1781 in science

The year 1781 in science and technology involved some significant events.

List of years in science (table)
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Astronomy

• March 13 – William Herschel observes Uranus (although initially recording it as a comet).[1]
• March 20 – Pierre Méchain discovers dwarf galaxy NGC 5195.
• Charles Messier's final catalogue of Messier objects is published.
• Christian Mayer's catalogue of binary stars is published.[2]

Biology

• Felice Fontana uses a microscope to describe the axon of a brain cell.
• John Latham begins publication of A General Synopsis of Birds.

Chemistry

• Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald is granted a British patent for the manufacture of coal tar.[3][4]
• Carl Wilhelm Scheele ascertains that a new acid can be made from tungstenite, leading to the discovery of tungsten in 1783.[5]
• Autumn – Peter Jacob Hjelm isolates molybdenum.[5][6]

Awards

• Copley Medal: William Herschel[7]

Births

• January 30 – Adelbert von Chamisso, poet and botanist (died 1838)
• February 17 – Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec, French physician, inventor of the stethoscope (died 1826).[8]
• May 29 – John Walker, English chemist (died 1859)
• June 9 – George Stephenson, English locomotive engineer (died 1848)
• June 21 – Siméon Poisson, mathematician (died 1840)
• July 6 – Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of the Zoological Society of London (died 1826)
• September 14 – James Walker, Scottish civil engineer (died 1862)
• October 5 – Bernhard Bolzano, mathematician (died 1848)
• December 11 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist (died 1868)

Deaths

• May 27 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist (born 1716)

References

1. Herschel, W.; Watson, Dr. (1781). "Account of a Comet, By Mr. Herschel, F.R.S.; Communicated by Dr. Watson, Jun. of Bath, F.R.S". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. London. 71: 492–501. Bibcode:1781RSPT...71..492H. doi:10.1098/rstl.1781.0056.
2. "Verzeichniss aller bisher entdeckten Doppeltsterne" In Johann Elert Bode's Astronomisches Jahrbuch for 1784, pp. 183-6.
3. Burke, James (1978). Connections. London: Macmillan. p. 196. ISBN 0-333-24827-9.
4. "Coal Tar Before the Invention of Town's Gas". Retrieved 2011-12-31.
5. Emsley, John (2001). Nature's Building Blocks: an A–Z guide to the elements. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-850341-5.
6. Hjelm, P. J. (1788). "Versuche mit Molybdäna, und Reduction der selben Erde". Der Königl. Schwedischen Akademie der Wissenschaften neue Abhandlungen aus der Naturlehre, Haushaltungskunst und Mechanik. Leipzig. 49: 268.
7. "Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
8. "Laennec, René-Théophile-Hyacinthe (1781-1826)". catalogue.bnf.fr (in French). Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Retrieved 6 February 2021.