Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
1842 in science
open-in-new
<h2 id="biochemistry">Biochemistry</h2> <ul><li>October 5 – <a href="/facts/Josef_Groll/1GMEjm4R">Josef Groll</a> brews the first <a href="/facts/Pilsner/YyWJxz9j">pilsner</a> <a href="/facts/Light_lager/oEq20KwY">light lager</a> beer in the city of <a href="/facts/Plze%C5%88/kWzpKbsM">Pilsen</a>, <a href="/facts/Bohemia/Wbr8gt6l">Bohemia</a> (modern-day Czech Republic).</li></ul> <h2 id="botany">Botany</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Nathaniel_Bagshaw_Ward/xFMMM5Iw">Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward</a> publishes <i>On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases</i> in London, promoting his concept of the <a href="/facts/Wardian_case/FYDsNDAW">Wardian case</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="exploration">Exploration</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Antarctic/xPPVrxBE">Antarctic</a> explorer <a href="/facts/James_Clark_Ross/oybMx7Yd">James Clark Ross</a> charts the eastern side of <a href="/facts/James_Ross_Island/djDLmeHb">James Ross Island</a> and on January 23 reaches a <a href="/facts/Farthest_South/Cn9XxQBp">Farthest South</a> of 78°09'30"S.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li>January – <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> medical student William E. Clarke of <a href="/facts/Berkshire_Medical_College/7yFhK50u">Berkshire Medical College</a> becomes the first person to administer an inhaled <a href="/facts/Anesthetic/0xG7I2ou">anesthetic</a> to facilitate a surgical procedure. After Clarke uses a towel and ether to anesthetize a patient identifed as "Miss Hobbie", Dr. Elijah Pope carries out a <a href="/facts/Dental_extraction/gfgT6bPV">dental extraction</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li>March 30 – American physician and pharmacist <a href="/facts/Crawford_Long/cVgtFrqD">Crawford Long</a> administers an inhaled anesthetic (<a href="/facts/Diethyl_ether/Ep20vEdj">diethyl ether</a>) to facilitate a surgical procedure (removal of a neck tumor).<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><a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> surgeon <a href="/facts/Sir_William_Bowman,_1st_Baronet/5XjLozcR">William Bowman</a> publishes <i>On the Structure and Use of the Malpighian Bodies of the Kidney</i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> identifying <a href="/facts/Bowman%27s_capsule/mvJx1IEJ">Bowman's capsule</a>, a key component of the <a href="/facts/Nephron/ss24U1zW">nephron</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Edwin_Chadwick/xJt0eaA6">Edwin Chadwick</a>'s critical <i>Report on an inquiry into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain</i> is published by the <a href="/facts/Poor_Law_Commission/1Kz3NvgJ">Poor Law Commission</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="paleontology">Paleontology</h2> <ul><li>British <a href="/facts/Palaeontology/60n5yldd">palaeontologist</a> <a href="/facts/Richard_Owen/M8H3td41">Richard Owen</a> coins the name <i>Dinosauria</i>, hence the <a href="/facts/Anglicization/0xS2Rc6w">Anglicized</a> <i><a href="/facts/Dinosaur/JRdMqBnq">dinosaur</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Christian_Doppler/RoyG6Qsn">Christian Doppler</a> proposes the <a href="/facts/Doppler_effect/bzrK1BKf">Doppler effect</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Julius_Robert_von_Mayer/jt3kXTpy">Julius Robert von Mayer</a> proposes that <a href="/facts/Work_(thermodynamics)/SjChajtw">work</a> and <a href="/facts/Heat/FjDGssCs">heat</a> are equivalent.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> This is independently discovered in <a href="/facts/1843_in_science/pxl7z0Tq">1843</a> by <a href="/facts/James_Prescott_Joule/uzfj0eSG">James Prescott Joule</a>, who names it "<a href="/facts/Mechanical_equivalent_of_heat/I3cdvl5h">mechanical equivalent of heat</a>".</li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>January 8 – <a href="/facts/Delft_University_of_Technology/wtPV7UmG">Delft University of Technology</a> established by <a href="/facts/William_II_of_the_Netherlands/E6CS6pHe">William II of the Netherlands</a> as a 'Royal Academy for the education of civilian engineers'.