1860 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1860 in science
and technology
involved some significant events, listed below.
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, listed below.
Biology
- June 30 - Debate about evolution1860 Oxford evolution debateThe 1860 Oxford evolution debate took place at the Oxford University Museum on 30 June 1860, seven months after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Several prominent British scientists and philosophers participated, including Thomas Henry Huxley, Bishop Samuel...
at the Oxford University MuseumOxford University Museum of Natural HistoryThe Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the...
. - John CurtisJohn Curtis (entomologist)John Curtis was an English entomologist and illustrator.-Biography:Curtis was born in Norwich and learned his engraving skills in the workshop of his father, Charles Morgan Curtis...
publishes Farm Insects, being the natural history and economy of the insects injurious to the field crops of Great Britain and Ireland... with suggestions for their destruction in Glasgow.
Botany
- Joseph Dalton HookerJoseph Dalton HookerSir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
concludes publication of The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror ... 1839–1843 with issue of the final part of Flora Tasmaniae in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Chemistry
- Robert BunsenRobert BunsenRobert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium and rubidium with Gustav Kirchhoff. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic...
and Gustav KirchhoffGustav KirchhoffGustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects...
, using their newly-improved spectroscope, discover and name caesiumCaesiumCaesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature...
in mineral waterMineral waterMineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...
from Bad DürkheimBad DürkheimBad Dürkheim is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, Germany.
Mathematics
- Carl Wilhelm BorchardtCarl Wilhelm BorchardtCarl Wilhelm Borchardt was a German mathematician.Borchardt was born to a Jewish family in Berlin. His father, Moritz, was a respected merchant, and his mother was Emma Heilborn. Borchardt studied under a number of tutors, including Julius Plücker and Jakob Steiner...
first discovers and proves Cayley's formula in graph theoryGraph theoryIn mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
.
Medicine
- July 9 – The Nightingale Training School and Home for NursesFlorence Nightingale School of Nursing and MidwiferyThe Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery is a school within King's College London. It is primarily concerned with the education of people to become nurses and midwives...
, the first nursing schoolNursing schoolA nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...
based on the ideas of Florence NightingaleFlorence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
, is opened at St Thomas' HospitalSt Thomas' HospitalSt Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...
in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Psychology
- Gustav FechnerGustav FechnerGustav Theodor Fechner , was a German experimental psychologist. An early pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics, he inspired many 20th century scientists and philosophers...
publishes Elemente der Psychophysik, establishing the discipline of psychophysicsPsychophysicsPsychophysics quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they effect. Psychophysics has been described as "the scientific study of the relation between stimulus and sensation" or, more completely, as "the analysis of perceptual...
and introducing the Weber–Fechner lawWeber–Fechner lawThe Weber–Fechner law is a confusing term, because it combines two different laws. Some authors use the term to mean Weber's law, and others Fechner's law. Fechner himself added confusion to the literature by calling his own law Weber's law...
on the intensity of stimuli.
Technology
- April 9 - Earliest known decipherable sound recording of the human voice, a phonautogram, produced by Édouard-Léon Scott de MartinvilleÉdouard-Léon Scott de MartinvilleÉdouard-Léon Scott de Martinville was a French printer and bookseller who lived in Paris. He invented the earliest known sound recording device, the phonautograph, which was patented in France on 25 March 1857....
. Playback is impossible at this time. - December 29 - Launch of HMS WarriorHMS Warrior (1860)HMS Warrior was the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship, built for the Royal Navy in response to the first ironclad warship, the French Gloire, launched a year earlier....
by the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding CompanyThames Ironworks and Shipbuilding CompanyThe Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side...
, the first all-iron warshipWarshipA warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
, for the first time combining steam engines delivering high speed, rifledRiflingRifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...
breech-loading guns, iron frames and armoured cladding, and the propellerPropellerA propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
, in the largest naval ship built to this date.
Awards
- Copley MedalCopley MedalThe Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
: Robert Wilhelm Bunsen. - Wollaston Medal for geologyWollaston MedalThe Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831...
