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1837 in science
open-in-new
<h2 id="biology">Biology</h2> <ul><li>January 10 – <a href="/facts/John_Gould/W2TgEz41">John Gould</a> reports to the <a href="/facts/Zoological_Society_of_London/9JhAvLCp">Zoological Society of London</a> that <a href="/facts/Darwin%27s_finches/qwDoCk1I">bird specimens</a> brought by <a href="/facts/Charles_Darwin/uwDLGItY">Charles Darwin</a> from the <a href="/facts/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands/pQ7g2hdN">Galápagos Islands</a> which Darwin had thought were blackbirds, "gross-bills" and <a href="/facts/Finch/FaSIrLTh">finches</a> are in fact "a series of ground Finches which are so peculiar" as to form "an entirely new group, containing 12 species", an important step in the <a href="/facts/Inception_of_Darwin%27s_theory/UcDxbqBW">inception of Darwin's theory</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li>March–July – <a href="/facts/Charles_Darwin/uwDLGItY">Charles Darwin</a> begins privately to develop his theory of <a href="/facts/Transmutation_of_species/aoHxUErV">transmutation of species</a>.</li> <li>November 6 – Establishment of the <a href="/facts/Public_Garden_(Boston)/E5IX9aAW">Public Garden</a> in <a href="/facts/Boston/exjfn6xf">Boston</a> (Massachusetts), as a <a href="/facts/Botanical_garden/dvg8YkRq">botanical garden</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> the first in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> to be open to the general public.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Peter_Gustav_Lejeune_Dirichlet/b5UIU7Uy">Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet</a> publishes <a href="/facts/Dirichlet%27s_theorem_on_arithmetic_progressions/yFyJaE2d">Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions</a>, using <a href="/facts/Mathematical_analysis/XXeR26Ih">mathematical analysis</a> concepts to tackle an algebraic problem and thus creating the branch of <a href="/facts/Analytic_number_theory/mrHbWwrx">analytic number theory</a>. In proving the theorem, he introduces the <a href="/facts/Dirichlet_character/jDJHEBWa">Dirichlet characters</a> and <a href="/facts/Dirichlet_L-function/my8hc6Qy">L-functions</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> He also notes the difference between the <a href="/facts/Absolute_convergence/BXz9kBJ5">absolute</a> and <a href="/facts/Conditional_convergence/e7dbKuKj">conditional convergence</a> of <a href="/facts/Series_(mathematics)/yDnlsgIe">series</a> and its impact in what will later be called the <a href="/facts/Riemann_series_theorem/YHsT2BEU">Riemann series theorem</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Bernard_Bolzano/BUbRVY4p">Bernard Bolzano</a> publishes <i>Wissenschaftslehre</i>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/William_Rowan_Hamilton/U86CqUlt">William Rowan Hamilton</a> treats <a href="/facts/Complex_number/2w7mqI7e">complex numbers</a> as <a href="/facts/Ordered_pair/EInLVI0r">ordered pairs</a> of <a href="/facts/Real_number/R02gw5Pb">real numbers</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Sim%C3%A9on_Denis_Poisson/zmsDITrY">Siméon Denis Poisson</a>'s lectures on probability (introducing <a href="/facts/Poisson_distribution/CvCzXkHr">Poisson distribution</a>) and decision theory are published.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Pierre_Wantzel/gKVItq1G">Pierre Wantzel</a> proves that several ancient <a href="/facts/Geometric/wTQf5ffQ">geometric</a> problems (including <a href="/facts/Doubling_the_cube/eIHS1ybp">doubling the cube</a> and <a href="/facts/Trisecting_the_angle/zSf98g6b">trisecting the angle</a>) are impossible to solve using only <a href="/facts/Compass_and_straightedge/lbaHf2m7">compass and straightedge</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Michael_Faraday/NDcc3lyt">Michael Faraday</a> introduces the concept of <a href="/facts/Lines_of_force/87TDYkxI">lines of force</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>February 25 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Davenport_(inventor)/LtgLVH3u">Thomas Davenport</a> obtains the first United States <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> on an <a href="/facts/Electric_motor/ArD7BGDa">electric motor</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>May – <a href="/facts/Samuel_Morse/7KKMPBtY">Samuel Morse</a> patents his telegraph and exhibits it to the <a href="/facts/United_States_Congress/mJlU46K7">United States Congress</a>.