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li>February 21 – John Greenough is granted the first <a href="/facts/United_States_patent_law/uxtfSzha">U.S. patent</a> for the <a href="/facts/Sewing_machine/dGsA53Tv">sewing machine</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li>June – <a href="/facts/James_Nasmyth/xx9vHdkN">James Nasmyth</a> patents his design of <a href="/facts/Steam_hammer/kul5kEC9">steam hammer</a> in England and introduces an improved <a href="/facts/Planer_(metalworking)/TEk9cuGJ">planing machine</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/John_Herschel/Hcg9pFEp">John Herschel</a> discovers the <a href="/facts/Cyanotype/M7b2HhFM">cyanotype</a> (<a href="/facts/Blueprint/wyJtXqKz">blueprint</a>) photographic process in England.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="events">Events</h2> <ul><li>September 14–17 – English naturalist <a href="/facts/Charles_Darwin/uwDLGItY">Charles Darwin</a> and his family settle at <a href="/facts/Down_House/4MN56FBe">Down House</a> in <a href="/facts/Kent/aYfQI6Fc">Kent</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/James_MacCullagh/KYyojC8f">James MacCullagh</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Wollaston_Medal/uVkuXBYJ">Wollaston Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Leopold_von_Buch/Q4zo9eer">Leopold von Buch</a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>February 2 – <a href="/facts/Julian_Sochocki/WVuBqBbP">Julian Sochocki</a> (died <a href="/facts/1927_in_science/zk9YrBCk">1927</a>), Polish <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>.</li> <li>February 10 – <a href="/facts/Agnes_Mary_Clerke/62Ntbtmn">Agnes Mary Clerke</a> (died <a href="/facts/1927_in_science/zk9YrBCk">1907</a>) Irish astronomer and author.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a></li> <li>February 22 – <a href="/facts/Camille_Flammarion/tFgJ6SRk">Camille Flammarion</a> (died <a href="/facts/1925_in_science/l6SsxtXD">1925</a>), French <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>.</li> <li>March 17 – <a href="/facts/Rosina_Heikel/v6q9X844">Rosina Heikel</a> (died <a href="/facts/1929_in_science/7e1fvv7I">1929</a>), Finnish <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a></li> <li>March 23 – <a href="/facts/Susan_Jane_Cunningham/r3vhQAp4">Susan Jane Cunningham</a> (died <a href="/facts/1921_in_science/jqlgdekP">1921</a>), American mathematician.</li> <li>April 4 – <a href="/facts/%C3%89douard_Lucas/NTC4y2N0">Édouard Lucas</a> (died <a href="/facts/1891_in_science/QJnrB8AD">1891</a>, French mathematician.</li> <li>May 7 – <a href="/facts/Isala_Van_Diest/HyV18xkl">Isala Van Diest</a> (died <a href="/facts/1916/Vfq2LjJ1">1916</a>), Belgian physician.</li> <li>May 8 – <a href="/facts/Emil_Christian_Hansen/LUbwzG04">Emil Christian Hansen</a> (died <a href="/facts/1909_in_science/9XtDzVts">1909</a>), Danish <a href="/facts/Fermentation_(biochemistry)/rxaDr28b">fermentation</a> <a href="/facts/Physiologist/fh25y2pQ">physiologist</a>.</li> <li>June 11 – <a href="/facts/Carl_von_Linde/MAvgBfTM">Carl von Linde</a> (died <a href="/facts/1934_in_science/QVectKTG">1934</a>), German refrigeration engineer.</li> <li>August 23 – <a href="/facts/Osborne_Reynolds/Q1BvNrKk">Osborne Reynolds</a> (died <a href="/facts/1912_in_science/ro3op4mA">1912</a>), Irish-born <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>.</li> <li>September 9 – <a href="/facts/Elliott_Coues/uWL9uDrT">Elliott Coues</a> (died <a href="/facts/1899_in_science/eeGQg6tL">1899</a>), American <a href="/facts/Ornithologist/5reEUbx1">ornithologist</a>.</li> <li>September 20 <ul><li><a href="/facts/James_Dewar/ESJpJmmR">James Dewar</a> (died <a href="/facts/1923_in_science/P8DhUfan">1923</a>), Scottish-born <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Charles_Lapworth/7JCtkwy7">Charles Lapworth</a> (died <a href="/facts/1920_in_science/FcwHBQPg">1920</a>), English <a href="/facts/Geologist/vGc0tBHB">geologist</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>October 17 – <a href="/facts/Gustaf_Retzius/Un5c2k3x">Gustaf Retzius</a> (died <a href="/facts/1919_in_science/1IXTj2Qm">1919</a>), Swedish <a href="/facts/Anatomist/p8TCWJuV">anatomist</a>.