, to medicine and industry, such as the French development of porcelain. He was an opponent of Lavoisier's theories...
publishes his Dictionnaire de chymie.
Exploration
- November 15 - Louis Antoine de BougainvilleLouis Antoine de BougainvilleLouis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of James Cook, he took part in the French and Indian War and the unsuccessful French attempt to defend Canada from Britain...
leaves NantesNantesNantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
for a three-year circumnavigationCircumnavigationCircumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
of the world with the ships La BoudeuseFrench frigate La Boudeuse (1766)The Boudeuse was a frigate of the French Navy, famous for being the exploration ship of Louis Antoine de Bougainville between 1766 and 1769.- First French circumnavigation :...
and ÉtoileFrench fluyt Étoile (1767)The Étoile was a fluyt famous for being one of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's ships in his circumnavigation between 1766 and 1769, along with La Boudeuse. She was commanded by Francois Chenard de la Giraudais, and was the storeship of the expedition.She carried naturalist and physician Philibert...
; the botanist Philibert CommerçonPhilibert CommerçonDr. Philibert Commerçon was a French naturalist, best known for accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of circumnavigation in 1766–1769.- Background :...
is on board.
Medicine
- October – Addenbrooke's HospitalAddenbrooke's HospitalAddenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned teaching hospital in Cambridge, England, with strong links to the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1766 on Trumpington Street with £4,500 from the will of Dr John Addenbrooke, a fellow of St Catharine's College...
, Cambridge, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, completed.
Births
- July 6 - Alexander WilsonAlexander WilsonAlexander Wilson was a Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, naturalist, and illustrator.Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland, the son of an illiterate distiller. In 1779 he was apprenticed as a weaver. His main interest at this time was in writing poetry...
, ornithologist (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....
) - August 3 - Kurt Sprengel, botanist (died 18331833 in scienceThe year 1833 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* November 12–13 - A spectacular occurrence of the Leonid meteor shower is observed over Alabama.-Biology:...
) - August 6 - William Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde Wollaston FRS was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering two chemical elements and for developing a way to process platinum ore.-Biography:...
, 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...
(died 18281828 in scienceThe year 1828 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* Félix Savary computes the first orbit of a visual double star when he calculates the orbit of the double star Xi Ursae Majoris.-Biochemistry:...
) - September 6 - John DaltonJohn DaltonJohn Dalton FRS was an English chemist, meteorologist and physicist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory, and his research into colour blindness .-Early life:John Dalton was born into a Quaker family at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, Cumberland,...
, chemist 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 18441844 in scienceThe year 1844 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* Friedrich Bessel explains the wobbling motions of Sirius and Procyon by suggesting that these stars have dark companions.-Biology:...
) - December 29 - Charles Macintosh, inventor of a waterproof fabricWaterproof fabricWaterproof fabrics are fabrics that are inherently, or have been treated to become, resistant to penetration by water and wetting. They are usually natural or synthetic fabrics that are laminated to or coated with a waterproofing material such as rubber, polyvinyl chloride , polyurethane , silicone...
(died 18431843 in scienceThe year 1843 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:* February 5–April 19 - "Great March Comet" observed....
) - John FareyJohn Farey, Sr.John Farey, Sr. was an English geologist and writer. However, he is better known for a mathematical construct, the Farey sequence named after him.-Biography:...
, geologistGeologistA geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
(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:...
)