</li> <li>June 12 – <a href="/facts/William_Fothergill_Cooke/zCcxsRRD">Cooke</a> and <a href="/facts/Charles_Wheatstone/935jnRhj">Wheatstone</a> file their patent for the <a href="/facts/Electrical_telegraph/yrFhbvM8">electrical telegraph</a> in the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland/yw0GUkge">United Kingdom</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li>July 19 – <a href="/facts/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel/kKeQ1IV6">Isambard Kingdom Brunel</a>'s paddle steamer <a href="/facts/SS_Great_Western/lmv2oCXA">SS <i>Great Western</i></a> is launched in <a href="/facts/Bristol/nLwyoDTG">Bristol</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li>July – <a href="/facts/Godefroy_Engelmann/W9FUhtBL">Godefroy Engelmann</a> of <a href="/facts/Mulhouse/tevjgCps">Mulhouse</a> <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patents</a> <a href="/facts/Chromolithography/ollkFxL6">chromolithography</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li> <li>November 18 – <a href="/facts/William_Crompton_(inventor)/1j8fFwK3">William Crompton</a> patents the cotton <a href="/facts/Power_loom/Xydkkz1x">power loom</a> in the United States.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Louis_Daguerre/xlnHu14v">Louis Daguerre</a>'s <a href="/facts/Daguerrotype/22CYYBJq">daguerrotype</a> <i>L’Atelier de l'artiste</i> is said to be the earliest known photographic image successfully to undergo the full process of <a href="/facts/Exposure_(photography)/Rzr0aGMd">exposure</a>, <a href="/facts/Photographic_processing/6VTxcPMA">development</a> and fixation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Camille_Polonceau/7dz43vIe">Camille Polonceau</a> patents the Polonceau <a href="/facts/Truss/bJXJyUtz">truss</a>.</li> <li>The first <a href="/facts/Electric_locomotive/580UInEr">electric locomotive</a> built is a miniature <a href="/facts/Battery_locomotive/580UInEr">battery locomotive</a> constructed by chemist <a href="/facts/Robert_Davidson_(inventor)/revMogzo">Robert Davidson</a> of <a href="/facts/Aberdeen/yoH7QeAK">Aberdeen</a> in <a href="/facts/Scotland/VGwbbxB2">Scotland</a>, and powered by <a href="/facts/Galvanic_cell/a4V7CQC8">galvanic cells</a> (batteries).</li></ul> <h2 id="publications">Publications</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Bernard_Bolzano/BUbRVY4p">Bernard Bolzano</a> publishes his <i>Wissenschaftslehre</i> ("Theory of Science").</li> <li><a href="/facts/Andrew_Ure/cG7jhBUK">Andrew Ure</a> publishes his encyclopedia <i>A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines</i> in the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland/yw0GUkge">United Kingdom</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Antoine-C%C3%A9sar_Becquerel/WpV6hQRL">Antoine-César Becquerel</a>; <a href="/facts/John_Frederic_Daniell/14XtbIpK">John Frederic Daniell</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Wollaston_Medal/uVkuXBYJ">Wollaston Medal</a>: Proby Thomas Cautley; Hugh Falconer</li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 16 – <a href="/facts/Ellen_Russell_Emerson/p5WLsf1D">Ellen Russell Emerson</a> (died <a href="/facts/1907_in_science/6kN1ef3W">1907</a>), American <a href="/facts/Ethnology/MJQ2vC0K">ethnologist</a>.</li> <li>January 17 – <a href="/facts/Fran%C3%A7ois_Lenormant/rmWbSNAY">François Lenormant</a> (died <a href="/facts/1883_in_science/kccv3awX">1883</a>), French <a href="/facts/Assyriology/Qbcm4UyU">assyriologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Numismatics/gJDe3Lr5">numismatist</a>.</li> <li>January 19 – <a href="/facts/William_Williams_Keen/pHmUUrx4">William Williams Keen</a> (died <a href="/facts/1932_in_science/P11Ig2d5">1932</a>), American <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>.