1759 in science

The year 1759 in science and technology involved several significant events.

List of years in science (table)
… 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 …
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

Astronomy

Harrison's marine chronometer

• Halley's comet returns; a team of three mathematicians, Alexis Clairaut, Jérome Lalande and Nicole Reine Lepaute, had—for the first time—predicted the date.

Biology

• Caspar Friedrich Wolff's dissertation at the University of Halle Theoria Generationis supports the theory of epigenesis.[1]

Botany

• Kew Gardens established in England by Augusta of Saxe-Coburg, the mother of George III.[2]

Geology

• Giovanni Arduino proposes dividing the geological history of Earth into four periods: Primitive, Secondary, Tertiary and Volcanic, or Quaternary.[3]

Smeaton's Tower

Physics

• Posthumous publication of Émilie du Châtelet's French translation and commentary on Newton's Principia, Principes mathématiques de la philosophie naturelle.

Medicine

• Angélique du Coudray publishes Abrégé de l'art des accouchements ("The Art of Obstetrics").

Technology

• English clockmaker John Harrison produces his "No. 1 sea watch" ("H4"), the first successful marine chronometer.[4]

Transport

• James Brindley is engaged by the Duke of Bridgewater to construct a canal to transport coal to Manchester from the duke's mines at Worsley, in North West England.
• October 16 – Smeaton's Tower, John Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of South West England, is first illuminated.[5]

Awards

• Copley Medal: John Smeaton[6]

Births

• December 2 – James Edward Smith, English botanist (died 1828)
• Date unknown – Maria Pettracini, Italian anatomist and physician (died 1791)

Deaths

• February 16 – Bartholomew Mosse, Irish surgeon (born 1712)
• September 10 – Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer (born 1703)

References

1. Petrunkevitch, Alexander (June 1920). "Russia's Contribution to Science". Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. New Haven. 23: 235.
2. "Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". World Heritage. UNESCO. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
3. Bates, Marston (1950). The Nature of Natural History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 51.
4. Royal Observatory Greenwich souvenir guide. 2012. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-1-906367-51-0. the first precision watch and considered by many today as the most important timekeeper ever.
5. "Eddystone Lighthouse". Trinity House. Archived from the original on 9 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-06.
6. "Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020.