</li> <li>October 24 (O.S. October 12) – <a href="/facts/Nikolai_Menshutkin/789oHJTL">Nikolai Menshutkin</a> (died <a href="/facts/1907_in_science/6kN1ef3W">1907</a>), Russian chemist.</li> <li>November 12 – <a href="/facts/John_William_Strutt,_3rd_Baron_Rayleigh/HcJyYdk5">John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh</a> (died <a href="/facts/1919_in_science/1IXTj2Qm">1919</a>), English <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize/3z1Y3oFL">Nobel Prize</a>-winning <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>.</li> <li>December 3 – <a href="/facts/Ellen_Swallow_Richards/HBo3JBcE">Ellen Swallow Richards</a> (d. <a href="/facts/1911/f6cCDfr8">1911</a>), American chemist.</li> <li>December 17 – <a href="/facts/Sophus_Lie/CplQVa8S">Sophus Lie</a> (died <a href="/facts/1899_in_science/eeGQg6tL">1899</a>), Norwegian mathematician.</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>February 15 – <a href="/facts/Archibald_Menzies/bS3qD2dt">Archibald Menzies</a> (born <a href="/facts/1754_in_science/2po4T7ft">1754</a>), Scottish-born <a href="/facts/Botanist/PaIRoxnb">botanist</a>.</li> <li>April 28 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Bell/gKnT2dN2">Charles Bell</a> (born <a href="/facts/1774_in_science/T5ByrBMR">1774</a>), Scottish-born <a href="/facts/Anatomist/p8TCWJuV">anatomist</a>.</li> <li>May 8 – <a href="/facts/Jules_Dumont_d%27Urville/YbWuHpAw">Jules Dumont d'Urville</a> (born <a href="/facts/1790_in_science/X4evzcDN">1790</a>), French <a href="/facts/List_of_explorers/83eyR34D">explorer</a>.</li> <li>June 9 - <a href="/facts/Maria_Dalle_Donne/Igt8P82S">Maria Dalle Donne</a> (born <a href="/facts/1778_in_science/r81Wezja">1778</a>), <a href="/facts/Bologna/glE9rlrW">Bolognese</a> <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a></li> <li>June 30 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Coke,_1st_Earl_of_Leicester_(seventh_creation)/gwrgxuCq">Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester</a> (born <a href="/facts/1754_in_science/2po4T7ft">1754</a>), English <a href="/facts/Agriculturalist/NYg9URrT">agriculturalist</a> and <a href="/facts/Geneticist/cCvzvuKU">geneticist</a>.</li> <li>July 19 – <a href="/facts/Pierre_Joseph_Pelletier/cXG7Vu1H">Pierre Joseph Pelletier</a> (born <a href="/facts/1788_in_science/TLfdbmlP">1788</a>), French chemist.</li> <li>July 25 – <a href="/facts/Dominique_Jean_Larrey/ATto0ewp">Dominique Jean Larrey</a> (born <a href="/facts/1766_in_science/uGvnd6T6">1766</a>), French military <a href="/facts/Surgeon/Hm0R9t6n">surgeon</a>, pioneer of <a href="/facts/Battlefield_medicine/Js4cYwBQ">battlefield medicine</a>.</li></ul> Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1842 in science. <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Hershey, David (1996). "Doctor Ward's Accidental Terrarium". The American Biology Teacher. 58 (5): 276–281. doi:10.2307/4450151. JSTOR 4450151. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Coleman, E. C. (2006). The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration, from Frobisher to Ross. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-7524-3660-9. <a href="978-0-7524-3660-9" target="_blank">978-0-7524-3660-9</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Lyman, H. M. (1881). "History of anaesthesia". Artificial anaesthesia and anaesthetics. New York: William Wood and Company. p. 6. Retrieved 2010-09-13. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xNEIAQAAIAAJ&q=Artificial%20anaesthesia%20and%20anaesthetics&pg=PA68" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=xNEIAQAAIAAJ&q=Artificial%20anaesthesia%20and%20anaesthetics&pg=PA68</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Long, C. W. (1849). "An account of the first use of Sulphuric Ether by Inhalation as an Anæsthetic in Surgical Operations". Southern Medical and Surgical Journal. 5: 705–13. Retrieved 2012-06-12. <a href="http://journals.lww.com/surveyanesthesiology/Citation/1991/12000/An_Account_of_the_First_Use_of_Sulphuric_Ether_by.49.aspx" target="_blank">http://journals.lww.com/surveyanesthesiology/Citation/1991/12000/An_Account_of_the_First_Use_of_Sulphuric_Ether_by.49.