The year 1648 in

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

involved some significant events.

Astronomy

Johannes Hevelius Johannes Hevelius Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish: * * * * * * * Some sources refer to Hevelius as German: * * * * *of the Royal Society * (in German also known as ''Hevel''; pl, Jan Heweliusz; – 28 January 1687) was a councillor ...

discovers the longitudinal libration of the Moon.

Exploration

* June–September –

Semyon Dezhnyov Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnyov ( rus, Семён Ива́нович Дежнёв, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ dʲɪˈʐnʲɵf; sometimes spelled Dezhnyov; c. 1605 – 1673) was a Russian explorer of Siberia and the first European to sail through t ...

makes the first recorded voyage through the Bering Strait.

Natural history

Willem Piso Willem Piso (in Dutch Willem Pies, in Latin Gulielmus Piso, also called Guilherme Piso in Portuguese) (1611 in Leiden – 28 November 1678 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch physician and naturalist who participated as an expedition doctor in D ...

and

Georg Marcgrave Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" " Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mo ...

's ''

Historia Naturalis Brasiliae ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' ( en, Brazilian Natural History), originally written in Latin, is the first scientific work on the natural history of Brazil, written by Dutch naturalist Willem Piso and containing research done by the German ...

'' is published in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Physics

* September 19 –

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...

's brother-in-law, Florin Périer, demonstrates in an ascent of the

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label=Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

varies with height.

Technology

Clear script Clear Script ( xal, , Тодо бичиг, , ''todo biçig''; mn, Тод бичиг, ''tod bichig'', , bxr, Тодо бэшэг, ''Todo besheg'' (), or just todo) is an alphabet created in 1648 by the Oirat Buddhist monk Zaya Pandita for t ...

, used by the

Torgut The Torghut ( Mongolian: Торгууд, , Torguud), , "Guardsman" are one of the four major subgroups of the Four Oirats. The Torghut nobles traced its descent to the Keraite ruler Tooril; also many Torghuts descended from the Keraites. Hist ...

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

s of Sinkiang, is developed by

Zaya Pandita Zaya Pandita or Namkhaijamts (1599–1662) was a Buddhist missionary priest and scholar of Oirat origin who is the most prominent Oirat Buddhist scholar. Among his accomplishments is the invention of the Clear Script. Biography Zaya Pandita ...

Publications

Jan Baptist van Helmont Jan Baptist van Helmont (; ; 12 January 1580 – 30 December 1644) was a chemist, physiologist, and physician from Brussels. He worked during the years just after Paracelsus and the rise of iatrochemistry, and is sometimes considered to ...

's collected works, ''Ortus medicinae, vel opera et opuscula omnia'', are published posthumously by

Lodewijk Elzevir Lodewijk Elzevir (c. 1540, Leuven – 4 February 1617, Leiden), originally ''Lodewijk or Louis Elsevier or Elzevier'', was a printer, born in the city of Leuven (today in Belgium, then part of the Habsburg Netherlands or Spanish Netherlands). He wa ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, edited and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ized by his son

Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (baptised 20 October 1614 – December 1698) was a Flemish alchemist and writer, the son of Jan Baptist van Helmont. He is now best known for his publication in the 1640s of his father's pioneer works on chemistry ...

. Transitional between

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

, they contain the results of numerous experiments and establish an early version of the

law of conservation of mass In physics and chemistry, the law of conservation of mass or principle of mass conservation states that for any system closed to all transfers of matter and energy, the mass of the system must remain constant over time, as the system's mass can ...

Births

* December 15 –

Gregory King Gregory King (15 December 1648 – 29 August 1712) was an English genealogist, engraver and statistician. Life Gregory King was born at Lichfield, England. His father was a surveyor and landscape gardener. Gregory was a very bright boy and his ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

(died

1712 In the Swedish calendar it began as a leap year starting on Monday and remained so until Thursday, February 29. By adding a second leap day (Friday, February 30) Sweden reverted to the Julian calendar and the rest of the year (from Saturday, M ...

)

Deaths

* September 1 –

Marin Mersenne Marin Mersenne, OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or ''le Père'' Mersenne; ; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for ...

, French

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

(born

1588 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * February – The Sinhalese abandon the siege of Colombo, capital of Portuguese Ceylon. * February 9 – The sudden death of Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, in the midst of pr ...

) * November 3 – John Bainbridge, English

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

(born 1582)

References

{{reflist 17th century in science 1640s in science