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1798 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Caroline_Herschel/b0jouFmG">Caroline Herschel</a>'s index and updating of <a href="/facts/John_Flamsteed/hptRt6IK">Flamsteed</a>'s <a href="/facts/Star_catalogue/7XwPwSjE">star catalogue</a> is published by the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society/KI5yXCuV">Royal Society</a> of <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li>The element <a href="/facts/Beryllium/dv295voP">beryllium</a> is discovered by <a href="/facts/Louis_Vauquelin/ygSb9h9Q">Louis Vauquelin</a> as the <a href="/facts/Oxide/DXtoVe1C">oxide</a> in <a href="/facts/Beryl/Fl7q1Hl9">beryl</a> and in <a href="/facts/Emerald/pr52yTAD">emeralds</a>. <a href="/facts/Friedrich_W%C3%B6hler/D7uh7ySD">Friedrich Wöhler</a> and <a href="/facts/Antoine_Bussy/bhXcWMhg">A. A. Bussy</a> independently isolate the metal in 1828 by reacting <a href="/facts/Potassium/FWPwS7Rj">potassium</a> and <a href="/facts/Beryllium_chloride/2uepR11V">beryllium chloride</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="demography">Demography</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Thomas_Robert_Malthus/fNoDNncG">Thomas Robert Malthus</a> publishes the first edition of <i><a href="/facts/An_Essay_on_the_Principle_of_Population/0jx1HBTb">An Essay on the Principle of Population</a></i> (anonymously) in London.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Joseph_Louis_Lagrange/bTQUaSTv">Lagrange</a> publishes his <i>Résolution des équations numériques</i>, including the method of approximating to the real roots of an equation by means of <a href="/facts/Continued_fraction/Wg1cMPxN">continued fractions</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss/f4eSMBD7">Carl Friedrich Gauss</a> (born 1777) completes his magnum opus, <i><a href="/facts/Disquisitiones_Arithmeticae/VQ38ReTh">Disquisitiones Arithmeticae</a></i> (published 1801).</li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Edward_Jenner/sXRNEXef">Edward Jenner</a> publishes <i>An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolæ Vaccinæ, a disease discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the <a href="/facts/Cowpox/zzPD2Vx9">Cow Pox</a></i>, describing the <a href="/facts/Smallpox_vaccine/r0k5af8p">smallpox vaccine</a>, in London.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Charles_Bell/gKnT2dN2">Charles Bell</a> publishes <i>A System of Dissection Explaining the Anatomy of the Human Body</i> in collaboration with his brother <a href="/facts/John_Bell_(surgeon)/o6Uy6oBa">John</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Alexander_Crichton/KhjqWYKU">Alexander Crichton</a> publishes <i>An inquiry into the nature and origin of mental derangement; comprehending a concise system of the physiology and pathology of the human mind and a history of the passions and their effects</i>, including a description of a condition resembling the inattentive subtype of <a href="/facts/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder/uSqjIyhd">attention deficit hyperactivity disorder</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/John_Dalton/oS8grQR4">John Dalton</a> publishes "Extraordinary Facts Relating to the Vision of Colours", describing <a href="/facts/Colour_blindness/02Taxf5C">colour blindness</a> for the first time in print.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Philippe_Pinel/3Tp7vgxg">Philippe Pinel</a> publishes <i>Nosographie philosophique, ou méthode de l'analyse appliquée à la médecine</i>, emphasising the importance of <a href="/facts/Nosology/j2hKyGaH">nosology</a> (classification of diseases) to medicine. It goes through six editions in the next ten years.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Samuel_Thomas_von_S%C3%B6mmerring/bLKQ3NsL">Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring</a> publishes <i>Tabula sceleti feminini</i> in <a href="/facts/Frankfurt_am_Main/Pw4Xj9A4">Frankfurt am Main</a>, the first accurate representation of the female skeleton.</li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Benjamin_Thompson/bgCKB0C1">Benjamin Thompson</a>, Count Rumford, publishes <i><a href="/facts/An_Experimental_Enquiry_Concerning_the_Source_of_the_Heat_which_is_Excited_by_Friction/9Xtgss18">An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Source of the Heat which is Excited by Friction</a></i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/James_Sadler_(balloonist)/Mly7v8hc">James Sadler</a> introduces the <a href="/facts/Table_engine/uvS4TtMe">table engine</a> at the <a href="/facts/Portsmouth_Block_Mills/LyleqayB">Portsmouth Block Mills</a> in <a href="/facts/England/U9mE5bGL">England</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="zoology">Zoology</h2> <ul><li>The <a href="/facts/Platypus/tf9536jb">platypus</a> is first discovered by Europeans.</li></ul> <h2 id="publications">Publications</h2> <ul><li>The <i><a href="/facts/Philosophical_Magazine/yeTXVoYt">Philosophical Magazine</a></i> is initiated by <a href="/facts/Alexander_Tilloch/wpIIpoBK">Alexander Tilloch</a> to cover the field of <a href="/facts/Natural_philosophy/CUAsDWdk">natural philosophy</a>; it will still be published more than two centuries later.