: Searles Valentine WoodSearles Valentine WoodSearles Valentine Wood was an English palaeontologist.Wood went to sea in 1811 as a midshipman in the British East India Company's service, which he left, however, in 1826. He then settled at Hasketon near Woodbridge, Suffolk...
.
Births
- January 1 - George Washington CarverGeorge Washington CarverGeorge Washington Carver , was an American scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor. The exact day and year of his birth are unknown; he is believed to have been born into slavery in Missouri in January 1864....
(d. 19431943 in scienceThe year 1943 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* July 21 - Living specimens of Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the Dawn Redwood, previously known only as a Mesozoic fossil, are located in China....
), AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
botanist. - February 29 - Herman HollerithHerman HollerithHerman Hollerith was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM.-Personal life:Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New...
(d. 19291929 in scienceThe year 1929 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* July 17 - Robert H...
), American statisticianStatisticianA statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
, punched card data processingUnit record equipmentBefore the advent of electronic computers, data processing was performed using electromechanical devices called unit record equipment, electric accounting machines or tabulating machines. Unit record machines were as ubiquitous in industry and government in the first half of the twentieth century...
inventor. - May 2 - D'Arcy Wentworth ThompsonD'Arcy Wentworth ThompsonSir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE was a Scottish biologist, mathematician, and classics scholar. A pioneering mathematical biologist, he is mainly remembered as the author of the 1917 book On Growth and Form, written largely in Dundee in 1915...
(d. 19481948 in scienceThe year 1948 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* October 5 - Delegates to a conference organised by Sir Julian Huxley at Fontainebleau agree to formation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature....
), ScottishScottish peopleThe Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
biologistBiologistA biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
. - May 25 - James McKeen CattellJames McKeen CattellJames McKeen Cattell , American psychologist, was the first professor of psychology in the United States at the University of Pennsylvania and long-time editor and publisher of scientific journals and publications, most notably the journal Science...
(d. 19441944 in scienceThe year 1944 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy:*Hendrik van de Hulst predicts the 21 cm hyperfine line of neutral interstellar hydrogen.-Biology:...
), American psychologistPsychologistPsychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
.
Deaths
- January 27 - János BolyaiJános BolyaiJános Bolyai was a Hungarian mathematician, known for his work in non-Euclidean geometry.Bolyai was born in the Transylvanian town of Kolozsvár , then part of the Habsburg Empire , the son of Zsuzsanna Benkő and the well-known mathematician Farkas Bolyai.-Life:By the age of 13, he had mastered...
(b. 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....
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - January 27 - Thomas BrisbaneThomas BrisbaneMajor-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...
(b. 17731773 in scienceThe year 1773 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Astronomy:* October 13 - French astronomer Charles Messier discovers the Whirlpool Galaxy , an interacting, grand-design spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 23 million light-years in the constellation Canes...
), 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...
. - June 29 - Thomas AddisonThomas AddisonThomas Addison was a renowned 19th-century English physician and scientist. He is traditionally regarded as one of the "great men" of Guy's Hospital in London....
(b. 17931793 in scienceThe year 1793 in science and technology involved some significant events.-Events:* October 24 - The French Republican Calendar, devised by Gilbert Romme, is adopted by the National Convention.-Biology:...
), physician and scientist. - July 1 - Charles GoodyearCharles GoodyearCharles Goodyear was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839 -- a method that he perfected while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844Although...
(b. 18001800 in scienceThe year 1800 in science and technology included many significant events.-Astronomy:* The central star of the Ring Nebula is discovered by Fredrich von Hahn: the central star is a white dwarf star with a temperature of between 100000 and 120000 K....
), inventor of the vulcanizationVulcanizationVulcanization or vulcanisation is a chemical process for converting rubber or related polymers into more durable materials via the addition of sulfur or other equivalent "curatives." These additives modify the polymer by forming crosslinks between individual polymer chains. Vulcanized material is...
process.