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Long, Tony (2007-03-30). "March 30, 1842: It's Lights Out, Thanks to Ether". Wired. Retrieved 2007-12-29. <a href="https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/03/dayintech_0330" target="_blank">https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/03/dayintech_0330</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Presented to the Royal Society of London. <a href="/wiki/Royal_Society" target="_blank">/wiki/Royal_Society</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Icons, a portrait of England 1840–1860". Archived from the original on 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2007-09-13. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070817165102/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1840-1860" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20070817165102/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1840-1860</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Owen, R. (1842). "Report on British Fossil Reptiles." Part II. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Plymouth, England. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels – Versuch einer das Bradley'sche Theorem als integrirenden Theil in sich schliessenden allgemeineren Theorie" ("On the coloured light of the binary refracted stars and other celestial bodies – Attempt of a more general theory including Bradley's theorem as an integral part"). Abhandlungen der kaiserlichen bõhm. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Prag (Prague) V Folge 2. 25 May 1842. <a href="/wiki/%C3%9Cber_das_farbige_Licht_der_Doppelsterne_und_einiger_anderer_Gestirne_des_Himmels" target="_blank">/wiki/%C3%9Cber_das_farbige_Licht_der_Doppelsterne_und_einiger_anderer_Gestirne_des_Himmels</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>von Mayer, J. R. (1842). "Bemerkungen über die Kräfte der unbelebten Nature ("Remarks on the forces of inorganic nature")". Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 43 (2): 233–40. doi:10.1002/jlac.18420420212. hdl:2027/umn.319510020751527. <a href="/wiki/Liebigs_Annalen" target="_blank">/wiki/Liebigs_Annalen</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"History of the university". TU Delft. Archived from the original on 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2012-07-10. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080228094426/http://www.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=300c4edd-74f6-4f4d-a5cd-42a70682cb98&lang=en" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20080228094426/http://www.tudelft.nl/live/pagina.jsp?id=300c4edd-74f6-4f4d-a5cd-42a70682cb98&lang=en</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Vacuum & Sewing Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-29. See section: "Contributors to the invention of the sewing machine". <a href="http://www.vdta.com/hof-list.html" target="_blank">http://www.vdta.com/hof-list.html</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Smiles, Samuel (1912). James Nasmyth Engineer: an Autobiography. John Murray. Retrieved 2009-11-14. <a href="/wiki/Samuel_Smiles" target="_blank">/wiki/Samuel_Smiles</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Rosenthal, Richard T. (2000). "The Cyanotype". Vernacular Photography. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2021-11-23. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130330080304/http://vernacularphotography.com/vpm/v1n1/the_cyanotype.htm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20130330080304/http://vernacularphotography.com/vpm/v1n1/the_cyanotype.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 July 2020. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Haines, Catharine M C; Stevens, Helen M (2001). International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-57607-090-1. <a href="978-1-57607-090-1" target="_blank">978-1-57607-090-1</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Bernce, Arvid (1981). Efter 1809 en Krönika i ord och bild om Finlandssvenskarna (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Bernces förlag. p. 2003. ISBN 978-9-15000-408-3. <a href="978-9-15000-408-3" target="_blank">978-9-15000-408-3</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>