1678 in science

<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Edmund_Halley/JgjIRcUA">Edmund Halley</a> publishes a catalogue of 341 southern stars—the first systematic southern sky survey.</li></ul>
<h2 id="physics">Physics</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Christiaan_Huygens/GtBqoBVm">Christiaan Huygens</a> publishes his <i><a href="/facts/Trait%C3%A9_de_la_Lumi%C3%A8re/z2S6lXjM">Traité de la Lumière</a>/Treatise on Light</i>, which states his <a href="/facts/Huygens%27_principle/t7lsjjA3">principle</a> of wavefront sources.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Robert_Hooke/T5sEElp5">Robert Hooke</a> publishes in full <a href="/facts/Hooke%27s_law/7hTUcKUm">Hooke's law</a>, the fundamental law of <a href="/facts/Elasticity_(physics)/wcJoIFg1">elasticity</a>: stress (force) exerted is proportional to the strain (elongation) produced (<i>ut tensio, sic vis</i> ("as the extension, so the force" or "the extension is proportional to the force")).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li></ul>
<h2 id="zoology">Zoology</h2>
<ul><li>Publication of <i>English Spiders</i> by <a href="/facts/Martin_Lister/sESPAmzn">Martin Lister</a>, the first book devoted to <a href="/facts/Spider/aqpU7eg3">spiders</a>.</li></ul>
<h2 id="births">Births</h2>
<ul><li>April 14 – <a href="/facts/Abraham_Darby_I/KWftamLz">Abraham Darby I</a>, <a href="/facts/Ironmaster/nSur8DYV">ironmaster</a> (died <a href="/facts/1717_in_science/KAeLw1m1">1717</a>)</li>
<li>July 16 – <a href="/facts/Jakob_Hermann/2ANdcE7v">Jakob Hermann</a>, <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a> (died <a href="/facts/1733_in_science/5BvdnSco">1733</a>)</li>
<li>October 27 – <a href="/facts/Pierre_Raymond_de_Montmort/LBdMHyLx">Pierre Raymond de Montmort</a>, mathematician (died <a href="/facts/1719_in_science/Gy7jdvw0">1719</a>)</li>
<li>November 26 – <a href="/facts/Jean-Jacques_d%27Ortous_de_Mairan/DJvpLzK1">Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan</a>, <a href="/facts/Geophysicist/ywVQ1sAQ">geophysicist</a> (died <a href="/facts/1771_in_science/fXlqQLLE">1771</a>)</li>
<li>December 2 – <a href="/facts/Nicolaas_Kruik/arnHSoFa">Nicolaas Kruik</a> (Cruquius), <a href="/facts/Cartographer/8YdDAAeX">cartographer</a> and <a href="/facts/Meteorologist/GDUQ6qxD">meteorologist</a> (died <a href="/facts/1754_in_science/2po4T7ft">1754</a>)</li>
<li><i>unknown</i> – <a href="/facts/Pierre_Fauchard/nNLoq8M0">Pierre Fauchard</a>, <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a> and "father of modern dentistry" (died <a href="/facts/1761_in_science/w0nj7xGb">1761</a>)</li></ul>
<h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2>
<ul><li>November 28 – <a href="/facts/Willem_Piso/86f1fXBK">Willem Piso</a>, physician and <a href="/facts/Naturalist/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a> (born <a href="/facts/1611_in_science/NtAHJhLG">1611</a>)</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Hooke, Robert (1678). Lectures De Potentia Restitutiva, or of Spring. Explaining the Power of Springing Bodies. London: The Royal Society. <a href="https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_lectures-de-potentia-res_hooke-robert_1678" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_lectures-de-potentia-res_hooke-robert_1678</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

1678 in science open-in-new

1678 in science