</li> <li>January 27 – <a href="/facts/Eduard_von_Hofmann/LPE30FLu">Eduard von Hofmann</a> (died <a href="/facts/1897_in_science/1IcNGmU5">1897</a>), Austrian <a href="/facts/Forensic_pathologist/e9YXhEmV">forensic pathologist</a>.</li> <li>March 7 – <a href="/facts/Henry_Draper/Mpv7G57M">Henry Draper</a> (died <a href="/facts/1882_in_science/33pFPWcL">1882</a>), American physician and <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>, pioneer of astrophotography.</li> <li>March 23 – <a href="/facts/Richard_Anthony_Proctor/3sbBMgLa">Richard Anthony Proctor</a> (died <a href="/facts/1888_in_science/fyVznYuU">1888</a>), English <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>.</li> <li>April 3 – <a href="/facts/John_Burroughs/hHcQWHM6">John Burroughs</a> (died <a href="/facts/1921_in_science/jqlgdekP">1921</a>), American <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a>.</li> <li>April 27 – <a href="/facts/Paul_Gordan/1QqtShjd">Paul Gordan</a> (died <a href="/facts/1912_in_science/ro3op4mA">1912</a>), German Jewish <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>, "the king of <a href="/facts/Invariant_theory/5fIUh9h3">invariant theory</a>".</li> <li>May 26 – <a href="/facts/Washington_Roebling/2ATh0Qu3">Washington Roebling</a> (died <a href="/facts/1926_in_science/IYIaVGQD">1926</a>), American <a href="/facts/Civil_engineer/RjIFIjNe">civil engineer</a>.</li> <li>June 20 – <a href="/facts/Paul_Bachmann/cc16kVy1">Paul Bachmann</a> (died <a href="/facts/1920_in_science/FcwHBQPg">1920</a>), German mathematician.</li> <li>July 21 – <a href="/facts/Johanna_Hed%C3%A9n/qNGbhn0M">Johanna Hedén</a> (died 1912), Swedish midwife and surgeon.</li> <li>September 8 – <a href="/facts/Raphael_Pumpelly/qTXoXSKv">Raphael Pumpelly</a> (died <a href="/facts/1923_in_science/P8DhUfan">1923</a>), American <a href="/facts/Geologist/vGc0tBHB">geologist</a> and explorer.</li> <li>October 23 – <a href="/facts/Moritz_Kaposi/yrAfawaK">Moritz Kaposi</a> (died <a href="/facts/1902_in_science/W8wVthdY">1902</a>), Hungarian <a href="/facts/Dermatologist/YfvJ8uXn">dermatologist</a>.</li> <li>November 4 – <a href="/facts/James_Douglas_(businessman)/vk4ugKxr">James Douglas</a> (died <a href="/facts/1918_in_science/pShT8ADH">1918</a>), Canadian-born <a href="/facts/Metallurgy/1SANyxX4">metallurgist</a>.</li> <li>November 14 – <a href="/facts/Lucas_Barrett/LNW6uGwh">Lucas Barrett</a> (died <a href="/facts/1862_in_science/QgMtveLf">1862</a>), Canadian-born British <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a>.</li> <li>November 23 – <a href="/facts/Johannes_Diderik_van_der_Waals/WCbnoblK">Johannes Diderik van der Waals</a> (died <a href="/facts/1923_in_science/P8DhUfan">1923</a>), Dutch theoretical <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>.</li> <li>November 28 – <a href="/facts/John_Wesley_Hyatt/lg9CQ6Gq">John Wesley Hyatt</a> (died <a href="/facts/1920_in_science/FcwHBQPg">1920</a>), American <a href="/facts/Inventor/P3LdUHBY">inventor</a> and industrial chemist.</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>February 1 – <a href="/facts/Edward_Donovan/6R998uBG">Edward Donovan</a> (born <a href="/facts/1768_in_science/HmU2rre0">1768</a>), <a href="/facts/Anglo-Irish/6pkxMTxU">Anglo-Irish</a> <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a>.</li> <li>February 4 – <a href="/facts/John_Latham_(ornithologist)/uNFxFeF2">John Latham</a> (born <a href="/facts/1740_in_science/Czc8VND1">1740</a>), <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a>, naturalist and "grandfather of Australian <a href="/facts/Ornithology/5reEUbx1">ornithology</a>".</li> <li>February 16 – <a href="/facts/Gottfried_Reinhold_Treviranus/9sY4lmBm">Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus</a> (born <a href="/facts/1776_in_science/gEMXTQJq">1776</a>), <a href="/facts/German_people/F7mBCrJ4">German</a> naturalist and advocate of <a href="/facts/Lamarckism/5bwVUmP8">transmutation</a>.</li> <li>February 19 – <a href="/facts/Georg_B%C3%BCchner/u9NGfQM0">Georg Büchner</a> (born <a href="/facts/1813_in_science/z2PuMIQM">1813</a>), German-born writer and anatomist (<a href="/facts/Typhus/tlxCFaHf">typhus</a>).</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Sulloway, F. J. (1982). "The Beagle collections of Darwin's finches (Geospizinae)" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology Series. 