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Sir_George_Shuckburgh-Evelyn,_6th_Baronet/TctoPU80">Sir George Shuckburgh-Evelyn, 6th Baronet</a>; <a href="/facts/Charles_Hatchett/ShhsahJz">Charles Hatchett</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>March 25 – <a href="/facts/Christoph_Gudermann/sJIED65C">Christoph Gudermann</a>, <a href="/facts/Germans/F7mBCrJ4">German</a> mathematician (died <a href="/facts/1852_in_science/BSfIEwWG">1852</a>)</li> <li>April 3 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Wilkes/ufXUzQmK">Charles Wilkes</a>, <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> navigator (died <a href="/facts/1877_in_science/PvF8wXrx">1877</a>)</li> <li>July 14 - <a href="/facts/Fran%C3%A7ois_M%C3%AAlier/lkwTccYj">François Mêlier</a>, <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> physician (died <a href="/facts/1866_in_science/pLoM3mjz">1866</a>)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>August 17 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Hodgkin/nqyNU6vS">Thomas Hodgkin</a>, <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a> (died <a href="/facts/1866_in_science/pLoM3mjz">1866</a>)</li> <li>September 11 – <a href="/facts/Franz_Ernst_Neumann/0F1W6GDG">Franz Ernst Neumann</a>, German mineralogist, physicist and mathematician (died <a href="/facts/1895_in_science/j51E1l1p">1895</a>)</li> <li>September 19 – <a href="/facts/Caesar_Hawkins/rfUx7R32">Caesar Hawkins</a>, English <a href="/facts/Surgeon/Hm0R9t6n">surgeon</a> (died <a href="/facts/1884_in_science/fGwEUMb8">1884</a>)</li> <li>November 4 – <a href="/facts/Karl_Kreil/45aygw51">Karl Kreil</a>, <a href="/facts/Austria/4qWIMIyc">Austrian</a> <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a> (died <a href="/facts/1862_in_science/QgMtveLf">1862</a>)</li> <li>December 28 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_James_Henderson/zCJzzFwo">Thomas Henderson</a>, <a href="/facts/Scottish_people/0rp2bd12">Scottish</a> astronomer (died <a href="/facts/1844_in_science/Kt34sQQ5">1844</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>May 10 – <a href="/facts/George_Vancouver/V3YNkt3W">George Vancouver</a>, English explorer (born <a href="/facts/1757_in_science/Cg8EY0w0">1757</a>)</li> <li>May 2 – <a href="/facts/Erland_Samuel_Bring/SyshLaN4">Erland Samuel Bring</a>, <a href="/facts/Swedes/gAeGfw2N">Swedish</a> <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a> (born <a href="/facts/1736_in_science/NIhF05X2">1736</a>)</li> <li>August 25 – <a href="/facts/Mikiel%27Ang_Grima/I9m9d3VY">Mikiel'Ang Grima</a>, <a href="/facts/Maltese_people/15txr136">Maltese</a> <a href="/facts/Surgery/fG8tWf5Y">surgeon</a> (born <a href="/facts/1729_in_science/zRqc6fHL">1729</a>)</li> <li>November 5 – <a href="/facts/John_Zephaniah_Holwell/xno4CQMQ">John Zephaniah Holwell</a>, Anglo-Irish surgeon (born <a href="/facts/1711_in_science/BcKxSTzx">1711</a>)</li> <li>December 4 – <a href="/facts/Luigi_Galvani/tvLUj9mn">Luigi Galvani</a>, <a href="/facts/Italian_people/dsdUeJ1n">Italian</a> <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a> (born <a href="/facts/1737_in_science/0gEovxnm">1737</a>)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>December 16 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Pennant/Skf5szzJ">Thomas Pennant</a>, Welsh naturalist (born <a href="/facts/1726_in_science/bV9KT5z0">1726</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey (1986). Women in Science: Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0-262-65038-X. <a href="0-262-65038-X" target="_blank">0-262-65038-X</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Jacyna, L. S. (2004). "Bell, Sir Charles (1774–1842)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1999. Retrieved 2011-04-06. (subscription or UK public library membership required) <a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1999" target="_blank">http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1999</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Dalton, J. (1798). "Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours; with observations". Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. 5: 28–45. The original lecture was delivered in 1794. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Burke, James (1985). The Day the Universe Changed. London: BBC. p. 207. ISBN 0-563-20192-4. <a href="0-563-20192-4" target="_blank">0-563-20192-4</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Burnett, John (2004). "Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-02-17. <a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27448" target="_blank">http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27448</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><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:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Jules Bergeron, Alexandre Wauthier. "François Mêlier". cths.fr (in French). Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Retrieved 2020-10-27. <a href="https://cths.fr/an/savant.php?id=570#" target="_blank">https://cths.fr/an/savant.php?id=570#</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Luigi Galvani, Italian physician and physicist". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-03-21. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luigi-Galvani" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luigi-Galvani</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>