This is a list of significant events that occurred in the year 1718 in

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

Astronomy

Edmond Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, H ...

discovers the proper motion of stars.

Chemistry

Étienne François Geoffroy Étienne François Geoffroy (13 February 16726 January 1731) was a French physician and chemist, best known for his 1718 affinity tables. He first contemplated a career as an apothecary, but then decided to practice medicine. He is sometimes kn ...

presents the first ever table of

chemical affinity In chemical physics and physical chemistry, chemical affinity is the electronic property by which dissimilar chemical species are capable of forming chemical compounds. Chemical affinity can also refer to the tendency of an atom or compound to co ...

(based on

displacement reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the positions of electrons in the forming and breaking ...

s) to the French Academy of Sciences.

Mathematics

Abraham de Moivre Abraham de Moivre FRS (; 26 May 166727 November 1754) was a French mathematician known for de Moivre's formula, a formula that links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory. He moved ...

publishes '' The Doctrine of Chances: a method of calculating the probabilities of events in play'' in

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 ...

, which goes through several editions.

Medicine

* The Charitable Infirmary, Dublin, is founded by six surgeons in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the first public voluntary hospital in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

Technology

* May 15 –

James Puckle James Puckle (1667–1724) was an English inventor, lawyer and writer from London chiefly remembered for his invention of the ''Defence Gun'', better known as the '' Puckle gun'', a multi-shot gun mounted on a stand capable of (depending on whi ...

patents the

Puckle Gun The Puckle gun (also known as the defence gun) was a primitive crew-served, manually-operated flintlock revolver patented in 1718 by James Puckle (1667–1724), a British inventor, lawyer and writer. It was one of the earliest weapons to be re ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Births

* May 16 –

Maria Gaetana Agnesi Maria Gaetana Agnesi ( , , ; 16 May 1718 – 9 January 1799) was an Italian mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the first woman appointed as a mathematics profe ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 ...

(died

1799 Events January–June * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * Janu ...

) * May 23 – William Hunter, Scottish

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

(died

1783 Events January–March * January 20 – At Versailles, Great Britain signs preliminary peace treaties with the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain. * January 23 – The Confederation Congress ratifies two October 8, ...

) * August 17 – Francis Willis,

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

specialising in mental disorders (died

1807 Events January–March * January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. * January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with ...

) * Salomée Halpir (née Rusiecki), Lithuanian physician (died after 1763)

Deaths

* March 11 –

Guy-Crescent Fagon Guy-Crescent Fagon (11 May 1638 – 11 March 1718) was a French physician and botanist. He came from nobility and his uncle, Guy de La Brosse, had founded the Royal Gardens. Fagon was director of the gardens too. His substitute professors were Gil ...

, French

and botanist (born

1638 Events January–March * January 4 – **A naval battle takes place in the Indian Ocean off of the coast of Goa at South India as a Netherlands fleet commanded by Admiral Adam Westerwolt decimates the Portuguese fleet. **A fleet of 80 ...

) * April –

James Petiver James Petiver (c. 1665 – c. 2 April 1718) was a London apothecary, a fellow of the Royal Society as well as London's informal Temple Coffee House Botany Club, famous for his specimen collections in which he traded and study of botany and entom ...

naturalist and

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

(born c.

1665 Events January–March * January 5 – The ''Journal des sçavans'' begins publication of the first scientific journal in France. * February 15 – Molière's comedy '' Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre'', based on the Spanis ...

) * December 9 –

Vincenzo Coronelli Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (August 16, 1650 – December 9, 1718) was an Italian Franciscan friar, cosmographer, cartographer, publisher, and encyclopedist known in particular for his atlases and globes. He spent most of his life in Venice. Biog ...

, Italian cartographer and encyclopedist (born 1650) * December 11 –

Pierre Dionis Pierre Dionis (1643 in Paris – 11 December 1718 in Paris) was a French surgeon and anatomist, First surgeon of the '' Enfants de France''. Biography Pierre Dionis was trained at the in Paris where he obtained the rank of master surgeon. He was ...

, French surgeon and anatomist (born

1643 Events January–March * January 21 – Abel Tasman sights the island of Tonga. * February 6 – Abel Tasman sights the Fiji Islands. * March 13 – First English Civil War: First Battle of Middlewich – Roundheads ...

)

References

{{reflist 18th century in science 1710s in science