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1742 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li>January 14 – Death of <a href="/facts/Edmond_Halley/JgjIRcUA">Edmond Halley</a>; <a href="/facts/James_Bradley/4QnCLzmk">James Bradley</a> succeeds him as <a href="/facts/Astronomer_Royal/GTCk0QaQ">Astronomer Royal</a> in Great Britain.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li>June – <a href="/facts/Christian_Goldbach/NDjEwD4d">Christian Goldbach</a> produces <a href="/facts/Goldbach%27s_conjecture/967UhtUU">Goldbach's conjecture</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Colin_Maclaurin/nVexkojA">Colin Maclaurin</a> publishes his <i>Treatise on Fluxions</i> in Great Britain, the first systematic exposition of Newton's methods.</li></ul> <h2 id="metrology">Metrology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Anders_Celsius/02rtgl5x">Anders Celsius</a> publishes his proposal for a <a href="/facts/Celsius/okAEu1CA">centigrade</a> temperature scale originated in 1741.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="physiology-and-medicine">Physiology and medicine</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Surgeon/Hm0R9t6n">Surgeon</a> Joseph Hurlock publishes his <i>A Practical Treatise upon Dentition, or The breeding of teeth in children</i> in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>, the first treatise in <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English</a> on <a href="/facts/Dentition/yMEdzfHh">dentition</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Benjamin_Robins/ptNkpJ7g">Benjamin Robins</a> publishes his <i>New Principles of Gunnery, containing the determination of the force of gun-powder and an investigation of the difference in the resisting power of the air to swift and slow motions</i> in London, containing a description of his <a href="/facts/Ballistic_pendulum/7yQLVNQn">ballistic pendulum</a> and the results of his scientific experiments into improvements in <a href="/facts/Ballistics/3WHTox0u">ballistics</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li>The first large (12 ft <a href="/facts/Focal_length/brGIUkEY">focal length</a>) <a href="/facts/Reflecting_telescope/5Y4aXFvF">reflecting telescope</a> is made, in <a href="/facts/Gregorian_telescope/Sp8cI5jH">Gregorian</a> form, by <a href="/facts/James_Short_(mathematician)/SabXdVL0">James Short</a>, for use by <a href="/facts/Charles_Spencer,_3rd_Duke_of_Marlborough/y0HRNJa6">Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough</a>, in London.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Christopher_Middleton_(navigator)/poLCQEQ9">Christopher Middleton</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>March 15 <i>(bapt.)</i> – <a href="/facts/John_Stackhouse_(botanist)/XCukhn78">John Stackhouse</a>, <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> botanist (died <a href="/facts/1819_in_science/uGXFYvvJ">1819</a>).</li> <li>May 18 – <a href="/facts/Lionel_Lukin/17SksFFT">Lionel Lukin</a>, English <a href="/facts/Inventor/P3LdUHBY">inventor</a> (died <a href="/facts/1834_in_science/bT4QNHSb">1834</a>).</li> <li>December 3 – <a href="/facts/James_Rennell/4bExeVKm">James Rennell</a>, English geographer, historian and <a href="/facts/Oceanographer/LtrG6peD">oceanographer</a> (died <a href="/facts/1830_in_science/dfdvqMg2">1830</a>).</li> <li>December 9 – <a href="/facts/Carl_Wilhelm_Scheele/kcKBwyXa">Carl Wilhelm Scheele</a>, <a href="/facts/Swedes/gAeGfw2N">Swedish</a> <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a> (died <a href="/facts/1786_in_science/slrNPfAC">1786</a>).</li> <li>December 26 – <a href="/facts/Ignaz_von_Born/3FaNxf0Y">Ignaz von Born</a>, <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Hungary/91tLqn81">Hungarian</a> <a href="/facts/Metallurgist/1SANyxX4">metallurgist</a> (died <a href="/facts/1791_in_science/bCJAvN41">1791</a>).</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>January 14 – <a href="/facts/Edmond_Halley/JgjIRcUA">Edmond Halley</a>, English <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>, <a href="/facts/Geophysicist/ywVQ1sAQ">geophysicist</a>, <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>, <a href="/facts/Meteorologist/GDUQ6qxD">meteorologist</a>, and <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a> (born <a href="/facts/1656_in_science/kBmghdhU">1656</a>).</li> <li>February 28 – <a href="/facts/Willem_%27s_Gravesande/uWxAg4nT">Willem 's Gravesande</a>, <a href="/facts/Dutch_people/QhHtJ2WK">Dutch</a> <a href="/facts/Polymath/eqIfjQRu">polymath</a> (born <a href="/facts/1688_in_science/onmSJjwe">1688</a>).</li> <li>May 13 – <a href="/facts/Nicolas_Andry/C2KYhXMN">Nicolas Andry</a>, <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a> (born <a href="/facts/1658_in_science/T1Qfxn6a">1658</a>).</li> <li>September 22 – <a href="/facts/Frederic_Louis_Norden/jeJknsKK">Frederic Louis Norden</a>, <a href="/facts/Denmark/KVtykzsw">Danish</a> explorer (born <a href="/facts/1708_in_science/jjajpPfy">1708</a>).</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Celsius, Anders (1742). "Observationer om twänne beständiga grader på en thermometer" (Observations about two stable degrees on a thermometer). Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar (Proceedings of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) 3:171-180 and [1]. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/kungligasvenskav1317kung#page/170/mode/2up/search" target="_blank">https://archive.org/stream/kungligasvenskav1317kung#page/170/mode/2up/search</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Jervis-Smith, Frederick John (1911). "Chronograph" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 302. <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Chronograph" target="_blank">https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Chronograph</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Routh, Edward John (1905). The Elementary Part of A Treatise on the Dynamics of a System of Rigid Bodies. London: Macmillan. <a href="https://archive.org/details/elementarypartof00routrich" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/elementarypartof00routrich</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Ferguson, Niall (2011). Civilization: The West and the Rest. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-1-84614-273-4. <a href="978-1-84614-273-4" target="_blank">978-1-84614-273-4</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, inventory 98721 (exhibit label noted 2012). <a href="/wiki/Museum_of_the_History_of_Science,_Oxford" target="_blank">/wiki/Museum_of_the_History_of_Science,_Oxford</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>