43 (2): 49–94. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-16. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120516072905/http://darwin-online.org.uk/pdf/1982_SullowayFinches_A86.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20120516072905/http://darwin-online.org.uk/pdf/1982_SullowayFinches_A86.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Sulloway, F. J. (1982). "Darwin and his finches: the evolution of a legend" (PDF). Journal of the History of Biology. 15: 1–53. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.458.3975. doi:10.1007/BF00132004. <a href="http://www.sulloway.org/Finches.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.sulloway.org/Finches.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Marchione, William P. (1998–2001). "Horace Gray: Father of the Boston Public Garden". Brighton Allston Historical Society. Retrieved 2013-11-13. <a href="http://www.bahistory.org/HoraceGray.html" target="_blank">http://www.bahistory.org/HoraceGray.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Kanemitsu, Shigeru; Jia, Chaohua (2002). Number Theoretic Methods: future trends. Springer. pp. 271–274. ISBN 978-1-4020-1080-4. <a href="978-1-4020-1080-4" target="_blank">978-1-4020-1080-4</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Gowers, Timothy; Barrow-Green, June; Leader, Imre (2008). The Princeton Companion to Mathematics. Princeton University Press. pp. 764–765. ISBN 978-0-691-11880-2. <a href="978-0-691-11880-2" target="_blank">978-0-691-11880-2</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Poisson, S.-D. (1837). Probabilité des jugements en matière criminelle et en matière civile, précédées des règles générales du calcul des probabilitiés. Paris: Bachelier. recherches sur la probabilité des jugements en matière criminelle. <a href="https://archive.org/details/recherchessurla01poisgoog" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/recherchessurla01poisgoog</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Wantzel, L. (1837). "Recherches sur les moyens de reconnaître si un problème de géométrie peut se résoudre avec la règle et le compas". Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées. 1: 366–372. <a href="http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/ConsulterElementNum?O=NUMM-16381&Deb=374&Fin=380&E=PDF" target="_blank">http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/ConsulterElementNum?O=NUMM-16381&Deb=374&Fin=380&E=PDF</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>U.S. Patent No. 132. "Improvement in Propelling Machinery by Magnetism And Electro-Magnetism". Google patents. Retrieved 2011-12-13. <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US132" target="_blank">https://patents.google.com/patent/US132</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>van Dulken, Stephen (2001). Inventing the 19th Century. London: British Library. pp. 82–3. ISBN 0-7123-0881-4. <a href="0-7123-0881-4" target="_blank">0-7123-0881-4</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0. <a href="0-14-102715-0" target="_blank">0-14-102715-0</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Ferry, Kathryn (2003). "Printing the Alhambra: Owen Jones and Chromolithography". Architectural History. 46: 175–188. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>U.S. Patent No. 491. <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Carlisle, Rodney P. (2004). Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries: All the Milestones in Ingenuity – From the Discovery of Fire to the Invention of the Microwave Oven. New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-24410-4. <a href="0-471-24410-4" target="_blank">0-471-24410-4</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Stokstad, Marilyn; Cateforis, David; Addiss, Stephen (2005). Art History (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education. pp. 964–967. ISBN 0-13-145527-3. <a href="0-13-145527-3" target="_blank">0-13-145527-3</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><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:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>