The year 1740 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.
Mathematics
*
Jean Paul de Gua de Malves
Jean Paul de Gua de Malves (1713, Malves-en-Minervois (Aude) – June 2, 1785, Paris) was a French mathematician who published in 1740 a work on analytical geometry in which he applied it, without the aid of differential calculus, to find the tange ...
publishes his work of
analytic geometry
In classical mathematics, analytic geometry, also known as coordinate geometry or Cartesian geometry, is the study of geometry using a coordinate system. This contrasts with synthetic geometry.
Analytic geometry is used in physics and engineerin ...
, .
Metallurgy
*
Benjamin Huntsman
Benjamin Huntsman (4 June 170420 June 1776) was an English inventor and manufacturer of cast or crucible steel.
Biography
Huntsman was born the fourth child of William and Mary (née Nainby) Huntsman, a Quaker farming couple, in Epworth, Linc ...
develops the technique of
crucible steel
Crucible steel is steel made by melting pig iron (cast iron), iron, and sometimes steel, often along with sand, glass, ashes, and other flux (metallurgy), fluxes, in a crucible. In ancient times steel and iron were impossible to melt using char ...
production at
Handsworth, South Yorkshire
Handsworth is a suburb of south eastern Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. It covers an area of approximately , and has a population of approximately 15,000. It has five schools, four churches, a variety of small shops, a large supermarke ...
,
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 ...
.
Physics
*
Jacques-Barthélemy Micheli du Crest
Jacques-Barthélemy Micheli du Crest (September 28, 1690 – March 29, 1766) was a military engineer, physicist and cartographer, born in Geneva and so a citizen of the then Republic of Geneva, now in Switzerland. Born into the aristocracy, he ev ...
creates a spirit thermometer, making use of two fixed points, 0 for "Temperature of earth" based on a cave at
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...
and 100 for the heat of boiling water.
*
Émilie du Châtelet
Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet (; 17 December 1706 – 10 September 1749) was a French natural philosopher and mathematician from the early 1730s until her death due to complications during childbirth in 1749. ...
publishes ''Institutions de Physique'', including a demonstration that the
energy of a moving object is proportional to the square of its velocity (E
k = mv²).
*
Louis Bertrand Castel
Louis Bertrand Castel (5 November 1688 – 11 January 1757) was a French mathematician born in Montpellier, who entered the order of the Jesuits in 1703. Having studied literature, he afterwards devoted himself entirely to mathematics and natura ...
publishes ''L'Optique des couleurs'' in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, including the observation that the colours of white light split by a
prism
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
depend on distance from the prism.
Technology
*
Henry Hindley
Henry Hindley (1701–1771) was an 18th-century clockmaker, watchmaker and maker of scientific instruments. He invented a screw-cutting lathe, a fusee-cutting engine and an improved wheel-cutting engine and made one of the first dividing engine ...
of Yorkshire invents a device to cut the teeth of clock wheels.
Awards
*
Copley Medal
The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...
:
Alexander Stuart Alexander Stuart may refer to:
*Alexander Stuart (scientist) (1673–1742), scientist, winner of the Copley Medal
*Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart (1807–1891), United States Secretary of the Interior between 1850 and 1853
*Alexander Stuart (Australi ...
Births
* February 17 –
Horace Bénédict de Saussure
Horace Bénédict de Saussure (17 February 1740 – 22 January 1799) was a Genevan geologist, meteorologist, physicist, mountaineer and Alpine explorer, often called the founder of alpinism and modern meteorology, and considered to be the firs ...
,
Genevan
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
pioneer of
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
studies (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.
* January ...
)
* March 28 ''(bapt.)'' –
James Small,
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
inventor (died
1793
The French Republic introduced the French Revolutionary Calendar starting with the year I.
Events
January–June
* January 7 – The Ebel riot occurs in Sweden.
* January 9 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first to fl ...
)
* June 27 –
John Latham,
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 ...
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 ...
and
naturalist, "grandfather of Australian
ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
" (died
1837
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The destructive Galilee earthquake causes 6,000–7,000 casualties in Ottoman Syria.
* January 26 – Michigan becomes the 26th state admitted to the United States.
* February – Charles Dickens's ...
)
* July 1 –
Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein
Franz-Joseph Müller, Freiherr von Reichenstein or Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein (1 July 1740 or 4 October 1742 – 12 October 1825 or 1826) was an Austrian mineralogist and mining engineer. Müller held several positions in the Habsburg m ...
, Austrian
mineralogist
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...
and discoverer of
tellurium
Tellurium is a chemical element with the symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionally fou ...
(died
1825
Events
January–March
* January 4 – King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies dies in Naples and is succeeded by his son, Francis.
* February 3 – Vendsyssel-Thy, once part of the Jutland peninsula forming westernmost Denmark, becomes a ...
)
* August 26 –
Joseph Michel Montgolfier, French pioneer balloonist (died
1810
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Major-General Lachlan Macquarie officially becomes Governor of New South Wales.
* January 4 – Australian seal hunter Frederick Hasselborough discovers Campbell Island, in the Subantarctic.
* Janua ...
)
* September 29 –
Thomas Percival
Thomas Percival (29 September 1740 – 30 August 1804) was an English physician, health reformer, ethicist and author who wrote an early code of medical ethics. He drew up a pamphlet with the code in 1794 and wrote an expanded version in 18 ...
, English reforming physician and medical ethicist (died
1804
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Haiti gains independence from France, and becomes the first black republic, having the only successful slave revolt ever.
* February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa.
* Februa ...
)
* December 24 –
Anders Johan Lexell
Anders Johan Lexell (24 December 1740 – ) was a Finnish-Swedish astronomer, mathematician, and physicist who spent most of his life in Imperial Russia, where he was known as Andrei Ivanovich Leksel (Андрей Иванович Лексе ...
, Finnish-Swedish
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 ...
and
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
1784
Events
January–March
* January 6 – Treaty of Constantinople: The Ottoman Empire agrees to Russia's annexation of the Crimea.
* January 14 – The Congress of the United States ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Brit ...
)
* ''unknown'' –
William Smellie, Scottish naturalist and
encyclopedist
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ( ...
(died
1795
Events
January–June
* January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the Central England temperature, CET records dating back to 1659.
* January 14 – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Uni ...
)
Deaths
* March 23 –
Olof Rudbeck the Younger
Olof Rudbeck the Younger or Olaus Rudbeckius d.y. (15 March 1660 – 23 March 1740) was a Swedish explorer, scientist, botanist, ornithologist and rector of Uppsala University.
Biography
Olof Rudbeck was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the son of Ola ...
,
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
naturalist (born
1660
Events
January–March
* January 1
** At daybreak, English Army Colonel George Monck, with two brigades of troops from his Scottish occupational force, fords the River Tweed at Coldstream in Scotland to cross the border into England ...
).
References
{{Reflist
18th century in science
1740s in science